drawing with a ballpoint pen

One of the things I remember being stressed when I started keeping a visual journal was the need to use a pen. I started with the works of Danny Gregory and Dan Price, who captured the world around them with bold lines and fun handwriting. 

I've gotten into making sketches with pencil, as of late, and spending hours on them. My Red Storybook is full of half-finished pages because I simply didn't have enough time, or needed to move on. So the other day, I decided to just...doodle. Draw what was in my head. Not make perfect lines. Let things overlap. Be imperfect. 

And hell if I haven't been having fun! 

This weekend was very busy and very exhausting for me, and I was interrupted a lot. So I found my Ink Joy ballpoint pens and decided to work informally, scribbling in whatever moments I could grab. I had my white pen there for the eyes, and grabbed my Tombow markers to color things in at the end (since they are transparent and don't leak through paper). 

I'm excited to keep working this way, and make a whole sketchbook of these girl illustrations. I can't believe I locked myself into a box (do illustrations, color in with gouache) and only now allowed myself to do something different!

Room In the Red Storybook...

I love illustrating, but lately, I've been feeling the need to go without a plan, and see what comes out. 

This is also a very relaxing way to approach your art journal...put down some paint and see what happens. The color study started looking boring, but the more I played and explored, the more complex it became! 

The right page was me drawing random shapes with one color, then wanting to fill them in...gives you some great time to play with colors and mix a few,  One awesome side effect of all my color play spreads is that I have a better understanding of where and how they work.

I really wanted to remember the girl drawing, so I pasted her in. I didn't have a sketchbook at lunch, so my father gwve me the receipt and the Fisher Pen in his pocket (he's had it for 25 years, a present from the guy who invented it! ) . I doodled as we chatted, and when we were about to leave, he slid it around and said, "wow, look at what you can do! When you started, I had no idea where you were going, but this looks great!" 

High praise indeed. But it's more...it's my parents becoming invested in my work, comfortable to give advice. I think they were secretly artists back in the day, because they're really good at helping me out!  

The Red Storybook Weeks #4 & 5

The first few weeks of The Red Storybook were amazing, and then week 4 hit and I drew, but I didn't do it well, and never colored anything. Okay, I didn't color half of week 3, either, but hey! I had weekends! I could catch up easily, right?

Nope. 

It's so hard to catch up when you also have that day's entry to do, and I've spent the past two weeks trying to catch up and stay on top of current entries. It was tough. But I have gotten to a point where I'm comfortable moving on. Oh, sure, I could spend forever and a day improving previous entries and getting into the details, but that isn't the point. I need to let go and move forward. 

I've already seen an improvement with how I work with the gouache, have added in colored pencils, and it's getting a bit easier to figure out what my illustration style really is. It's also awesome to be able to look back and see my weeks stack up -- I'm into the 40's, now, and can't believe I've cleared nearly half of February! 

I've also been working on a Massive Gouache Q&A post, as well as a How I Do This & With What post, and now that I'm caught up and posting all these spreads, will be back to regular blogging. 

(I'm always blogging on my Tumblr, which now has more art than Sherlock GIFs, and a few posts I haven't shared anywhere else even Instagram.) 

I'm goofy in love with some work I've done recently, including art journal messes made today, so this week's blogging will be more than just my silly drawings and words...(how else do we improve, though, but through doing and doing often?) 

Also, Friendly Faces is all up for self-study with some pretty satisfied students! 

The Red Storybook - Week #3

They say it takes three weeks to establish a habit, and we're at week three of my project for the year. While there was a period of about ten days where I simply wrote and did a quick pencil sketch, I've come to restructure my evenings around my storybook entries. I'll pull it out while watching an hour or two of nighttime tv to write and sketch, then head to my little desk to color the drawing in with my box of gouache before grabbing a book and snuggling with my pup in bed. 

Actually, I'm getting to be earlier than I have for the past couple of months, and spending less time at night watching tv (well, I don't count an episode or two streaming on my ipad as tv time, since I'm at my desk listening to it...). It's helping me get into a steady rhythm with my sleep schedule, which is insanely important when you have fibromyalgia. Who knew a nightly art habit was all I needed! 

I'm also becoming more confident with gouache, and am feeling less guilty about buying it because I use it every day...I'm sure you have a hoarded supply you wish you used more  or feel guilty about all the money spent on it. Well, using it every day not only helps you become more skilled with it, but you use it up faster!  

