Design Ideas

People often ask about designing pages--it was one of the most popular requests on the poll in our sidebar at right!  I'd done a couple of PDFs to go with my original class and then on the Keeping an Artist's Journal CD that grew out of that class, but I wanted to give them to you here, for nothing!

http://www.cathyjohnson.info/PDF_library/DesignIdeas1.pdf
http://www.cathyjohnson.info/PDF_library/DesignIdeas2.pdf

Let me know what you think!



The CD with TONS more on it is here:

And the downloadable eBook version is here.

Escapism via The Artist Journal

Taking a page from Kate's own fantasy journal, I decided to create a "getaway place" in my own journal during my recovery from a recent bout of the flu.

The Heart-Held Cottage
Watercolor and Ink
Stillman and Birn Bound Beta Sketchbook
5.5 x 8.5 inches

I have long loved Hobbiton from the Lord of The Rings and The Hobbit series as seen in Peter Jackson's movies. I love the gypsy wagons you see in Europe as well as some of the tiny structures that people have built for backyard escapes, even using them as small homes. 

The idea of a personal place all my own where I can go to escape the challenges of real life, be they illness, family, financial or just a too long to-do list holds vast appeal to me. I can decorate and nest and relax. A place where problems can't follow, where there is no dust, no clutter, no cleaning. 

A place to enjoy painting, reading, napping, observing nature, lounging in front of a warm fire, visiting with invited friends, cooking a special meal or just simply being. The cottage became a place where I'm not rushed by deadlines or decisions and I can indulge (if I want to) in an hour long soak in a gorgeous claw- foot tub! (TMI, I know!)

The fun part for me was adding special touches that have special meaning to me that might not be obvious to the casual observer. (The stained glass doors in the bookcase sketch have a backstory, but you wouldn't know if I didn't mention it.) 

While I'm definitely not an architect and I certainly wasn't become overly concerned with the laws of physics in my house plans, I did have a great deal of fun thinking about the rooms I would have and the type of furnishings I would surround myself with. The colors and material choices were all up to me without considering someone else's tastes or needs (unless I chose to include them).

The pages developed over the two weeks I was sick and I worked a little bit here and there until they were finished.

But in a way, they'll never be finished as I have enjoyed the escape so much, I'm already planning my next getaway!

The things I learned for next time:

• I'll work bigger and create the floor plans to take up an entire page each.
• By working larger, I'll be able to add in more detail when it comes to the furnishings, window treatments and such.
• I will work on both the views of the inside as well as the views looking out the windows. 
• I'll focus more thought on where the getaway is located‚ like the beach, mountains, underground, or in a pasture or forest.

How about you? Care to join me in creating a fabulous getaway that only exists in your imagination and on the pages of your sketchbook?

If you do, please comment back here so we can come and visit your secret hideaway!

Sandy Williams -- A Cacophany of Cats

We've been having record cold temperatures here in Michigan as has a lot of the country.  It was the worst time for our furnace to go out last Saturday night and repairs couldn't be made until Monday.  So off went my dog to my brother's house and my sister came and got our three cats while my mother and I checked into a hotel.  We were SO glad to be able to return home as were our pets.  The cats in particular let us know that they did not approve of being uprooted and sent away and let us know -- quite loudly.  I'm happy to report that life is now back to normal and our house is toasty and warm.

moving and remembering

We are still dealing with the craziness that comes with relocating to Texas . . . and I'm sketching bits of our old home when I find time. This is a small section of the vintage kitchen Bill made that I am sadly leaving behind. We moved all my paints and inks last week when we went to close on the cabin. So I just have this simple "warms and cools" palette with me. If I remember right, the pigments are as follows:

cadmium scarlet  /  permanent rose
hansa yellow med.  /  hansa yellow light
serpentine genuine  /  sap green (not really a cool)
ultramarine blue  /  phthalo blue
quin. burnt orange  /  burnt umber
quin. gold  /  payne's gray

Drawing in Dad's workshed Alissa Duke

I have a yearly visit home to Toowoomba (in Queensland) from Sydney at Christmas. It is a week or two catching up with friends and family and falling into a familiar routine. This usually includes de-cluttering cupboards and being highly distracted by childhood memories.

