Digital Supplies: ArtPlay Palette Santa Nicholas Add-On No. 1, MagicFlares No. 1, LoopDaLoop ArtStrokes No. 1, DifferentStrokes No. 8
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New to the Holiday Album Project? Please see previous posts here.
Pages 10 and 11 of The Holiday Album showcase my favorite Holiday decor photos for Christmas 2011. In this post I want to expand on some of the previous techniques in this series and talk about the use of brushes in this layout.
1. Adjust the template. Subtract and replace masks in the template to meet the needs of your photos as explained this post. I deleted the first mask on the first pages of the template, and shifted the one beneath it downwards so that I could create a larger mask. I used the Rounded Rectangle tool from the Tools palette to create a new mask with a corner radius of 150 pixels.
2. Attention to color. Create a visual triangle or similar pleasing arrangement of colors as you would dimensional embellishments as outlined in ArtsyTraditional | Adding Dimensional Embellishments. Arrangements that oppose the linear nature of a scrapbook page and draw the eye diagonally across the page work really well.
Yellow.
Green.
Red.
Note. My selection of artsy papers coordinate with the colors in my images and help tie the different pieces of the layout together. Notice how they diagonally lead the eye across the page. This is one of the first pages in a few weeks where I have had masks available after clipping my photos.
3. Brushwork. The papers clipped to the mask negate the need to add multicolor transfers behind my photos. Remember, the aim of embellishing layouts with papers and elements is to support and showcase the photos without overwhelming them. Papers + Transfers = Overkill.
In place of transfers, I have used simple black brushwork. The black paint gives a clean layout an artsy look and feel. The LoopDaLoop ArtStrokes are a great way to create visual motion and either lead the eye to specific area on a layout or emphasize an area on a page by encompassing it. I often use LoopDaLoops to frame or *point to* a favorite photo, or visually connect 2 adjoining pages.
Note. Again the diagonal brush placement juxtaposed against the linear arrangement of the photos and papers.
It's a matter of connecting invisible dots. What shapes are you creating on your layouts?
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We're officially half way through our album.
