DAY 1:
Loved the walk I took this morning, there was a lot of spooky fog!
Once back behind my desk, I searched for new inspirational stuff on Pinterest. I was in need of some 'guidance' for the composition of the brooches, as (until now) they were all over te place. I stumbled upon the following pictures:
I liked the decorative frames a lot: it's a nice eyecatcher and draws focus towards it; it's where the important stuff happens (whether it's an image or text), everything else around it is purely decoration.
Until know, I had the feeling my previous lay-out ideas lacked something; personality, emotion, a story to tell... I really enjoy drawing people and animals, and started wondering about how I could use that. Then I came across this beautiful photograph (while searching for 'Cameo' Brooches):
(Source: Wikipedia)
Yes, this is exactly what I missed: a beautiful vintage lady wearing a Cameo Brooche. Lovely! :)
DAY 2:
First came the brooche's frame, then the character/lady, then the other decorative elements (pen & ink theme).
DAY 3:
Time to pick a color theme! Lilla Rogers suggested earlier that it'd be nice to try another color-palette. I really wanted to try this, as long as I liked the colors.
I guess my usual color-palette looks like this:
(Source: Under a Blue Moon)
A new color-palette I felt attracted to:
(Source: Ink Up)
I decided to start with the lady, and adjust the background later.
Digital try-outs for the background:
DAY 4:
After experimenting with the digital backgrounds in Photoshop, I exactly knew what elements I needed to create and which colors would work best. I made every element separately.
Quick tests with the painted elements:
DAY 5:
And more testing:
Using Zazzle.com I made previews of my journal covers. It was awesome to see how they'd turn out for 'real'!