Under the Sea

April 28, 2014February 17, 2016 | Christina Lorraine Young (a.k.a. seena)

Do you have a plan when you sit down for some creative time? I usually don’t. This time, however, I knew I wanted to use this fish stamp. My first inking though, was upside down. That’s the silver fish. Since it’s one of my art journals, it’s a little hard to throw out. I was challenged to come up with an idea. What to do? Give her a mate and have them pucker up. (I drew in the pucker.) The rest of the page just flowed (pardon the water pun) after that. I think my favourite part is the glossy bubbles.

Is It Crap?

April 26, 2014April 26, 2014 | Christina Lorraine Young (a.k.a. seena)

Funny thing about art. It’s subjective. That’s why, I think, it takes so much courage to be an artist. You confront the blank page with colour and line and say here. Here is what I think is beautiful/cool/interesting/uplifting/inspiring/worthy. Someone else will look at that exact same piece and say, ‘that’s crap.’ I looked at the piece below that I created in my art journal and said it: crap. I started off experimenting with some ideas, hated them, and then kept trying to ‘fix’ it with what turned out to be many layers of, well, layers.

Here’s the funny thing. A few people (not everyone, mind you) have looked at this page that I think is crap and shared that it’s one of their favourites. WHAT?? So I ask you, do you love it or hate it? Indulge my curiosity. Take my poll below and weigh in. No hard feelings, I promise.

Best Friend Therapy

April 23, 2014April 23, 2014 | Christina Lorraine Young (a.k.a. seena)

I just love these faces. Don’t they look like BFFs? Is there anything a BFF can’t fix? They’re your go-to gal, your pick-me-upper, your even-when-I-hate-myself-I-know-I’m-loved bestie. Yea for girlfriends!

Materials: Dylusions spray inks, Joggles stencil, Faber-Castell Big Brush markers, Gelatos & Artist Black pens, Signo white pen, Derwent Inktense pencils, matte medium, moulding paste, Dina Wakley (bird) stamps

Go Confidently

April 9, 2014June 1, 2015 | Christina Lorraine Young (a.k.a. seena)

After having difficulty with Dylusions Spray Inks (I love them, but they tend to over saturate my paper despite various methods of water vs. ink) I wanted to try Pan Pastels for my background. Easy to stamp over, but as I was doing some hand letting I had to spray with a fixative so the pastels wouldn’t erase.

I used a combination of white & black ink, Glossy Accents & Glaze pens for colour.

I wanted the word “dreams” to look different from the other text, so I wrote it by hand and used Perfect Pearls to give it some shimmer.

It was actually quite a number of steps, which I was too lazy to document. Couldn’t pull myself away from creating long enough. Enjoy, seena.

It’s Only Life

April 8, 2014April 20, 2014 | Christina Lorraine Young (a.k.a. seena)

If you’re a fan of The Shins you’ll recognize the lyrics that inspired this latest art journal page. I’ve been waiting for Dina Wakely’s Ranger line to appear and finally I laid my hands on a stamp set of hers. The background was made using a Gelli Plate and Golden acrylics.

I’ve been practicing using my writing instead of stamping. Not sure how I feel about that yet. Seems a little messy for my taste, but practice makes perfect. Enjoy. xo, seena

Abstract Thinking

April 1, 2014September 18, 2014 | Christina Lorraine Young (a.k.a. seena)

The background was inspired by Dyan Reaveley. Starting with large “scribbles,” I used common smaller shapes to fill in the larger shapes, then painted them in bright colours. (Because I knew I’d be painting over it, I didn’t spend a lot of time zen tangling.) I used a mask to cover a section of the grid and a distressed ink dabber in black to colour over the rest, leaving the profile behind. Where the colour shows through the black it’s actually Silks acrylic paint. I didn’t know it would do that, but it was a happy accident. It reminds me a bit of graffiti art.

Warm Embrace

March 30, 2014June 1, 2015 | Christina Lorraine Young (a.k.a. seena)

I was inspired by the lyrics of a Billy Joel song (his version, not the Glee update) when thinking about Joanne Sharpe’s “Whismy Grid” lettering. This finished piece feels kind of ethereal to me, as though stars are lighting up the figure’s dress.