Maine Things Double Spread in my Maine Sketchbook Zeta Paper - 4.5 x 15 inches Ink and watercolor

You think you know something and then you find out you don't. 

Finished Journal Page Stillman & Birn Zeta Sketchbook Ink and watercolor 5.5 x 8.5

Do you ever lose track of the small "events" of your days? I do. And I'm guessing that may help to explain my fascination with the journal pages that are actually calendar pages that folks have drawn and doodled on.

Wish that I could and would, I know that I'm not disciplined (or interested) enough to follow through with week after week of calendar doodles and journaling.

Instead, I tried a different approach that seems to be moderately successful for me. The journal page you see above actually looked more like the one below until yesterday when I added the touches of color to it.

I started off with just writing about small things I wanted to remember with a very simple doodle like the skink tail. This is either the fourth or fifth LARGE skink that the kittens have captured in the house. Even without the tail, their bodies have been four to five inches long!

The other day, they caught another one. While I wrangled this one outside, Moby and Willis were having a joyous time tossing the still-wiggling tail around the kitchen. Blah. Ick. Yuck.

Because this event has happened a number of times, I went with Skink Tales rather than Tails as a fun jest.

A few days later, the mighty huntress, also know as Moby, was playing with something in the office behind my chair. Upon closer inspection it looked like a wasp with yellow rings on the tail. Not a yellow jacket, but something similar.

The huntress was not amused at the removal of her latest toy—it buzzed.

I drew it in and then added the journaling and date box before going on with other things.

Lastly, I bought some socks this week—$36 worth for $2.11! Nine pair of socks for two bucks! Score!

When I showed them to Chris to tell him about my great deal, he responded, "You've got Dr. Seuss socks!"

No doubt, these socks will forevermore be known as my Dr. Seuss socks.

Just the Ink Platinum Carbon Black Using Pilot Namiki Falcon and Metropolitan Fountain Pens

After I filled the page, I added a few more notes about other events that didn't make it onto the page.

I then added watercolor to the small sketches. It was not my intent to add a lot of color, just something to liven up the page.

It wasn't lively enough so I added some splatter for more liveliness forgetting that some of the ink (red) was not permanent. It didn't run too badly, but it's a note for next time.

There's nothing earth shattering or gorgeous on the page, and yet I find myself oddly pleased to have captured some of the simple moments that make up my days. I didn't feel "trapped" by having to fill every.single.box.on.a.calendar.page either.

By being flexible on the dates and when it was added, it made it more fun without any pressure.

I think I may just have to try this again!

Acadia National Park Sketchbook Cover Stillman & Birn Zeta Paper Watercolor and Ink

Going on a trip, for me, begins long before I ever get in the car or plane. It starts with the planning of the trip and once the tickets are purchased, I begin the long and lovely process of deciding which journal format I'm taking, the type of paper I'll be working on and what pigments to put in the palette (often, but not always, determined by the location).

"A-n-t-i-c-p-a-t-i-o-n is making me wait…"

As you might have guessed, I'm heading up towards Maine and the art you see above is the cover of my new sketchbook I'll be using.

I decided I wanted a long horizontal spread for the trip. Take a look over on Flickr at some of the panoramas and you'll know why I want this format! Here lately, my paper of choice has been Stillman & Birn's Zeta paper, but they don't make a horizontal themed sketchbook.

What they do make is loose sheets of paper, 22 x 30 inches!

And violá, I have the beginnings of my sketchbook. The folded page is 7.5 x 4.5 inches. A full spread will be 15 inches wide—plenty of room for some of those gorgeous views. You may be wondering about the size…let me explain:

Damaged paper

Unfortunately, when I received the paper from the art house, it was damaged. Since I'd already decided on the long format and to go against the grain with the pages, It was just a matter of adjusting the width to eliminate the damage at the bottom.

Over on Facebook, in the Artist's Journal Workshop group, Tina Koyama shared that she made signatures of paper, but them in a cover and then bound them together after they were complete rather than carry the entire sketchbook around at one time.

I decided to take that fabulous idea and run with it, but I needed a cover:

Leather Cover with an elastic loop close

If this puts you in mind of a Midori's Traveler's Journal then I did something right as that was my inspiration! I stumbled across those journals late in 2011. In mid-2012, I bought some leather, stamps and dye with the intentions of making my own. We already had a collection of tools for working with leather.

Ummm…I have no idea what happened to the intervening years so let's fast-forward to July 2014 and I finally got around to making my own journal. For those of you interested in making your own, there are a number of excellent YouTube videos on the subject.

The sketchbook allows me to carry two signatures of 4 pages each. I've already punched holes in the middle of the pages  and tied them together. This is only for the sake of carrying and so the pages don't move when I'm working across the spread.

When I finally complete my journaling from the trip, I will take all of my completed signatures and bind them with covers using the coptic binding method. (There are also a number of YouTube videos on this as well.) Using this method, I won't have a lot of unfinished pages and I won't have the bulk of the entire sketchbook to haul around.

One other plus will be that if by some odd chance I should lose the sketchbook (eek!) or drop it in the water (argh!), I won't lose all of my pages.

I'm only just getting started on this journal and I'm already having way too much fun and building my anticipation. Rather than have all the fun and then bombard you with all the pages at the end of the trip, I'm going to start sharing them now and along the way.

What do you do to prepare for your travels, anything special?

Farm-Fresh Onion Watercolor and Gouache 11 x 8.5 inches Stillman & Birn Zeta Bound Journal

Every once in a great while, I'll revisit a subject I've already painted if I can find a new "take." While I may work in a series upon occasion, it usually is more of a theme-driven series rather than the same exact material over and over.

Here in Florida we get to enjoy farm-fresh produce all year long. There are fruit and vegetable stands set up as permanent businesses and you can just about get your favorite fruit or veggie any time.

Farm-Fresh Onion Watercolor and Gouache 11 x 8.5 inches Stillman & Birn Zeta Bound Journal

When I brought this onion into the house the other day, I set it up on top of the dryer in the laundry room because I knew those long, crinkly stems would be irresistible to certain 4-footed members of the household.

The next day as I was tossing clothes into the dryer, I happened to glance up and see the unique perspective of the bottom part of the onion being cut off…eureka!! A new take on an old subject!

As I'd already sketched onions before, I needed something new to capture my interest and make me want to sketch another one.

Watercolor and Gouache 11 x 8.5 inches Stillman & Birn Zeta Bound Journal

As "they" say, there's nothing new in the world, nothing that hasn't already been done millions of times before, but I disagree. A new perspective, a new palette of pigments, something even a different day of the week and the results are astoundingly different.