New CD...not yet, but SOON.

I'd started this CD  shortly before I got my new computer...over a year ago!  So some of you have been waiting a long time, sorry...my new machine doesn't like my old movie-making software, and I love the way it works.  I've tried other software, but never quite taken the time to get the hang of it...

I finally realized that when Joseph's not using his computer, I can--it still has the old Windows MovieMaker on it!  (So does my new machine, but it's a simplified version that just doesn't cut it for me!)

I often sketch trees when I work in my journal, either close up or in distant landscapes, and I know a lot of you do, too...the CD will have a LOT of images from my journals, along with hints and tips on how to draw or paint them in various mediums!

This one was done with one of the brush pens we've been talking about here...in this case, a Pentel Pocketbrush, with touches of watercolor.

And these little guys above were a very quick sketch with a dark Prismacolor colored pencil, with watercolor added later.  That's one of my favorite quick journal-sketch techniques.  I either add color on the spot with one of my little travel kits, or do it later at home and hone my color memory!

This wild thing has been one of my favorites!  Watercolor pencil in bold colors--more my impression of a fall tree than an actual reproduction...

It'll be a while till I can finish this, but it IS--finally!--in the works again!  Thanks for your patience...and yes, I'm working on new mini-classes, too...

New Artist's Journal Workshop Facebook group

We have a new Facebook group! 

At this point, the blog here has 28 co-authors, all people who have been involved in the book.  I love sharing here, and will obviously keep doing just that, with my own thoughts on journaling, product reviews,  interviews from our co-authors and their posts on process, supplies, tools, thoughts, needs, just as we've been doing for months now.  The FB group doesn't replace the blog...this place is my baby, not to mention a great place to meet with friends!

But I also wanted to create a place where we could ALL share our work--blog authors, readers, and anyone who keeps an art journal, so the Facebook group may just be the place.  You're welcome to join and post whatever you're doing in your own artists' journal!  I just set it up this morning, so join us and add your bits, you'll enrich it no end...

Don't be shy!  Finished work, quick sketches, whatever you're doing at the time...it's all about sharing.
It's an open group...so whether you do ink sketches, watercolor, collage, memory pages, travel journaling, , add your images! 

If you lose the link above, I kept it simple--it's got the same name as the blog (and the book!)--Artist's Journal Workshop.  Just enter that in the search box at the top of a Facebook page and it should pop right up.

I'm just learning the ins and outs of FB's updated groups, so be patient with me please...but feel free to go check it out, join us, add your own images, whatever!

And it will be fun!

Testing Tools...more ink pens!

As always, I'm looking for good sketching tools, both those with a fine, crisp line and those that offer some variety...

Here's one I tried on a whim, the Platinum Pocket Brush, which has a fiber tip rather than the brush, like Pentel's Pocket Brush (which I also love!)  The Platinum comes with a cartridge of  Platinum's waterproof Carbon Black ink, which I enjoy in my fountain pens, though in bottle form I believe you need to shake it occasionally (The cartridges come with a little roller ball inside that keeps the ink stirred!).

At first I had problems getting the cartridge to fit in place, but the good people at Jet Pens told me how (basically, PUSH!)

I do like the line variety, from very fine to thunderously black...these are inexpensive and versatile, and well worth the $3.00 it cost and then some!  (Yes, you read that right.  THREE DOLLARS.  With cartridge!)
You can see more here.

Like the Pentel Pocket Brush, the ink stays put when you wash over it...FUN for sketching in our journals.  The fiber nib of the Platinum is stiffer, of course, but it's also nicely controllable.

And by the way, I was delighted to find that the Pentel Pocket Brush is now available at my longtime favorite brick-and-mortar art supply store, Creative Coldsnow in Kansas City!  It's a wonderful warren of rooms in an old building in the Westport area...I love to explore there.

Correspondent Laure Ferlita recently tempted us with her video on the 17th, Using One Pen in Place of Three --she was using a Duke Pen, which you can find on eBay; one of our readers recommended the Sailor DE Brush Stroke Style Calligraphy Fountain Pen, which was also available from JetPens--since I was making an order anyway, who could resist??

