Creating a Visual Verbal Journal

Composition and Layout Choices:

1. Full Page Design:

Using a solid block of text or a drawing or a painting

that fills a page.

2. Bleeds: A design that covers 2 pages from one edge to the other. It also includes cropped portions or material that is cut off by the edge of the paper. Both text and images can be cropped within a bleed design layout. A bleed can make text, as well as visual material; seem to be part of a bigger whole, a bigger scene. It can give a sense of openness to the content and make it seem to grow beyond the page.

3. Borders: An edge, either plain or decorated, frames a page of text or illustration and in some way confines the material on the page. A decorated border is especially good at highlighting or emphasizing the material within it.

4. Grids: Grids are basic organizing systems that consist of repetition of a certain unity. The project has a sense of order and control.

5. Mandala: A mandala is a symmetrical design based on a circle, with a central focal point; it can cover one page or a two page spread. A mandala is a good

way to highlight a main point as well as show supporting ideas, images, or

context.

6. Columns: Columns can be of any width. They can be made of text, image, or a combination of the two. Columns are a good layout when many small visuals to illustrate the same block of text or when you want to make comparisons among many ideas or units.

7. Diagonals: Diagonals are always more emotional and attract more

attention than horizontals or verticals. The can communicate action and

emotion.

8. Organic Shapes: Organic shapes feel more natural than columns and grids.

9. Cutouts and Add-ons: Cut-outs and add-ins introduce complexity and surprises. Cutouts can link pages and the ideas on them and thereby it creates the effect of a third dimension. (examples: windows, doors, cut edges, pockets, or fold-outs)

Stuck? Need a new idea? Here are some different techniques to try: 1. Resist techniques

A. waxB. crayonC. rubber cementD. cray-pas / oil pastelsE. white glueF. masking tape

2. Tissue PaperA. cut or torn in layers for a backgroundB. wrinkled, mounted and sealed with gel mediumC. same as B, but with contrasting dry brush technique

D. use as a colorant by pressing and dabbing with water to bleed

E. overlay – on top of images or text3. Xerox transfer - place image side down, rub with Chartpak blending marker (use only in well ventilated area (outside is best))4. Graph paper A. add color within a specific color scheme

B. contour line drawing in non-permanent marker, apply water for bleed, add color within grid lines using multiple media

C. add cross-stitching

5. NewsprintA. use as a backgroundB. tear and collage, stain itC. try circling limited words, block out the remainder with

paint and design a page based on the selected words

6. Consider maps, tracing paper, manila, vellum, wrapping paper, sheet music, brown paper bags, cereal bags, ticket stubs, Chinese fortunes, marbled paper, Japanese papers 7. Weaving

A. use color or texture to create unity or contrastB. consider using uneven or torn stripsC. try non-traditional stuff like candy wrappers, Easter

basket grass, or ticket stubs

8. EnvelopesA. small secret storage areasB. recycle your junk mail envelopes

C. construct your own envelopeD. mount clear windows and display a treasure

9. Sew - use traditional stitching styles to mount images, consider embroidery floss10. Stencils – Buy or make your own11. Paper Towels - glue onto page for background or lay flat on page and dab with watercolor, remove to reveal implied texture12. Marker bleeds13. Work from a definition straight out of Webster’s14. Stamping – Buy some sets or create your own by carving gum erasers or bottle corks15. Windows, doors, garden gazebos, cabinetry images - cut out existing image in windows and replace with your own / cut and open doors16. Cut outs to reveal subsequent pages17. Borders18. Trim or rip page edge

A. to contour of mounted imagery or drawingsB. keep it decorativeC. trim multiple pages with the same contour and

construct the layers hidden inside, like the head with the muscles, brain, & skull

19. Create compositions that demonstrate compositional layouts like:

A. rowsB. columnsC. diagonalsD. gridsE. radial

20. Print a body part --- fingerprints, hands, feet, face, lips 21. Paper mosaic22. Illustrate value scales in a variety of media 23. Make a water color technique sampler24. Color Schemes

A. make pages for each of the traditional color schemes B. include paint samplers from your home improvement center

C. use a photo as inspiration for a color palette25. Use gesso to create surface texture. Draw onto it after it’s dry. 26. Adorn with modified tags on string27. Compose with white reinforcement rings for notebook paper 28. Use a straw to blow ink or paint across the paper

Use a straw to blow masking fluid on your paper before adding watercolor

29. Apply several coats of gel medium to a magazine image. Place face down and rub gently with damp sponge and fingertips to remove layers of paper until image is transparent.

30. Use a brayer to roll on acrylic backgrounds

31. Glue down an image or colored paper and then tear it off32. Organize visual information using quilting patterns33. Fold paper and dip the corners or edges into watercolor paint or inks - Open to reveal tie dye effect34. Place saran wrap on top of a wet watercolor wash and let it stay there until dry35. Illuminate a letter on a written page36. Select an image and draw it using varied techniques on a single page37. Use someone else’s media test paper for a starting point 38. Try ironing waxed paper onto your surface before starting