Starting a New Journal, Part 3

We now have a page decorated in watercolor, but it still needs something to draw a reader in. I decided to use Copperplate calligraphy to draw a heading. I'm still learning Copperplate, and am not an expert in that hand by any stretch of the imagination! And this is drawn with a pencil, then overdrawn with a colored pencil. It is good enough for this, though. I have the look I was trying to achieve.

This is one way to approach that first page: using calligraphy, watercolor paint, and a page design. Of course, yours will be very different, but it is fun to see how other artists work.

For more inspiration and variety, here is a sampling of a few recent page designs that I've done. The astronomy journal on the bottom left is still in progress. It needs more contrast, and I will probably add inks.

You can tell from the cow design that I am playing around with different lettering, too.

Next time, we'll discuss content... thank you for reading!

Starting a New Journal, Part 2

We've traced the rectangle from the right hand side of the layout onto the first page of the journal, using a light box. What next?

I would love for this rugged looking journal to have a formal feel inside, but not too formal. I decided to make it look like a more contemporary version of an illuminated book. I decided to use a watercolor sketch of my new favorite wildflower, and to have it break through the rectangle, for a contemporary look. I'll also plan to use watercolor, because I love splashing paint around, and this Ingres paper can take it.

The next step is to draw a flower sketch in pencil. I decide to use an arrangement of grass leaves next to the flower that is a bit Art Nouveau and decorative, rather than realistic.

And then it's time to splash paint.

On the side, you can see a test strip. It's always a good idea to test your paints on the paper that you will be using, as each paper reacts differently. I like to collage these in, or use them as a bookmark, by adding perle cotton to the top.

There is more to do before this page is done. Stay tuned!

Starting a New Journal

Opening a new journal and staring at a blank white page, with many other blank white pages behind it, can be an intimidating feeling.

Over the next few weeks, I'll share some ideas on how to get started. Remember, these are just ideas. Your journal is just that... yours! If you have a gut feeling about how you want to proceed, go for it. Don't worry about messing up. Worry and fear will make you freeze, leaving you with blank pages and an empty book, which is not what we want. Keep in mind you can always slice out the first page with a hobby knife if you really don't like it.

We'll start with that very first page. What are you going to do with it? I admit, with almost 30 years of nature journaling under my belt, I've only just begun to think about page design. In the past, my journals were just resources, field notes that I took to give me something to go from for more finished work, or a record of beautiful days spent outdoors. Very few people ever looked in my field journals. Now, I find that the world of art blogging and sketching is encouraging me to think about sharing these sketches, which means they have to communicate something to others, not just to me. And they should look good on the page, ideally.

So, with that in mind, I'm going to share the process of designing pages for a few new journals. We'll start with my Prairie Journal, housed in the Lewis and Clark-inspired journal that I wrote about a while back.

The journal has a rugged look. I thought it would be a very interesting contrast to have a more formal interior. With that in mind, I turned to Dubay and Getty's Italic Letters book for instructions on how to lay out a Canon page design. This is the design used in the late Middle Ages to the beginning of the Renaissance, and it has a wonderful feel to it. There is something indescribably beautiful, I think, about the way this page layout looks.

Notice the geometry? That's probably why I love it.

I traced the text area in red ink to make it easier to see. The next step was to place it on a light box, with the first page of my journal over the right hand side of the layout.

Next time, we'll look at how to get started after tracing the rectangle.

 

Astronomy Journal

This has been an exciting summer for astronomy. I was awed by the sight of the Venus and Jupiter conjunction, and I am now eagerly checking the news from NASA as they post pictures of Pluto and its moons.

In August, the Perseid meteor shower is supposed to peak on the night of the 13th. The New Moon is on the 14th, so this means that there will be a greater chance to see the meteor shower without competing light from the moon.

Astronomy has been finding its way into my journals lately, but I decided the subject deserved a journal of its own. I chose a dos-a-dos (back-to-back) format, casing the pages into a hardcover binding. I think I will use one side for events like the meteor shower, and the other side for everyday observations. However, I discovered that this format is not for the faint of heart. It is difficult to get everything to sit perfectly in the binding.

Here is what the cover papers looked like, before they were glued on. The color of the illustration is subtle, as is the paper itself. To the right on the top is a test paper. You can see in the top left corner that a watercolor gold test did not go well! The tiny bit of water that I used left a large water ring. This is the messy part of illumination... finding out what works, and what doesn't! The beautiful bright gold moon was gouache, but it was too stark on this paper for my taste. (You can click on the image for a better look).

I had to use a PVA glue on this paper since my usual wheat paste left water spots. The one I used is called Jade, which has many good qualities. Its drawback is that it dries fast, so with a binding like this, I did not have much time to get things right! If I had been able to use my usual PVA/paste combo, it would have allowed me to shift things around and reposition them without rushing.

This is my book press, made for me by my husband and son. It is simple, but effective. I leave finished books to dry in there for a few days, and opening it is like opening a Christmas gift. The book always looks better when it is removed.

And here is the book being released from the press!

Tearing paper for the pages, rather than cutting, is time consuming, but gives a lovely handmade feel to the edge to the paper. It always seems to stick out a bit more when I do this. If I ever decide to make this book format again, I will add additional width to the covers.

