Journal Page Tutorial

Last week, we had some unusually warm weather in the lowcountry of South Carolina.  We took advantage by taking our bikes to Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge. Our first stop was Nini Chapin Pond. It's roughly two miles from the parking area. There was not much bird activity, but we found some shade and it was a good time to eat our lunch.

This was the view we looked upon.  There was a small group of Buffleheads feeding in the water.  I loved how their dives caused the olive green water to shimmer with the blue of the sky.

Viewing the scene for a few minutes is a great way to narrow down what really catches my eye, helping me to decide  what to record in the journal.

The next page in my Stillman and Birn journal, that I've devoted to water scenes, was the right side of a spread.  I didn't want to fill the entire page with a sketch so decided upon a smaller vertical image.

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The first thing I did was to secure a piece of foam core to the right side of the back of the journal.  This made a great surface to hold the palette and less of a balancing act for me.

Next, I drew the vertical shape that would hold the watercolor sketch. Then added pertinent information for the day: date, time, temperature, where we were, and around the edge of the box, I started adding notes about any wildlife that crossed our path.

To me, the lightest color in the scene was the blue of the sky and water.
I knew that if I let most of the paper show through on the lower right corner, I'd stand half a chance at keeping the true color to the foreground grasses.

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Hopefully you can see the first layer of blue!

 Now you can see the first layers of green water and the brown of the far shore's bank.  While painting, the Buffleheads were diving away, always changing what the water looked like.

When painting plein air, light and water are ever changing.  Once I've laid down the initial frame work of colors, I take a good look at the direction of the shadows. I will have to paint from memory in order to make the painting read true. 

All that was left to do was to add notes of any other wildlife that we saw after heading over to the other side of the pond.











Final page, scanned.....

Making the Best of Things

Recently, I needed to use a walker for a while, and drew it--you may have seen those posts!  Then I graduated back to my collection of canes.  They're so cool and idiosyncratic, I just had to draw them.

These were with my old standby Micron Pigma, done in the little journal Roz Stendahl made with Arches Text Wove paper...fun!

Some are mainstays, like the T-shaped one and the more iconic cane 2nd from left, and some are just too fun, like the one on the right.  Some mean a lot to me, since my husband either gave them to me or MADE them for me.

But right now I'm grateful I don't need to use them.

The Self Imposed Ink and Exercise Challenge

I'm trying out yet another Stillman and Birn Journal.... this time the Epsilon Series that has paper suited for pen and ink.

This is my first entry and I've got to say writing on this paper with a Micron pen is dreamy. The greys were created with grey and black Pentel Sign Pens that I hit the tip of with a waterbrush, then added the ink to the page.  The water/ink combo spread like butter.

One thing I really like about using a waterbrush is that it dispenses just enough water to get the job done.  This is very useful when the paper being used is not necessarily meant for washes.

This journal has two purposes. The first being to get me off of my desk chair and moving about. That's a challenge in itself as I get lost in my work and time goes sailing by. The second, and most fun, is to explore ink.

I'm glad the journal has many pages as there are so many inks waiting to be tried :) Which leads me to the back of my journal where I create color test pages......

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I'm keeping this journal in my desk drawer, easily at hand.  I've been sitting too long again... time to catch lunch and take a stroll with my journal and pens :)

Fast Sketching and Building a Journal Page

Back in April, I conducted a small Around-the-Town Sketching Workshop in Beaufort, SC for Coastal Art Supply.

On the first day, we started by drawing boxes of various sizes on a page in our sketchbooks.  Then we headed outside with just our Micron pens, pencils and sketchbooks. 

My goals for the students included getting used to sketching quickly with pens, making color notes in pencil and in the end, completing their pages with color and decorative lettering.  We started filling the boxes with 30 second and 1 minute sketches.  Sometimes we splurged and stayed in one spot for 5 minutes.

After lunch we'd work in the studio and finish our morning sketches using watercolors or watercolor pencils.  Check out these results!

The second day, we approached our journal pages differently. We used multiple images to create  flowing vignettes on a single page.  I picked the subjects and showed them my methods of choosing where to position each item on the page.

