How I Create Art in Series
I love creating art in series, so today I’m taking you behind-the-scenes of 5 of my current & recent art series, to show you how I’ve created a consistent look-and-feel for each series.
1. New Zealand Visual Trip Journal
The first art series I created was a Visual Trip Journal for my awesome 24-day trip to New Zealand in 2019. I wanted to challenge myself to create a cohesive series of works of art all on one theme, rather than the one-off works of art I’d been creating prior to that point.
To give you a better picture of what this series looks like, here are 4 more of my Visual Trip Journal pieces:
Before creating each series, I establish specific parameters for each piece of art in that series, to give the series a consistent, unified look-and-feel.
In deciding to create a series I also wanted to learn whether I’d find setting parameters to be limiting and stifling, or whether I’d find the parameters liberating.
For my Visual Trip Journal I decided on the following parameters:
Each Visual Trip Journal page is the same size with the same layout
The illustrations are horizontal, above the text, & the same size
The text starts with New Zealand Trip: Day x ~ date, is 10 lines long & ends with my signature
The bottom border of each piece has a line and circle that’s color-coordinated with the art for that piece
I wrote all the text using the same pen
You can see my entire New Zealand Visual Trip Journal on my website.
2. Tucson Color Journal
I enjoyed creating my first art series so decided to give it a go again—this time with a year-long series: my Tucson Color Journal.
I created this series in 2021 to celebrate the biodiversity of the Sonoran Desert as viewed through the lens of color. I painted 1 color/day every day for a year, with each color representing something from nature I saw in or from my yard. Here are 4 more from this series:
I set these parameters for my Tucson Color Journal:
Each piece of art is the same size with the same layout (allowing for a bit of variability as mentioned in 3. below)
All the color swatches are the same size
The days/descriptions are 1 or 2 lines each, adding a little variety within each month’s layout
Different elements (borders, color swatch outlines, text & signature) use different, specific pens.
You can see all 12 of my Tucson Color Journal pieces on my website.
3. Sit Spot Nature Journal
In Fall 2021 I started a habit of sitting in the same spot (a "Sit Spot"—my patio looking out at my backyard in Tucson), to immerse myself in/appreciate the nature around me.
While enjoying my Sit Spot I chronicled my nature observations in a series I call my Sit Spot Nature Journal. I emphasized my written observations and added color swatches just as a little graphic blandishment. Here are 4 more from this series:
My intent for this series was to create a quick way to record my observations, using a few parameters, while allowing room for variability from page-to-page as well. Here are the parameters I set for my Sit Spot Nature Journal:
Each entry is on the same size paper and starts with the day, date, time, temperature and weather, in a rounded rectangle border
Each entry is half a page(ish) to a full page
The color swatches are roughly the same size
Each subject usually has one color swatch (though some have 2 or 3)
The written observations are as long as I want them to be 😁
Everything is drawn freehand without rulers or guidelines
You can see more of my Sit Spot Nature Journal art on my website.
4. Tucson Yard Journal
I enjoyed creating those 3 series so much I decided to create a series involving more complex art—my current Tucson Yard Journal series. In this yearlong project I’m telling the story of the amazing flora and fauna I enjoy each month right here in my own yard. Here are 4 more from this series:
This series has a lot of parameters!
Each piece of art is the same size, has 1/8” gutters between panels, and has precise locations for the title, intro paragraph, and signature
Each intro paragraph is 3 lines long
The title and my signature have lines to the left and right, justified with the edge of the art
The art for each piece is based on a 3x3 grid of 3 rows and 3 columns…but individual panels can be 1-3 rows tall, or 1-3 columns wide, depending on the subjects
The caption boxes are generally 1/8” from the edge of the panels
The caption boxes and speech bubbles are as wide as they need to be but are specific heights based on the number of lines of text
Different elements (the title, text, my signature, panel borders, caption box and speech bubble outlines, and art) all use different, specific pens
In general, one subject per month sticks out of its panel by 1/2” (except for October, when none of the subjects wanted to stick out of their panels)
You can see all my Tucson Yard Journal pieces to date on my website.
5. Perpetual Journal
I’m also currently working on a Perpetual Journal—a multi-year project in which each page documents something I saw in nature (almost always, in my yard) during a specific week. I’m leaving blank space on each page for adding more art that same week the next year, and the year after that, until the pages are filled. Here are 4 more from this series:
This is another series that has parameters while allowing for variability:
These are all in one sketchbook so each page is the same size
Each page has the week and a color swatch (color-coordinated with the art) in a box in the top left corner
My signature is in the bottom right corner of each page
Different elements (the week and color swatch box, descriptive text, signature, and art) all use different, specific pens
The art takes up roughly a quarter of each page, can be positioned anywhere on the page, and can extend to the edge of the page
The art can have a background color, but usually doesn’t
The descriptive text for each entry starts with the date
You can see all my Perpetual Journal entries to date on my website.
Phew! 😮
I realize all this may sound like way too much work and planning for some people, and having lists of parameters may seem way too restrictive.
However, I’ve found setting parameters liberating—I love the consistency the parameters give my art, and establishing parameters makes a lot of decision-making easier (because by pre-determining sizes, layouts, tools, etc. I can move ahead more quickly with the actual drawing and painting!).
I’ve also learned that within the framework of my parameters I can allow for flexibility and still maintain a consistent look-and-feel.
Most importantly, I’ve learned that I love being able to tell stories by combining multiple works of art into series.