Journal by 5s

So, I happened upon this "challenge" created by Shannon Green and immediately fell into the rabbit hole of distraction by watching many (I mean many!) videos of artists participating in this. The purpose is to do 5 sessions using 10 prompts, each session for 15 minutes (!) on 20 pages (!!). 

5-10-15-20

5 sessions--all in one day or just one a week...your choice.
10 prompts--2 per session, feel free to make substitutions.
15 minutes--that gives you 45 seconds per page so don't mess around!
20 pages--just one side of a sheet of paper, not both sides. 

These are the recommended prompts for each session. You may make substitutions to fit what you have on hand:

Session 1-Background: Paint, Ink
Session 2-Texture: Collage, Recycle
Session 3-Pattern: Stamps, Stencils
Session 4-Focal Point: Words, Images
Session 5-Details: Pen, Pencil

I thought I'd give it a try for several reasons. 1. I'm easily distracted. 2. It looked like fun. 3. It is a way to use up lots of stuff lying around. 4. It's a way to just play, not going for perfection, pushing the critic aside (there is no room for much thought i.e., inner critic discourse, when you are working on 20 pages in 15 minutes. So, after much viewing of what everyone else is doing, I've begun the process.

Here is what I have so far:

Step 1, paint and spray inks, was fun. I enjoyed just picking paint for each page, not thinking about the "future" of that page. Just squirt paint, spread it around with a brush or brayer, move on. I used deli paper between the pages and only got a little tearing. I didn't realize until I was finished that I'd skipped a page, so I "cheated" and painted it. Somehow I only have 18 pages, not 20. That's probably because as I was gluing pages together I wasn't paying close attention to the goal of 20.

Step 2, collage and texture was fun also. However, with only 15 minutes, I was able to add just a little to each page. I'd hoped to use up a larger part of my stash. I considered "cheating" again and going back for a 2nd session of step 2 ... but I've decided not to do that. So I'll let this all dry and prepare for the next step, stamps and stencils.

So far, I like the process. Not impressed with the pages ... but that's all part of the process. Were this not "timed", I'd spend a lot of time on these steps, trying to reach a "pretty" stage. These pages aren't there, and they may not get there. I'm trying out the process of working in stages simply to see how it feels. I've read other artists who follow this type of process, i.e., Diana Trout and Dawn Sokol. So far, it feels good. 


I don't care for the idea of only 1 side of the spread completed. However, I have an idea for what I'll do with the facing page. I would like to have a book that feels "finished" or perhaps ready for journaling. I'll see how it goes.