Coffee In Hand….

I’ve been working on some doodles for my doodle directory series.  Since the squares are small, it was a good size to try a stacking coffee cup illustration.



Grabbed my 8 x 8 square watercolor pad….and proceeded to draw the cups on a larger scale.



Since, I’m not very practiced in drawing inanimate objects…. I had to believe in myself!



Then I tried to bring in a paisley-bandana look to the cups.



For the art journal page, I thought I’d illustrate the journaling on a picture behind the cups.



Buffed up the letters…..



Then filled the lettering in…..Came across this saying a few years ago and I liked it!!!

A mind is a terrible thing to waste!

Being a child of the 70’s I remember this commercial about Education.  It was powerful and persuasive.  “A mind is a terrible thing to waste”.



After spending some time with a young teenage friend who has not been well cared for from the people who should.  I came away one day from our weekly visit with “ A heart is a terrible thing to waste” resonating in my head.  More so than a mind…if you ask me.



Came across the “ABC’s of Life” word list somewhere so added those to the background.



Had to add some color….somewhere!  Haha



Not great lighting…sorry.



Simple and to-the-point……but seriously, what does Xeriscape really have to do with living a better life?



Then I came across this page that I had done awhile back too.  Interesting fonts, I’ll give it that .  
This is about as good as my art journaling gets, granted if I had added color I’d like it more.

Art Journal….we are shaped

I was putzing around pinterest the other day and I spotted this picture.  It was in a post for 4th grade art ideas.  Yep, that’s where I am, 4th grade, 6th grade and pre-school art!  Haha. 



I adapted things a bit and used watercolor pencils instead of markers.  I wanted to journal on this page.  I was a little bummed that I made the lines so narrow.  Writing in these narrow spaces would’ve driven me crazy and it would’ve required actually writing something of interest….not of the innane that seems to fill my journals.



Limited my color palette to the oranges/reds/yellows.



Possibly I should’ve stated that “I am shaped”, instead of we are shaped….oh well!





Camaraderie, Purpose and Structure are what Dennis Prager talked about in his Happiness Hour on Friday. Thought I’d include them in this page.



Did you know that camaraderie is spelled 2 different ways? Comradery and camaraderie…..and YIKES!!...I just realized I spelled it wrong here.

Who Says?

I got the inspired to draw a peacock from this post.



Then I thought it would be cool to write in the different feathers.



They say it takes intelligence to hold two opposing views in your head at the same time…well, I don’t know if that’s true but it is something I do a lot.



After I drew this little guy, I thought he resembled the little gecko from those geiko commercials.



I thought this view was pretty cool.



I think I like the way these art journal pages look with the watercolor as the base.



And this is what all that ramblin’ reading says.  A fun collection of little quips people say.

Prep Page Three

I prepped this page a couple weeks ago for a trip.  I finally got around to the journaling part since I ran out of time while away.



I think this is a fun way to think thru stuff and to just have fun with color, shape and text.



I used the waterbased Sharpie poster paints for the green in the words above WORK.  But I forgot to wait for them to dry and smudged a bunch of letters!  Ugh!



Just some other random thoughts.



I DO drive myself crazy sometimes!!



I almost gave up on this page, until I colored in w.o.r.k.  Then I liked it!  Go figure.

Prep pages

Prepping pages….this is a new one for me!  Since I will be traveling and you know how boring airports can be….lots of waiting, lots of people, no space, uncomfortable chairs, travel luggage, delays, deadlines, drudgery!  I’ll try to make the best of it!



Sometimes I find it hard to read a book at airports, too much going on.  I get too distracted to follow any decent story.  I like to “do” something besides just people watch, but I get a kick out of that too!



I drew a bunch of random circles and colored them in with watercolor pencils!  I thought the watercolor pencils will work well with these art journal pages, since I can write over them.  Unlike markers where the ink is too dense.



Prep Page 2. 



No real direction here.  And that thing in the middle looks like the loch-nest monster.  Maybe I’ll give him some eyes.



Chose to work with more white space here. 



Just a little pep talk here. 



This page isn’t done….hopefully far from it.  I think the best pages are those that have been enhanced, colored in, marked up and where you can glimpse a small train of thought.  The pages where you can hardly recognize the finished product from the base layer. 

With these pages all ready to journal on, all I’ll need is a few pens and markers.  I won’t have to lug around my usual stash.  What a relief!!  Now, to get over the shyness of  journaling in public.  Can you?

Are you Excited about your Art?

  * Image from Keri Smith; go http://www.kerismith.com/blog/how-to-feel-miserable-as-an-artist/

It was time that I actually did an Art Journal page.  I really enjoyed doing my Psychodelic and Notes and a Doodle pages and these pages give me a chance to use my doodle directory!

I thought I’d write out the above statements about How to be Miserable as an Artist, which has been seen around the blogosphere for awhile.  I think that these statements apply to more people than just those who make Art, it applies to everyone.  However,  I really don’t like the negative tone of these statements, so I thought I’d turn it around.



I limited myself to 6 little flower petals.



Just playing with color combinations and pattern here.



So, I changed the whole concept from “How to be Miserable as an Artist” to “How to feel Excited about your Art”.



Just a pic of my 5x8 watercolor moleskine with the completed page.  The pic below is scanned.



How to feel excited about your Art:

1. Never compare your work with others.
2. Keep quiet about your Art, don’t expect others to see your vision, your way.
3. Your entire career is never based on a single piece.
4. Go out on a limb and try new things.
5. Value your experiences.
6. Push your boundaries even societal ones.
7. Don’t just follow the money, you’ll burn out.
8. Work on what you love, never mind if others like it.
9. Work on something besides what your Boss wants.  (Boss used here as Customer, Client, Gallery Owner)
10. Realize it’s all just Baby Steps, Baby Steps, Baby Steps.

I’m sure you guys have a few other things that help you to create.  Or you’ve found yourself too concerned with things or people outside of your control.  Eeek!  I’d love to hear some of your insights.

Journal Jots…..

Who are these people that get their “great ideas” in the shower?  I’d like to meet one, just one……I have never had an original thought in the shower….ever!  Usually my original thoughts happen while I’m busy doing something else…..like  w.o.r.k.i.n.g….  Which was what happened to me here.  The above is my draft for my next drawing.  Since, I’m done with the Sketchbook project, I’m a little lost….don’t know where I should focus my energy next.  Ahhhh well!

 

So, once I got home, I thought I’d give that draft a chance.



As usual, I start my drawings in the contour mode.  Once I have it to the coloring book stage……then….the…fun…begins!!!



Armed with my DOODLE  DIRECTORY, I picked a few patterns that I thought would show up well in a black-white-gray color scheme.



Had to capture a picture in this stage, because if I totally flub the next step, this post would’ve ended here.



This part worked….Thank God.   I used watercolor pencils and just wanted to give the journal color. 



Joyce-the-Journaler……..She’s been journaling almost all her life.  It began as a way to control her tongue, but it’s morphed into a place where she can work out her thoughts.  She writes whatever comes into her pretty-little-head, sometimes what she writes makes sense and sometimes not so much.  But it’s a habit now, and if she hasn’t written for a few days, she feels a little dis-combobulated.