A Brain Vacation, that isn’t Cocaine
Calming My Chaotic Mind with Therapeutic Illustration
I remember once, years ago, I was struggling with a breakup that needed to happen. I was so sick of talking about it, thinking about it, and worrying about it that I asked a friend's mom, "How do I take a vacation from my brain?" And without missing a beat, she replied—Cocaine!
Fast-forward to today. There are still moments when I crave a respite from the thoughts and churning in my brain, but today, I have mindfulness techniques and illustration practices I didn't have back then.
Today, I paint, sketch, draw, bake, knit, spin wool, and walk the dog until my thoughts calm down. But even then, I can't just check out when creating an important piece. I am considering composition, lights and darks, color theory, etc.
The thoughts are still there, but they have a different tone, a direction.
Enter Bubbles and Dots:
A Mindful Illustration Practice!
Bubbles and Dots are a complete and total brain spa day!
They are therapeutic illustrations with encaustic elements that require a long and involved process that is slow, deliberate, and deeply meditative
The Step-by-Step Illustration and Encaustic Mixed Media Process:
Step 1: Encaustic Illustration
I start with a specialized fabric-like paper called Encaustiflex. I lay it on my heated palette and draw on it with the bricks of encaustic paint. I create illustrative line art either freehand or with stencils, which creates a colorful and fun foundation, but once I'm done, I have this oddly sticky, crunchy fabric.
The inventor of Encaustiflex does all kinds of cool sculptural things with it, but I haven't found a use for it in this state that works for my style. So….I go to step 2!
Step 2: Digital Transformation
I scan the wax drawing, making my scanner a sticky waxy mess, but it's totally worth it for the process!
Step 3: Illustration Print Transfer
Rice Paper
THEN! I print the scanned image onto a large sheet of rice paper, which is super thin—almost tissue paper-like—but slightly stronger.
Step 4: Wrapping and Layering
I use rice paper like gift wrap to wrap a cradle board (a wooden painting surface with thick frame-like edges). I attach the rice paper to the board using gel medium, specifically Golden Matte Heavy Body. I also slather a thick coat of the gel medium on the entire outside of the package. This takes a few hours to dry.
Step 5: Intuitive Illustration Expression
The final step - Kind of.
The bubbles, dots, fizzy bits, scribbles, scrawls, and drips come to life! I use Acrylic Posca Paint Pens in a limited color palette to draw on the gel medium-coated rice paper, and this is when my brain hums along in that special space called the flow state.
Hours can slide by as I make dot after dot after drip after drizzle. It's pure meditative illustration therapy as my brain goes from a whirring hive of 40,000 busy bees to a puddle of gooey honey on a cool tile floor.
Each one is different, and each one represents a mini-brain vacay!
Step 6: Illustrated Card Creation
Full Size Bubble and Dots Greeting Cards
5×5 with a cream envelope.
To make Bubbles and Dots illustrated art cards, I take a high-resolution photo of the finished gel-coated doodle rice paper situation and print it onto thick, sturdy cardstock for all to enjoy!
And people do enjoy these unique poppy zippy zingy greeting cards, which makes my heart and my head happy!!
Mini Bundles of Bubbles and Dots!
Six different images in a cute 3x3-inch design accompanied by six cream envelopes.
p.s. I am learning about SEO (search engine optimization), so if the above text reads a little bit clunky, it’s because I’m not great at incorporating SEO text into my natural writing style.
It feels like I’m stuffing cubes of cheddar into the holes in a block of Swiss cheese and saying, “Here is a delicious block of premium Swiss cheese. Enjoy!”
I hope things get less clunky for you and me in the future! Thanks for hanging in there - all my love,
Jill