Roz Wound Up

Diane Wesman's Utah Travel Journal

Readers of my blog may recall my post on Diane Wesman's Utah Travel Journal on October 16. Diane is a landscape painter who has recently returned to working in oils (a medium she hadn't used since college). (My post also had a group shot of the small oils she made on this trip.) Well last week Diane posted about her travel journal on her blog, and I thought I would mention it here because it is always fun to read what an artist is thinking about her own work, her own methods, her own trip. So take a moment to check out Diane's blog post on her travel journal. She shows you many journal pages I didn't include in my post, including a great view of the nifty pocket she made at the back of the journal to hold brochures from the trip. You'll see how she incorporates images from some brochures right on her pages as well.

I always smile when I get to look through Diane's journals because she manages with minimal strokes to capture the essence of landscapes she passes through—zooming by in the car (with someone else driving of course). And always there is a remarkable sense of light in her sketches, which she translates into her final paintings. Take this opportunity to see how one landscape artist sees and thinks.

Using the Journal as a Notebook—and a Reminder

Above: For me the visual journal is a place to keep notes, work out book structures, make class supply lists, and keep tabs on my experiments. Sometimes there are pages of notes with swatches, sometimes, as above, the notes are squeezed into any available space because I happened to be working on a page when I started thinking and writing my notes. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

First the reminder: Monday, November 16, 7 to 9 p.m. is the next meeting of the MCBA Visual Journal Collective.

It is the final meeting of the year (we will start again the third Monday of January 2010). Local calligrapher Christine Osman will give us a short talk about calligraphy and its tools so that we can think about how we can use hand lettering to better effect in our visual journals. We will also be viewing the entire set of Altered Book Journals from our first round robin. And as usual there will be time for discussion and sharing journals, to catch up on what we have been observing! The meeting is free and open to anyone of any skill level who is interested in keeping visual journals. I hope you'll join us.

Now About that Journal Spread

Serendipity—Sort of

Above: Yet another page spread from my "weirdo" journal. This spread involves sketching on graph paper as well. Read more below. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Seems to me if I put it in my journal it happens in life. Hmmm.

So if you watched the video of the partially completed pages of the "weirdo" journal you would have seen the textured paper across this spread's gutter and the cockatoo sketch (Pentel Pocket Brush Pen with Schmincke Pan watercolors, on Quattro graph paper).

After that the spread sat for a couple weeks as I worked towards it. One day I added some textured paper along the bottom of the spread. Then last week I added the collaged text: It did not seem to matter now—the slight sharpness, the mocking note that sometimes crept into her voice.

Finally, on November 3 off we went to vote. (I like to save my "I Voted" sticker to put in my journal; since I work alone, wearing such a sticker doesn't help anyone else remember to vote.) And then of course I noted down what happened on voting day.

There is a serendipitous connection between the collaged text and the event which happened later and fell on this page. I will have to explore this phenomenon more purposefully. And with great care.

Going with the Flow: More on Mixing Sketches with Collage

Above: yet another spread from my “weirdo” journal. I discuss this below. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

In an on-going attempt to show you what is going on in this journal, and give you a sense of the working method in the hopes that you will experiment and discover a working method that suits you, I thought the above image would provide a useful example. Here’s the breakdown of what happened, with a little bit of editorializing:

Sketching and Collage—just 'cause

Above: a page spread from my "weirdo journal" which I've been posting about the past few weeks. Read more about the sketching and collage below. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

If you viewed my short video of this journal when I was just starting it, you will have seen this page partially completed. Here's what happened in the building of this page:

Holiday Shopping Ideas

Left: “KJE Felties” make a fun gift. See information below. ©2009 Karen Engelbretson. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

It’s time again, in this culture, to think about gift-giving. There are boutiques and bazaars and specialty shops galore, and I’m sure there will be more coming up I haven’t heard about yet. In the meantime here are some suggestions to keep in mind for unusual items to give friends and family.

Karen Engelbretson is making more of her delightful bird “KJE Felties.” (Visit that link to find a short profile of Karen and her primer on felting!)