It also involves re-exploring my Dad's workshed in the backyard. It is a step into the past. Dad died in 1987 and although much of the larger machinery and tools are gone, it still has shelves and cupboards of work tools and bit and pieces. Dad was a panel beater by trade and a handyman, inventor the rest of the time . He seemed to have every possible item to fix, nail, screw, clip, polish, cut, drill ... The tools are stored in specially labelled  containers and drawers or hanging up above the workbench, on the wall. Most of these items are still there and have not been moved

So much of this is part of my childhood

drawn in 2012

This year I decided to draw some more of it. It is al in watercolour pencil and Lamy Safari Joy ink pen. If a clean out is ever done (hopefully this year) it may not be there next time I visit. These are my artist journal pages

 

 

 

I stood in front of a wall and started drawing the tools and containers. I decided to add the colour to the (old Dixibelle margarine containers circa 1970).

 

 

 

I then drew the wall above the main workbench, over two pages. I was not sure where/if to add colour to the page. I do not need any of them in my life in Sydney, but wanted a memory. That gave me the idea to draw some of the tools on the page. I chose a few and bought them up to the house and drew they over two days.



This is what I did New Years Eve !  (wire strippers and washers)

a G-Clamp and pop rivets

 

this is what the dinner table looked like on New Years Eve - a drawing in progress

 

 

 

 

 I have no idea what many of these objects are and the labels are a mystery. It was the job of my brother & I (and Mum to ) to sort through and to separate buckets of nuts and bolts ! I did not inherit my Dad's mechanical and technical nature, although he also had a creative side (woodturning and pottery). This is not the first year I have drawn tools from the shed. Previous Christmas visits have also provided opportunities. I think I am done now.

 

 

(can't figure out how to turn this image)

Pentel Brush Pens—Variety and Use

Above: Quick Sketch (television actor) made in a Fabiano Venezia 9 x 12 inch journal using a pigmented fine-tipped Color Brush pen from Pentel. (And attacking the lines immediately with a waterbrush.) Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Besides the fabulous Pentel Pocket Brush Pen, Pentel makes several other brush pens—some with pigmented inks, some with dye-based inks. Some of the inks are water-soluble, others aren't.

I get questions all the time from students about all these pens. When I first started blogging in 2008 one of my early product reviews (in 2009) was a comparison of the Pentel Pocket Brush Pen and the Pentel Color Brush Pen.

Students were using a black Color Brush and wondering why they weren't getting the same results I was getting when I used a Pentel Pocket Brush Pen.

There are so many factors involved in getting repeatable results, so many variables that alter our artistic outcomes (variables with tools and materials, not even method and approach). It's nice to know at the beginning which tool you'll have the best chance of success with, for a certain effect.

Because of that, and because I have in the past several months, over the summer and fall, been playing with many more brush pens than my usual standby the Pentel Pocket Brush Pen, I wrote the lengthy post "RozWoundUp: Pentel Brush Pens—Which Are Which and What Type of Inks do They Hold?"

You can see the full discussion of the Pentel family of brush pens at that link. I include photos of the packaging used at the stores in my area (packaging my differ in your area).

If you don't have time or inclination to dive into the entire examination of these pens the brief breakdown is this:

•Pentel likes to use Color Brush in the names for several different pens, that look similar, but contain different inks (some pigmented and some dye-based and fugitive).

•Read the labels and if you want lightfastness go for pigmented inks.

•Realize that pigmented inks in Pentel Brush pens are probably not going to be water-soluble. However, I've had great luck working quickly and then working over lines with a waterbrush—all while working on heavily sized paper upon which the ink floats long enough for me to dilute it.

•Realize that the fun factor is high in brush pens even if they are filled with dye-based, fugitive inks. If you enjoy using such a pen and it gets you to sketch all the time, by all means keep using it, keep sketching, and just remember to scan all your finished art and treat the digital files as your originals—and back up your digital files.

Brush pens should be an essential part of your drawing practice—they are just too much fun. They help us see mass quickly, make graceful (and sometimes not so graceful) lines, help us edit details to essentials, and aid us in seeing pattern and design. They help some artists to speed up, and slow other artists down. They really are that versatile.

With so many choices available it's time you started testing some of them out.

Charles Reid English Watercolour Sketchbook DVD Trailer

I've always loved Charles Reid's watercolors--so thought you might enjoy this too!