Got new journals bound...

We all seem to be of two minds about a brand new, pristine journal, especially a handbound one!  Since I make my own, it may be a tiny bit less of an issue, but sometimes we're a little intimidated by that First Blank Page.  Clean, snowy paper.  Full of possibilites...full of.....................blank paper!

What do YOU do to get past that fear of white paper?  I wrote a whole article about that once, and if I can find it, I'll post it!

You saw Fred Crowley's opening page last week; Liz Steel often sketches her current paint set as a first page...if you've got a tradition like that, go for it! 

Add a quote you like, and illustrate it. 

Draw the first thing that comes to mind.

Or skip a few pages, and let the journal itself tell you what to put there.

Do be sure to add contact info either in the front or back of your journal so it can be returned to you if lost.  I know several people who have been VERY glad they did that.

Personally?  I'm excited about having all these choices, now, and can't wait to finish the last three pages in the one I'm using!

Quick sketch, new journal

As I mentioned the other day, I really like the little journals from Moon Moth Press, and because I've been swamped lately, I decided to pop for another one instead of taking time for bookbinding right now.  It came, and it's delightful!

The little book with the wonderful cover, on top, is my first journal from them; haven't had a chance to shoot the new one yet, but it's from the same early 20th C. series of discarded books.

The journals are lightweight and small, like the outside dimensions of an old novel (because that's where they started, as you can see).  They're filled with 12 double-sided sheets of Arches 90 lb. HP paper and 6 pages of colored Bugra or Mulberry paper for notes (though I do art on them too, with gouache.)  This makes them ideal for travel, for special uses, projects, themes, or to fill in till you have time to do (or make) something else. (I've added their link to our sidebar of journal resources.)

We had a snow day this week (as did much of the nation!), so I stayed in and made bread, and got to use page one of the new journal to record it.

That first page in any new journal is always a big intimidating, unless you have a traditional starter, like Liz Steel does--she usually sketches the current watercolor set as her title page.  Prowl around her Flickr, you'll find some!  In my case I needed to sketch the bread before cutting it, so I was in a hurry!  Grabbed the new journal, no time for angst, and slapped it in with ink and watercolor.

The other reason for the hurry?  We have another blog online, Starving Artists in the Kitchen, and I'd promised to share the recipe, as SOON as I had it sketched!  So if you're a bread fan, head on over there for the recipe...