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!