This is my demonstration page.  The first item drawn was the metal palm tree sculpture on the right side of the page. I chose that spot because of the strong design of the fronds that pointed to the left - and into the center of my page.  The second element was the umbrella with the people.  Note that the shape of the umbrella points into the center of my page.  And the people are facing right, into the page. The third element was the cafe sign.  I made it a size to tie into what was already on my page.  The type was added back in the studio.  The page was screaming for a border.... type is perfect for that.

After lunch we hit the streets again with another page of boxes - they were a big hit and perfect for quick sketches.... And, what a flavor of Beaufort we captured!!

Here is the colorized version of my top b&w page:

If a blank journal page puts you off.... try a page of boxes.  They don't have to all be filled in the same day... perhaps one a day? They are perfect for the travel sketcher, or even keeping tract of your garden's growth.  The possibilities go on and on :)   Enjoy!  That's what it's all about :)

Journaling on 'Whitelines' Paper

We picked a great day to go to the beach on Hilton Head Island, SC.  Instead of a mid-week visit, we chose Saturday.... the day of check out/check in for vacationers. While everyone else was stuck in traffic on Route 278, we and a decent amount of people were enjoying a beautiful day at the beach :)

On the technical side...
I made this journal entry in a new journal by WHITELINES. This is a Swedish company that makes a toned paper using white for lines. They also offer paper with grids (squared), isometric lined notepads and perspective lined notepads. There are many choices of binding: hard covered spiral, soft covered flexible and glued pads.

The paper has a nice feel. I estimate it to be about 24# in weight. I've been using Pentel energel and Signo uniball ballpoint pens on it and have experienced no smudging. The ink in these pens is water soluble. Micron pens remain waterproof on it's surface.

I used watercolor pencils on the page above with minimal water using a Niji waterbrush. The paper did buckle but, that was no surprise. I think colored pencils would really work well on this surface, perhaps even pan pastels. When you turn the page over you can see a little bleed through, but not nearly as much as you do with Moleskine's regular journal paper.

WHITELINES claims that when pages are copied or scanned the white lines and toned background will disappear.

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As you can see above, that was not the case when I scanned the page at my scanners normal settings. I had to lighten the overall exposure of the original scan, lost some subtle tones, but the page on the right is a lot cleaner looking.

I do like how the ink really stands out on the paper. And the toned surface is easier on your eyes versus looking at dark lines on a white surface. I liked working on a paper with grids. My type lines remained square to the page :)

Overall, I like the paper for the written word. Perhaps next time I choose to add an illustration I'll test colored pencils...

The Sketchbook Project - Final Update

Here are the final pages. I had to clean these up quite a bit from the original scans. The wrinkled paper and the difficulty I had getting the book to lay flat on the scan bed was a real treat.... Especially at 2 am in the morning :)

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It was late on January 17th when I finished painting/writing. I then had to scan the last pages so that come daylight and a little sleep, I could bind the book into it's pink cover and send it on it's way.... deadline met.

My last words are from the heart after a very long journey.......

 

And, in it's entirety.......

Sketchbook Project Update III - Trees

Please click all images to enlarge.

It's time to celebrate trees :)

Walk with us to the 10th hole. It's
423 yards from the back tee to the green. The cart path runs along the edge of the woods.

Now that it's winter and much of the greenery has died back, I can see standing water not too far into the woods. This, along with the variety of trees found in a mere 423 yard stretch of land is a clear sign that this section of the neighborhood can be classified as a Bottomland Hardwood forest.

This type of forest usually borders a swamp and may be temporarily flooded should we get a whopper of a hurricane and the river reaches flood stage (not a warm and fuzzy thought!)

Here are all the trees I've identified so far. The illustrations are of two 'new-to-me' trees. I feel like such an explorer when I find a new flower, shrub, vine or tree. I don't care that Carl Linnaeus, or another botanist, may have named named it long ago - it's my discovery :) That's what I sooooo love about nature journaling! Even better is now that I've drawn it, it's mine.... forever in my heart :)

I never would have guessed Witchhazel comes from a tree! I always imagined witchhazel to be an herbaceous plant. A student of nature, that's what I am :)

These trees live on or near the 10th hole.

