Trying New Things in My Journals

This week in my journal I have been exploring backgrounds of a different sort.  By this I mean I have been using different materials and trying not to do the same thing I do everytime. I didn't want to jump to stencils and stamps like I usually do. I wanted some more abstract looks.

This one was created with a brayer, using red, yellow and orange paints.

A brayer is a tool that looks like this. I squirted  3 colors of paint on the page and rolled it all around the page. Its made by Speedball and I got it from Dick Blick.

This one was created the same way. I used the same paints but added blue at the last minute.  I like how the blue is so irregular.

This one had journaling and gesso underneath. I was looking for more of an abstract look.  I used green yellow and brown paint and a soft rubber brayer.

This is left over paint on the brayer from the page before. It is kind of like a ghost print from a gelli plate.

Then I moved to a different journal and liquid watercolors. These are Dr.Ph Martin's Hydrus fine art liquid watercolor. I dropped them on a page I had sprayed with water and they really ran. Actually a bit too much. I scooped up some of the extra paint with scraps of watercolor paper.

This time I dropped the watercolor on a dry page and then sprayed it with water. I love how both of these look.  Now the hard part, what to do next on all these pages.

How often do you try and mix it up? Its easy to get in a rut. What is your go to way to spark a new practice in your own art?

Kate