I like how the illustrations came out on the covers. I was playing around with a monoline Uncial calligraphy written on a curve. I really like this effect- probably because Uncial is so rounded, and the curve echoes this look. I have chosen words from Psalms 147, 148, and 104 that mention stars and the moon.

Thank you for visiting! I hope this inspires you to get out and look up at the sky. There is so much beauty to see all around us.

Lewis and Clark inspired journals

I still find myself saying that I am new to Nebraska, even though I have been here for a year. This landscape is so different that I still feel as though I am seeing it all for the first time. This will be my second summer here, but the first one was lost to unpacking boxes. I know now where I want to go, what flowers and plants to look for, and some of the wild places that I want to explore before the cold comes again.

Thanks to the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center in Nebraska City, I have also rediscovered my interest in Lewis and Clark. I have my own journey of discovery now. There are new vistas to explore, new plants to catalog and paint, new scenes to admire.

These are views of the Missouri River from the National Headquarters of the Lewis and Clark trail.

To commemorate my personal journeys of discovery, I made my own versions of an explorer's journal.

Clark's journals were bound in elk hide, with a very specific paper. The top journal, which does not yet have the pages inserted, is made from leather remnants. The bottom journal is made from imitation leather. (I found one that did not have a strong plastic odor). I like both of these journals very much, though I think the imitation leather may actually be a bit sturdier and more water repellent. They are constructed by sewing the signatures on bookbinding tapes, with a wraparound cover. This is probably the sturdiest construction for this type of journal, which I hope will be used heavily. I've dropped journals in the dirt so often that I know they need to be sturdy!

Inside, I have bound in Thai Uruyu and German Ingres papers. These are meant to be used. Once you get past the intimidating feeling of a handmade journal, and start to actually write in it, they become like old friends. Next week, I hope to show how to break in a new journal. Stay tuned!

Wanderings...

I suppose I am a wanderer at heart. My parents used to take us on long car trips through the western U.S. when I was young, and I used to wonder what it would be like to live in some of the little western towns, surrounded by cattle and sagebrush. I would look at the houses, at the curtained windows, and wonder what their day was like: what experiences would be normal and routine for them, but foreign to me. Now I can say that I have lived in a small western town, surrounded by cattle and sagebrush. What a grace to experience other worlds, other vistas in this vast, beautiful country we live in.

For now, I am back home. Here we will probably stay, though I still dream of visiting a little cabin in the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho, or the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. A change of location brings many other changes: ways of working change; goals change. This move has been no different.

There are so many stories to be told here in Louisiana. I think for a while here I will be focusing on nature sketches and writing, telling some of these stories in words and pictures. It will be interesting to compare my sketches from years ago to the same areas today.

My aunt once told me that my grandmother loved the sight of the cypress trees and Spanish moss coming back into view after being away. I love that sight, too. I know some of my readers are visiting this blog from other places, and do not know this scenery. Stay tuned, and I will be delighted to share some of it with you.

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This is my well-worn painting bag, collecting patches and pins from National Parks and Monuments. I like it because it is waterproof and has little pockets for all sorts of supplies. Inside, I can also fit a few sketchbooks. It was not designed to be an artist's bag, but it is just right for the things I need to carry!

Well Loved Books

My last post reminded me of a couple of other well-loved books from my younger years. In the photo above, you can see the Eliot Porter book I mentioned, Hal Borland and Les Line's A Countryman's Flowers, a book of Robert Frost's poems, and a National Geographic book titled Exploring America's Backcountry. Interestingly, this last book features chapters about both the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho and the Atchafalaya swamp here in Louisiana. I could not have imagined in my wildest dreams when I was young that I would know both places. I am truly blessed.

There was another National Geographic book that I loved as a kid, Our Fifty States. I had that book almost memorized. Back then, I wanted to see them all. Today, I can say that I have indeed been fortunate enough to see quite a few, but there are still some tantalizing states left for me to see. I still want to visit Alaska and Hawaii, and Maine.

My parents were good to me. They gave me books to love.

Mini Books, and Robert Louis Stevenson

Last week, I found a great quote by Robert Louis Stevenson.

"I kept always two books in my pocket, one to read, one to write in."

I think many of us writers are the same way. I love to read. And I am constantly coming up with ideas for my own writing at the worst possible moments- waiting in line at the grocery store, running or working out, driving in a car, doing yardwork. I have learned to keep a tiny book in my pocket to write things down. I can't tell you how many times I've lost a poem or an essay because I forgot to write it down when I was inspired, or I was too busy to pay attention.

If I am driving, I do wait until I get to a red light, or until I've parked, though!!!

I have a few mini books that I use for these "seeds." They are Japanese stab bound books, made from museum board covered with Japanese papers. I use a nice paper inside to write on. They are almost too beautiful to write in, but what good is a blank book that is not used?

They are very small, 2"x2". This is not the smallest size book I've ever made (that may be another post!), but it is the perfect size for a pocket. I need something that tiny, because I don't always have a purse. The blue one standing in the front is my current volume. It is well loved, and has held up for a long time.