Please Remember to Vote Today

While this isn't a presidential election year voting still matters. Please remember to vote today. Consider why you vote. (I discussed this last year.)

And because you took time to stop by even on a busy election day here's another image from my Weirdo Journal…

Above: Page spread from the "weirdo" journal I've been discussing lately. This spread was made in stages. The sketch of the man (Pentel Pocket Brush Pen on graph paper) was placed here first. Then I added strips of decorative paper I made for covering my journals (see top and sides—purple/rust/gold strips). A fortune from dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant was added over the man's lapel. I came home on another night, late from the colored pencil class I'm teaching. I set up one of my squash and fiddled around with my Faber-Castel Pitt Artist brush pens in purple, yellow, orange, and green—making a color thumbnail of the squash and deciding on how to crop it. I decided it should get stuck in my journal along with the 3 colored pencil thumbnails I did quickly in class to show the students how I moved from one thumbnail orientation to spotting an entire series of different squash tops I wanted to do. (Sadly when I placed wax paper on top of these and burnished them a lot of the pigment lifted off so you can't see them well except in person.) Finally I did some writing about the events of the day and started to get into a doodling mode, filling the space with purple outlining and vertical lines.

Entertain Yourself: Your Journal Shouldn't Be a Chore

Above: a recent journal spread from the "weirdo journal." This is just me playing with the brush pen and gouache, on a spread where white paper had previously been attached. I added the collaged text when I finished the sketch. (Text reads: She was an amusing companion in a hard, brittle way.) That dot of blue paint is just something that fell off the brush while I was painting the background—don't sweat it. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Seems to me people who start keeping visual journals sometimes get so caught up in "I should do this," "I should do that," that they forget the bottom line: the journal shouldn't be a chore. (Normally I try to avoid the word "should" which reinforces the idea of "chores" but hey, the journal really shouldn't be a chore!)

Entertain yourself when you work in your journal. This is your time to find out more about what makes you tick! Make a page that means something only to you. Make a page that's full of your favorite things—full of fun.

Your journal isn't for someone else—it's for YOU. Entertain yourself. (And remember, entertaining yourself is going to look different for each person too: someone might fill a journal full of practice sketches of some difficult to grasp object and while that might look like work to another person that "work" was entertaining to the artist.)

Your journal is going to look different from everyone else's because you're different. What entertains you isn't going to do it for someone else. What looks like a great composition or use of line or use of negative space or inclusion of a humorous line or whatever…isn't going to do it for someone else. (Self-explanatory isn't it?)

That's the joy!

MCBA Visual Journal Collective: Update on the October Meeting

Above: another look at what's going on in the weirdo journal. Pentel Pocket Brush Pen on Magnani Annigoni Designo paper with Stabilo Tone for color. (Go to the category list and click and scan through "Colored Pencils" to see additional posts on using Stabilo Tones and similar watersoluble crayon products.) Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Last Monday we held the October meeting of the MCBA Visual Journal Collective. Twenty three visual journal keepers showed up to exchange thoughts on various tools they use in their visual journals. I wanted to share the suggestions here because many people can't attend the meetings and while some art materials may be familiar to all of us it always surprises me how many times I whip out my Niji waterbrush and someone says, "Wow, I didn't know they made such a thing."

Clare talked about her favorite pens: Faber-Castel Pitt Artist's Brush Pens. She loves to use several different colors. Other members are also smitten with these pens and use them for sketching with watercolor. The pens are waterproof and you can wash over the lines almost immediately, with your watercolors. They are great for writing bold lettering as well. Now they come in larger sizes too (I mentioned this in an earlier post) which make an even bolder brush mark. So you might want to think about adding one or two of these (or several) to your drawing kit.

"None of the Above" Collating Event

Above: a video look through my packet of art which I brought home. If the embedded video doesn't work see it on YouTube.

Last night I participated in the "None of the Above" collating event at MCBA which was in conjunction with the show of that title—still on display until November 8, 2009. Visit and check out the show in person if you live in the area. There are great pieces from about 143 artists in the gallery, as well as items from private collections providing an historical perspective. Artwork came from artists all over the world.