Postcard Challenge - Card 1

"Michael,

We were hoping for an unusual hotel for our stay in Austria - well this is it!
Sleeping in a sewage pipe is a lot more comfortable than it sounds.
Would recommend!

Nat. x "

(no stamp yet but I'm hoping to fix that soon.)

Illustrated Journal

I have decided to call my sketchbook-with-drawings-and-writing an 'Illustrated Journal', which makes it more clear to me that it's not my Art Journal, even though it's art. I know it seems a bit confusing maybe, but it works in my head so I'll stick with it.


Annyyywayyy.... I've done some more pages that I'd like to share:

I don't think I'd ever done a drawing of my art supplies before, so it was about time. My Koh-i-Noor paints, a Pentel waterbrush and my Cotman Sketcher's set.


My clock and the tablets I take every day. I'm hoping to cut down this year. Fingers crossed!


My breakfast this morning. Because the Cotman Sketcher's Pocket set has a limited pallet, I had to be creative about my shadows. I really like the way this came out.

I'm really enjoying this new experience, finding little things to draw and using my watercolours to add more interest to the drawing. So far I've used my Micron 03 pen, but today I received the sillicone grease and syringes I ordered to fill my fountain pens with ink. I'll be playing with them for the next few days to see what I prefer using. Watch out for more Illustrated Journal pages.

Daily don't work - part 2

Just over a year ago, I wrote my blogpost Daily don't work, a post which since I've written it I've linked to it in several other blogposts, including the one I wrote yesterday.

When I read my dear friend Blade's comment, I figured I needed to explain things a bit further.

Here's what Blade said:
"I keep seeing you say, "Daily don't work for me," but I know of tons of stuff you do daily. Sleep, eat, drink water... Make your art like that. ;) "

Right...

I do do art related things on a more or less daily basis. I draw, I paint, I stick stuff in my art journal, I journal, I write blog posts, I take pictures, I look for inspiration, I think of future projects. I might not do all of that every single day, but art is part of my daily life and has been for some time now.

So that's not it. The 'Daily don't work' comment is for all those 'create every day'-projects that you see so many of online. Creating an art habit after doing something for 20 or 30 days, not missing a day. And that's what the problem is. I can't do 'do this every day for 30 days'-things. I did do the Project 365 challenge and there were days where I really-honestly-Imeanrealllyyy had no idea what I was supposed to take a picture of. But because I did not want to fail, I had to.

And I did not like that feeling. And Tye sure did not like hearing me moan about it... ;)

So while I probably will end up doing my Everyday Matters-inspired drawings on daily basis for a while, I don't want to commit to a 'You Have To Do This Every Day For 30 Days Straight Or You Fail'-kind of challenge. Because I don't want to feel bad for missing a day or two or four.

Arting, or not arting, should not make me feel guilty. And that's why 'daily don't work for me'.

Creative License - a review of sorts

I am probably one of the last people to ever hear of or buy (been gifted) Danny Gregory's The Creative License, giving yourself permission to be the artist you truly are.
Now, it has to be said, the title made me rebel a bit. It's the 'permission' bit. I've always been 'permitted' to make art, but up until a few years ago I just never really thought of myself as capable of doing anything like that. The word just makes me itch a bit. But once you get over that part, it is an absolute awesome book!

Last summer I wrote about Gregory's book Everyday matters, and the same, if not more, is true of Creative License; it's a book that inspires you to finally get a pen and paper out and start drawing already! (Notice I said pen and not pencil, Danny Gregory feels that you learn more from drawing with pen than with a pencil you can erase.)

In this book Gregory talks about all the reasons people don't draw. They don't see the point, they don't have the time, they just can't do it. And then he explains how, even with as little as a few minutes a day (but hey, Daily don't work for me!), you can do simple drawings while actually looking at your objects instead of thinking you know what you're seeing. He shows you where in your busy day you could find the time to set aside a few minutes to do these drawings, and even thinks of what you could draw. And then a large part of the book is about keeping an illustrated journal and how that can benefit you.

Now I am currently working on my Art Journal number 10, in which I draw and paint and write in and stick stuff down in. It's not the same as a journal with just your own drawings. It's a completely different style. It reminds me a bit of Urban Sketching, which I am still working on from home.

The sketchpads I bought will be used for these drawings inspired by daily life, with some writing thrown in. I'm not giving up on Art Journaling at all, but I think this is something I want to explore for a while and see where it will take me.

And to start things off, here's my first drawing of the year:


Thank you Danny Gregory for being such an inspiration.

This is just a test

Father Christmas brought me lots of art goodies, and for my birthday Tye signed me up for Sketchbook Delight 2, and the inlaws got me vouchers and money to spend on more art goodies... but by the time I got to the shop I could not really think of anything I wanted or needed. And yes, I know how spoilt that sounds...

On the market however I spotted some sketchbooks. Spiral bound, which I like because I have limited space, and the pages felt thick enough for what I want to do.
MIL did not understand that I spent some of my birthday pennies on what she thought look like cheap notepads, but they made me very happy, especially after I did a little test:


Using a Micron pen, calligraphy ink and Cotman watercolours, there was no bleeding, and the paper kept nice and smooth. I like it, I like it! I got myself 2 A5's and an A (see here if that doesn't mean anything to you), the bigger ones are my favourite size anyway, and the smaller one is perfect for just throwing in a bag when out and about. And they are cheap enough for me not to worry about 'ruining a page', because yes, I do suffer from that sometimes.

I can't wait to see these sketchbooks all filled up!

Postcard Challenge

Just two more days and the Postcard Challenge will start!
I of course have changed my mind a billion times on who my characters will be, and still have not decided anything yet. I try not to let this worry me, when Darcy gives us the first country I'll do my art work first...

I'm still incredibly excited about this. I can even see this being turned into my Nanowrimo for next year.

But first I needed a book. The lovely who thought of this fie folder book offered to pre-fold some filefolders and sent them to people who did not want to fold their own or could not get any where they are, oh yes please! I got some sturdy cardboard to make the cover out of and used the same white ductape as I did for my magazine Art Journal.

So here it is, my Postcard Challenge book:



There's also a Facebook Group and a Flickr Group for those interested in seeing all the work done in this challenge. And of course I will be posting all my cards on this blog, so you can keep up with the story as it unfolds.

Roll on 2012!

Birthday Girl

Guess who had her very first birthday last Monday? I had to wait for better weather to take some pics: