This time, I chose one of the two sketchbooks covered with "peacock feather" paper. The landscape orientation is due to the inner paper's grain running the opposite direction as the usual paper I use -- When folding papers to sew into a book, the grain should run the same direction as the spine. I try to tear whole sheets down to journal size without wasting any. This is filled with Fabriano Artistico soft-press paper -- a wonderful watercolor paper that is somewhere between hot-press and cold-press in texture.
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| And the first page, as has long been my habit, shows my current favorite travel palettes. |
My favorite pigments are in the upper right. The smaller palette in the lower left holds the original quarter-sized pans it came with. I am liking the richness of these paints from Daler-Rowney but I don't like some of the colors. When these are used up, I'll rethink how to fill it.
Or at least a good reminder to post up on the studio wall!
ReplyDeleteYour journal books look so professionally made with that artistic touch from being hand made. If only.............
ReplyDeleteThanks, Susan! I think I'm slowly getting the hang of it --- each time I make them they turn out a bit better.
ReplyDeleteWhen working in your journals, do you ever have entries or completed pages that you wish had turned out differently? What would you tell another person if they expressed their hesitancy in taking brush or pen to their journal page out of fear of messing up?
ReplyDeleteAnother question........you up for a step by step of how 'you' create your journals?
Sorry I didn't answer sooner, Susan. I just returned from Texas . . .
ReplyDeleteI CONSTANTLY have journal entries that I wish had turned out differently. Mostly they are pages that seem overworked -- it's hard to stop when I should. Then sometimes pages just "work" -- and I have no clue why.
The best way to get past the fear of messing up is to DO IT. Allow yourself to not be perfect. Gay and Christina of the Watercolor Journaling DVD call this "practicing imperfection". The more we do something, the better we become. Expect to make mistakes -- every not-so-good attempt teaches us something if we allow it.
I once was a desk clerk in a motel. While learning, I overbooked some rooms by mistake, costing the motel a few hundred dollars as they paid for rooms for the guests elsewhere. The manager forgave me -- and I NEVER made that mistake again!
Allow yourself to make mistakes and learn from them.
Oh . . . and about the journals:
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I can do a step-by-step of how I make journals. Each time I get ready to make them, I pull out a couple of books and tutorials to re-learn how. I basically have to re-learn it each time.
But I will give some thought to it next time I bind some. If I do it, I should take photos as I go along so I'll have something to post.
Thank you for sharing that about the fear factor in making mistakes. Even though I might know this logically speaking, I tend to forget or feelings overtake logic.
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you for thinking about the step by steps in how you make your journals. I've spent hours and hours pouring over you tube videos and other how tos found on the internet and find it very confusing. I understand the signatures but it's the cover part like what you turn out that is really daunting with the various methods I've seen. I've even looked at purchasing a book on it but not sure which to go with. I love what you turn out!!!
The covers are the most challenging for me as well, which is why I often do the open-spine coptic binding.
ReplyDeleteI recommend Gwen Diehn's book, "Real Life Journals". It really breaks the steps down well for lots of differing styles, including full-case hardback covers like my current journal.
Thank you for that lead :-)
ReplyDelete