Experimenting with every "white-writing tool" I could find in the studio

I've had a white-lettering-on-black-paper project simmering on the back burner forever or so it seems. One of the things that has me dragging my feet is not knowing which tool (pen, pencil, marker or ink) to use. While cleaning up in the studio this weekend, I stumbled across the sheet of paper you see above (Arches text weight) as well as a couple of white pens I'd just purchased.

Deciding there was no time like the present, I sat down to play after I'd gathered as many white mark-making tools as I could find. In no particular order, I've posted close-ups of the results:
 I've been doing a lot of work with dip pens lately, so I gave a generic bottle of white ink I had a go on the left and right. Smears easily. Takes forever to get the right consistency and it took a long time to dry…hence the smearing. Could work well if you're the patient type. In the middle, I experimented with a Uni•POSCA® brush pen. Horrible control with no consistency to the ink…it's possible the ink is too old to be consistent as I've had the pen a while.
Using a Sakura® Gelly Roll pen worked very well. It takes patience to get a smooth line if you're attempting to create faux calligraphy. The Uni•Ball® Signo Angelic was the easiest pen I used and I like the results. The downside is it's a fine point and it would be really hard to do large lettering with this tip.
Since the Uni•Ball Signo Angelic worked so well, I thought the Uni•Ball Signo Broad would be even better. Wrong! You can see where the ink separated if you look at the graphic at the larger size. It also skipped like mad. Again, it's possible that the ink is old and with a new pen, it might work as well as the Angelic. (Hint: White gel pens get crotchety in their old age which is usually about 6 to 8 months.)
If I decide to go with a "chalkboard look," I will probably use a white charcoal pencil. This particular pencil seemed to have a hint of wax to it and the smearing was limited. Just below that is an example created by a Conté Pastel Pencil and it definitely, EASILY smeared! It would require a spray fixative to keep this from being a major pain in the backside and even then, it may still be smeary. However, it worked best for a chalk look.

Speaking of chalk, this Hampton Art® chalk marker gave a good result. It is not a truly opaque ink and allowed the paper to show through from below. I can think of several fun things to try with this effect.
Another great "chalk" example is a good, old china marker. Two caveats…it's hard to get good clean edges due to the challenge of sharpening the tip and second, if you make a mistake, it's there to stay due the large amount of wax in the lead. The Faber•Castell® Pitt Artist Pen was great for opacity coverage but the nib does not lend itself to any fancy writing. Also permanent. The Faber•Castell watercolor pencil would be wonderful for a chalky piece of work, especially shading. This has no water added to it. Not opaque, but still some fun possibilities there.
I think the most opaque and easiest pen to use was the Sharpie® Poster Pen. Once dry, you can easily fix any light areas. However, once it's dry, you're done because it's acrylic ink. The generic watercolor pencil was another good "chalky look." The Reminise® pen was easy to use and gave excellent results.
My final example is a Stablio® white watercolor crayon encased in wood. The dry result was awful so I added water. It didn't help much. For expressive marks these crayons make are fabulous, but they're not meant for this type of lettering.

Before you pick you tool, think about the final look of the project you're after to help you decide which tool to use. Test, test, test out your tools on your substrate before committing to the project—it can make a huge difference in the look and behavior of the pen or pencil you're using. I would have defaulted to the Uni•Ball Signo broad as it is my "go-to" white pen and I've have probably pulled my hair out before I was finished!

If your project is not going to be handled and touched, the charcoal and pastel pencils give excellent results and were great fun to play with if you're looking to create a chalkboard look.

Now that I've experimented and played, I'm more anxious than ever to get started and see what I can come up with on my project. I hope these results will get you to thinking about what you might do as well!

Activity-Style Journaling Journaled while out to lunch

Back on the 25th of September, I asked artists, art journalers, sketchbook keepers, and illustrated journal keepers to step forward and vote on whether they would classify themselves as an activity journal keeper or an event journal keeper.

An activity journal keeper is someone that keeps a journal as an activity much like someone would brush their teeth or eat a meal. It's just something they do without a prompt.

An event journal keeper is someone who journals about or because of a special event like travel, a birth, illness or growing an garden. Something external prompts them to journal.

The more I thought about this and the results of the poll, the more it seems to come down to whether the prompt is internally or externally driven. Some folks are compelled to create while others need a trigger to begin the process of creating.

The results were almost even for both categories:
18 votes for Activity journaling
17 votes for Event journaling

I have to say I am surprised! I thought there would be a leaning towards event-style journaling. Not a landslide, but I definitely expected it to have more votes. That's why it's good to ask and not assume.

Several folks commented that they fell into both categories as they had more than one journal going. I fall into both. I have a journal that goes with me everywhere and has a hodge-podge of subject matter in it such as the palm above.

Event-Style Journaling A pinecone from my recent trip to Maine

I also create special journals for my travel and everything in them pertains to the trip—the anticipation and trip building, the actual trip itself, things I saw and experienced, and finally memories of the trip.

Regardless of where you are—just starting out or years into your journey—there is no right or wrong style. There is also the strong possibility that your style may change. It could easily move from event to activity and back again since a lot of our journaling often finds its origin in what's going on in our daily lives.

Thanks to all of you who voted and shared your thoughts with me about your particular style of journaling. This is part of a bigger project that is slowly taking form in the background. I'll share more as it takes on more life.