As you can see, the nib is very similar to the Duke Pen Laure demonstrated.   It will take quite a bit of practice for me to actually use it for calligraphy, but I LOVE the variety for sketching.  (Check out the sample of writing  on JetPens page--it IS lovely, so I guess I need to practice!)

 

And nope, I don't get a kickback from anyone or any company mentioned here--no free pens, no cut, I just like to make journaling and creativity the pleasure for you that it is for me!

(That said, I still need a pen that's a pleasure to write with, as well...so I still carry my Lamy, Waterman, or the  slightly-too-heavy-for-me TWSBI fountain pen I found on eBay, by chance.  It's smooth and nice, AND has a built in converter with a larger than usual capacity, so I've just filled it with Platinum Sepia ink...)

Good Medicine

Think Day, a photo by PJBee on Flickr.

After having myself immersed in non-stop work for the last four months I declared a 'Think Day'. No computer... no phone... just a day to get my bearings.

I know of no better tonic than to sit with a sketchbook/journal and favorite writing instrument and hash out life's current questions.

A bonus is having a much loved dog curled up between your legs :)

Saturday Night in Altoona

I just posted this on the Urban Sketchers blog, and thought I'd put it here too...you might be interested!

We had planned to stay over in Indianola on our way to the Amana Colonies, but there was no room at the inn.  After much wandering about, we found ourselves on a rainy Saturday night in Altoona, by a truck stop.  I was determined to draw, so I sat at the window and went for it!  The air conditioning unit acted as a table and the windowsill was my taboret.

I've been carrying a woodless colored pencil so I didn't have to worry about the lead refusing to sharpen...did the initial sketch with that, in black...

When I added the color from my retrofitted Prang set (my current favorite travel palette) I discovered it was a woodless WATERCOLOR pencil.  Ooops.  Oh well, I rather liked the effect, it made it look as rainy as it indeed was. 

Joseph suggested I shoot a photo of my subject...looks kind of unprepossessing, doesn't it?  You can see I edited quite a bit out!  (Squished the big truck up a bit, too, so it would fit on my page...)

Quick Sketch with my Lamy Joy pen

We went to see our godchild Molly Hammer in Sister Robert Anne's Cabaret Class in Amana, Iowa, over the weekend, and stayed, happily, at Rose's B & B again.  I had more time to sketch this time--by design--and even to the last minute, as J. was checking out and packing the car, I was squeezing in one more quick sketch!

I loved this tiny shed, and knew I didn't have time for color, so I whipped out my Lamy Joy pen with the 1.1 calligraphy nib and jumped right in there.  I added a few details with my regular Lamy with the EF nib, which is somewhat more controllable.  Loved the morning shadows here...as J. was putting the last of our stuff in the Jeep, I took a quick reference photo...

As I noted before, I would REALLY like a fountain pen with a good flex so I get a variation in my lines, but so far only the antique ones really fill that bill, and they're temperamental and sometimes want to leak. So if I turn the calligraphy pen in different directions, as Laure suggested in her wonderful little video, I get some thick and thin!

I've got the Lamy joy with a 1.1 nib and also a couple of regular Lamys with the EF nib. Again, the charcoal seems to be smoother than the silver nib. (My Lamys are both Vista--that's the same as the Safari only transparent--I can see when I need to think about refilling, instead of just running out of ink.)

Earlier Monday morning, I had taken time to do a longer watercolor...I'd imagined doing sketches all over town, Amana is so picturesque and the old homes and businesses just beg to be recorded, but there just isn't time for everything...

Because I knew how quickly the long, raking shadows of the morning would change,  I sketched in their shapes FIRST, with a pencil, then sat on my folding stool to add the details.  I used my beloved retrofitted Prang box, a 1/2" flat and a #8 round brush.

The sun was strong on my white paper, and my paint dried REALLY quickly, both on the paper and on my palette, so I worked very fast...

And again, shot a quick photo to freeze those shadows!  If I wanted, I could do a more formal painting of the garage/shed at Rose's...

Video: Using One Pen in Place of Three!

When I find a tool this good, to replace several...I just have to tell everyone!

Disclaimer, I nor ImaginaryTrips.com have any association or affiliation with Duke Pens. Please purchase and try at your own risk.