beginning a new journal

As with all of my journals, I added my current palette to the first page of my new journal, a Stillman and Birn Beta softcover. The heavier Beta paper is my favorite of this brand’s excellent product line, with its brighter white cold press surface.The watercolors on the right-hand page are my up-dated choices, along with my favorite fountain pen, a Kaweco Liliput XF.

I read the quote from Cathy Johnson recently on her Facebook page and it stuck with me. Beware what you write on blogs and social media — it might find its way into some sketchbook artist’s journal!

The tube watercolors are squeezed into various sizes of metal pans borrowed from my Pocket Palette, from Expeditionary Art. Two business card sized magnets were attached to the bottom of this flat metal Daler Rowney palette box I once found at a Target store in the scrapbooking section. I can play around with the paint arrangement, and there is space at the bottom for both a travel squirrel mop brush and my Liliput pen.

But another arrangement I can switch to, especially if I find myself using toned papers, is to add a row of gouache along the upper edge. Just a basic triad plus white; I can mix just about any color from these, or mix them with the watercolors. I added the gouache colors to the upper left of the first page spread, after deciding to have this option.

I carry a waterbrush that can be used with the gouache, as I think the pigments might be hard on the squirrel or sable travel brushes I carry with me.