My plan is to share a few of my favorites from the week. I have to allow myself to keep some back, or else my perfectionist side will come out with each one, and instead of allowing myself to experiment, I'll be worried about if it's "good enough" to share!

(I'm also blogging them each week as a way to stay accountable...if people are expecting me to post, I'd better have something to share!)

If you have any questions about this project, or the supplies I use, leave 'em in the comments and I'll do a big post to answer them all. 

PS. There's still time to enter my book giveaway! Comments close tonight at midnight, MST! 

PPS. I'm using my Tumblr a lot as a little scrapbook of art I love, discussions about chronic illness, & Sherlock gifs. C'mon over if you have one, and let me know yours so I can add you back!

PPPS. Friendly Faces starts tomorrow! Woohoo! I'm spending the day getting everything ready. You can join at any time!

The simplest victories (red storybook #6)

Heres a favorite of mine from the Red Storybook thus far...the day I got out of the house for the first time in a week or two and stole away to the library to look for art books and 'Dirk Gently' after watching the BBC show of based off it (I have always loved Douglas Adams' odd sense of humor). I ended up curled up on a bench with a headache texting with friends who we checking up with me, and who made my day brighter with their messages. 

I haven't colored nearly enough of these entries, and some are quite bad, but I haven't missed a day. I think I needed to tell myself it was okay to not share every day in order to feel safe making terrible sketches. This one was done in acrylics. I wanted to see if I could work faster with them. I can not. Back to the gouache it is!  

Maybe I'll work on coloring a few more this weekend during my 'Sherlock' marathon. God knows the season finale on Sunday will kill me. Maybe I'll do a little fangirl page before they rip out my heart. ;) 

One Little Word - Circle

It seems our little corner of the internet is abuzz with the One Little Words we've chosen for this year, a practice I wholeheartedly approve us, as it rquires us to sit back and figure out what, exactly, it is we'd like for this year. What question will we be asking ourselves when faced with decisions, and by what value or yearning will we examine our experiences? 

It took me awhile to come up with mine -- it's been a turbulant couple of months, and this week has been the first I've felt like I can see light at the end of the tunnel, even if it's cast by my own internal stubborness and need to pick myself up. I went through quite a few words, and had one in my mind - boundaries - when I sat down to write about it in the Red Storybook. 

But what came out of my pen was something different. 

(That's one of my favorite things about writing or painting - that ability to surprise myself with what comes out when I put my mind to creative action.)  

Granted, my word isn't a usual one -- you won't find necklaces or paintings depicting mine up on Etsy -- and when I posted my little canvas yesterday, Tam voiced her curosity as to why I chose it and what it means. I'll allow a bit of the Red Storybook to explain:  

"Like a witch's circle, I need to draw a safe space around myself, filled with love & faith. I can cut a door to let in people I trust & keep out negativity. I can take care of myself & find stillness. Wrap myself in it. And the people of my circle as well.  

Ask in 2014: Does this serve the circle?" 

Whenever a witch sits down to do serious work -- whether it's a ritual, spell, oracle reading, or internal soul*work -- he or she draws a circle around herself. This is a protective boundary that keeps out negative or bad influences, but allows positive energy to pass through. It's so the witch can practice what she needs without worrying about pulling in anything detrimental to himself while working, and thus can go deeper with a sense of safety and security.  

If the boundary is breached, it breaks, but a door can be cut to pass in and out, and to let others inside. The energy of the circle hums and grows and nurtures.  

But a circle is also what is around us, the people in our lives. Those you allow and those you don't. Those you can depend on to be there, the ones who make you strive for your best self when around them. A circle is an important thing, and I haven't been the best at creating a solid one (mine is a wonky oval at best).  

It referrs to the online circle of dear readers and friends and artists who encourage me to continue down the path of artwork. Of the importance of nuturing those new to our corner of the art world and acknowledging those who have been around for ages.  

It is returning to the beginning to see how far you've come.  

It is recognizing your boundaries and respecting them -- physically, with my FMS and other ailments; emotionally, with waining depression; and spiritual, as I continue to seek out the faith family I've missed.  

For me, circle encompases so much of what I need to focus on for 2014, it seemed the perfect word. It's meaning is deep and simple. And my hope is that, by asking if an action serves the circle, I can create a more balanced, fullfilling 2014 full of friendship, stillness, and abundance.  

What's your word for 2014? I'd love to hear about it in the comments! 

(Please leave your email when you comment so I can respond!)