First and Always a Journaler

Look out!  This makes three blog posts in a row!  Why is it I get more productive the worst I feel??  Well, I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, as they say, so I'm just going to roll with it.  I think my cold has reached that tipping point where it will either mutate and develop into something really gnarly that requires antibiotic intervention or I'll start getting better.  I'm opting for the latter scenario.

I thought that today I'd share a couple spreads in my "daily diary" journal.  No matter what else happens in the day, I always make time for this tome - always.  After having completed my first Full Tilt Boogie journal, I moved on to the next volume as each journal only holds about three months of entries.  I've missed some of the other journal styles I've been working in so I'm trying to 1) revisit those neglected journals and 2) add a bit more of those other styles into my diary.  Sometimes I let this journal become a bit too anchored in a grid format as I mark the march of days so I'm trying to remember to emphasis the "visual" in visual journaling.  Having pages with images I can alter and/or write around helps inspire me.

Merrily I Doodle On

Despite contracting a wicked head cold from one of my students, I am working away on illustrations for my Christmas journal so I thought I'd share a couple more shots of my progress.  I am working on 140-lb, hot press Arches watercolor paper.  I've discovered that I prefer Arches over Fabriano for this purpose as the paper feels thicker and smoother.  However, I used Fabriano in the construction of the journal as recommended by Teesha Moore and Fabriano is definitely better than Arches for journal-making since it doesn't crack when folded.

Anyhoo, I am sketching in pencil, outlining with black Micron, painting with watercolors, and then cutting out the little doodles and characters.  I'm going to attach an illustration to each page in my journal and you can see in the photo of the cover how the drawing looks once added to the page.  It really pops!  As a bonus, if I have an "Oops!" moment with a doodle, I can simply make a new one rather than wondering how to cover a mistake that is on the actual page. 

I'm having so much fun thinking up characters to bring to life and really falling in love with watercolors & cartooning all over again!  This is the perfect remedy for the common cold!

Tis the Season for Doodling

I am happily working on a bunch of little hand-drawn and watercolored illustrations for my developing Christmas journal.  As I sketch and doodle and paint, I realize that I don't do this often enough and I think 2012 needs to include A LOT more illustration work!  It brings out the playful side of me and I find it to be a very peaceful process.  I also realized today that this spur-of-the-moment Christmas journal idea may take me till the end of winter to complete!

Banishing the Bah Humbugs

In order to chase away my usual winter blues and slow my pace during this overwhelming season, I decided to create a Christmas journal and as you can see, the project is in its infancy.  Right now I'm simply creating frames for the pages using a huge pile of Christmas scrapbook papers I've collected over the years.  At this point, I have no real defined vision in mind as I am simply letting the repetitious collaging soothe my harried soul.  I'll post more pics as this impromptu project unfolds.