So many trees, not enough pages :) There are only two more spreads left in the sketchbook and I have other goodies to share. So, to all the trees that didn't make it into this book..... Patience, I'm working on it :)

The Sketchbook Project - Update II - Birds

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Here is why I love the 17th hole at our golf course :)

The Wood Storks in foreground weren't listing to the left.....  I must have been holding the sketchbook at too much of an angle :)

 

I love the crows in this spread :)

I had no idea that crows would hang with Ibis.  I see this all the time - in trees, feeding on the fairway..... never fighting over territory.

Certainly can bring a smile!

Sketchbook Project Update 1

I was 3 spreads from finished on the 13th and knew an all-nighter would be in order. On the 14th, Art House Coop sent an email out changing the deadline from January 15th to the18th. Trust me, I was dancing around the studio after I read that email :) It seems bad weather everywhere was interfering with participants getting to the post office/delivery services and those companies getting packages delivered!

On the 18th, book in hand, I made it to the post office by 3 pm and sent my child off to Brooklyn, NY. My finished pieces of art become my children. They certainly carry a chunk of my soul.  Anyone else feel this way about your creations?

 The text around the edges of this spread reads:

We have lived in this neighborhood since May 2010. It borders a tidal creek and there is a golf course. It's such a treat to walk the cart path on holes 17 & 18 as the marsh borders these holes. Every day brings something wonderful to see and experience.

Please walk with us. I want to show you my favorite sights. I want to show you the things that fill me with wonder - it's like being a child all over again for me.

Nature. There is nothing like it!

Please click on image to enlarge

More to come :)

Sketchbook Project....The beginning

I first heard about the Sketchbook Project
back in October from a friend and fellow blogger, Quiltin' Mama.  What fun, I thought! I signed up immediately.  The sketchbook showed up very timely with instructions that said it's a good idea to make the sketchbook sturdy as it will be looked at often. The sketchbook also contains the same type of paper that's in my only Moleskine journal that I really don't care for.... very thin and see through.

So, these are my excuses for not starting this project sooner... How to fortify the cover and shore up the thin weight of the paper pages, and I'm sticking to them :)

Given that I live in the lowcountry of SC and alligators love it here, and pink is the color used to celebrate breast cancer awareness, survivors and those that have passed ..... Well, what better material to use than faux pink alligator vinyl??  I'm multi-purposing an Estee Lauder zipper tote that would have otherwise gone into the trash.

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I finished making the cover but have not attached it to the sketchbook. I was about to, got delayed, and am so grateful for the delay as I realized the book pages will be much easier to scan.

I decided sewing a few pages together would make them sturdier.  There are two benefits to this. Thicker pages and...... less pages to fill :) Good thing too, as I've just under 2 weeks to get it finished and postmarked by January 15th!  Nothing like a deadline :)

I love the design the zig-zag stitches made on the edges of the pages.

Outside of the cover and end pages, I now have 12 spreads to fill.

Another reason I'm happy I sewed the pages is that the back half of the book has perforated sheets!  It made for a bit of a challenge when sewing, as the pages started to tear out. I ended up using clear archival tape to secure the pages in the book. Okay.... ready to start filling this baby!

The theme is 'Down Your Street' - which I decided meant my street. I thought it would be fun to share the sights I see on my daily dog walks. Here's the start....

The thin paper has a slick finish that, to me, is difficult to use watercolor on. I do love how my Micron pen glides across the surface, though.

Given that I've waited until the last minute to complete this project, I made the executive decision to live dangerously free and sketch with the Micron pen. No time for careful planning.... just have at it!

That decision helped me choose the type of calligraphic marks to use for titles, etc..  By the by, I didn't plan for my maiden name to have such a downward twist - that's compliments of writing with pen and running out of room :)  See what fun you can have when your marks are committed? I don't know if I could have thought of making my name so fun if I tried to design it this way. Serendipity!  Love that word!

Eleven more spreads to go........ See ya!