Dr. Weber, I presume?

His name is Dr. Weber. 

Shoes For Acadia Acadia Sketchbook from Zeta Paper Watercolor and Ink 7.5 x 4.5"

It doesn't happen too often anymore, but every once in a while, when I'm working in the studio with the music rocking and enough uninterrupted time, I forget I'm sketching.

When that happens, I turn a sketch into a painting.

Like the page above.

And normally, I'd say there's nothing wrong with that…unless I let the page become "precious" as this one did.

When I realized I was adding details to the stitching detail on the pink skimmers, I realized I'd gone a little overboard.

Sigh.

And actually, the painting was fine. It was the lettering I added afterwards that was the problem.

It looked horrid. I mean truly awful.

Maybe it looked worse because the sketches paintings weren't messy like usual.

I started off using the wrong pen. I knew better and I did it anyway.

What's worse is that I didn't stop when I saw it wasn't working.

My punishment was spending two days trying to find a way to successfully cover up the areas I'd written on.

While you can't tell it on screen, you could definitely tell it if you were to hold the page in your hands.

Just disgusting, I tell you.

Using a combination of watercolor ground and white acrylic, I brought enough of the white back to make the page work.

Rather than run the risk of more issues with trying to ink over my patches, I created a tag and glued it down over the most offensive area.

I suppose I may learn one of these days, but it hasn't happened yet so I can't say as I'm holding out much hope.

Anyway, I've got my shoes lined up for splashing around on mud flats and exploring tidal pools.

I've even packed some of my new socks!

Now, I just have to sit and wait for a few more days to fall off the calendar...

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?

Swallow Tailed Kite Ink in Stillman & Birn Zeta Sketchbook 8.5 x 5.5 inches

Back in the spring while out and about on errands, I happen to glance up and see the most beautiful, acrobatic show put on by a couple of sea gulls. I had never noticed gulls being so graceful before! They would dive and hang out on the thermals before falling away and gliding around in slow, flowing twirls and twists.

They combined grace, ballet and acrobatics into a beautiful dance.

As I continued to watch, I noticed their tails were odd. Finally, I caught a glance of one from almost straight above me and I noticed the swallow shape of the tail feathers.

By the time I realized they weren't gulls at all, they were too far away for me to see any real detail and I didn't even bother to reach for my sketchbook. I did, however, make myself a promise that if I saw them again, I'd be ready!

Last week, I happened across another one! According to my brothers these kites have been around for a while—it was me who was missing!

Anyway, I grabbed my sketchbook and a black pen. My first attempt is at the bottom and just line work. You can see where I struggled to get the shape right of the wing. I didn't get it quite long enough with my first drawn line and tried again. Also, the area where the tail and body meet is not quite right.

Mind you, this guy wasn't just sitting still. S/he was doing cartwheels in the sky while I attempted my sketching.

My second attempt was better, though still not right. The tail shape still isn't working quite right and her/his neck is odd. (Many of my inaccurate lines are covered by the black wash of ink.)

My third attempt was a side view and s/he was gone before I could blink. I attempted to go on from memory and realized it was a lost cause.

My last attempt was the tail at the top of the page. Since I knew I wasn't getting that area right, I focused in on just that area.

Then…s/he was gone. Too far away for me to see much more than a speck.

Arriving home, I pulled out my Pentel Color Brush and painted in the wings and tail on two of the line drawings. I added the title only to realize this morning I had it wrong!

Sigh.

I used my white Sharpie Marker, but the ink bled and now I have a nice gray smudge.

Still, it was fun attempting to capture this gorgeous creature in my sketchbook. I knew before I started the page that chances were good great it wasn't going to be a "pretty" page, that it would be full of "mistakes" as I'd never drawn a kite before.

I decided it was more important to me to get the bird down on paper and I'd figure out the mistakes later. But you can bet the next time I see them I'm gonna try again!

You can learn more about swallow-tailed kites here.

Have you taken any chances with your sketchbook lately?

Imaginary Traveler Stillman & Birn Zeta Ink and Watercolor

When I first created this sketch just after the first of the year, I was very unhappy with the way it turned out as it looked nothing like I hoped it would. It is based on imagination and just didn't feel fight, it didn't have that sketchy feel to it. In fact, I stopped working on it. I had intended to put a large advertisement poster in the background to push the woman forward, but decided not to waste more time on the sketch.

So I turned the page and ignored it.

Fast forward to this week and I realized I hadn't posted anything on the blog last week and I didn't have anything to post this week. I've been sketching and painting but on things I can't share—yet.

Looking through my sketchbook, I came across this page and decided since I didn't like it anyway, I was going to play with it. (I know I have a scan or photo of the page without the changes somewhere, but after two searches, I can't seem to find it—sorry!)

I went to get one of my juiciest black pens and sat down with my sketchbook and started to scribble in more lines. At first, I was still being careful. As I began to see improvement, I relaxed and just went with what felt right.

Once I was finished, I set the book aside so I could study the updated page. I saw a few places that needed a bit of refinement and then decided to call it "good enough."

More and More Ink Scribbles

Is this my most favorite sketch I've ever done? No, but by being willing to make a mess of it I managed to get it to where I considered it good enough to post.

If you've been reading the blog for very long, you may have guessed that my sketchbook is where I play, try out ideas and such. I try very hard not to let any sketch become too precious and it still happens on occasion. When it does, I find that time is a great equalizer. Time tends to help me gain distance from the work whether I consider it a great piece or garbage.

By allowing time to neutralize my stronger feelings towards this piece, I could see it still had potential. By adding more line work, by not being so careful, it gave the sketch a subtle change. It now feels less contrived and flows better.

Neutralizing Fear So You Can Play
If you have some sketches you're not crazy about in your sketchbook, but don't quite have the courage to jump in and take the chance of messing up the page, I would suggest scanning it or photographing it and then printing it out and practicing on it. If you're not any happy with the changes you can just ball up the paper and throw it away.

Consider printing out more than one copy to try out different ideas.

Staying stuck, especially out of fear, stops our artistic growth. Taking chances, trying different things, will almost always move you forward even if you don't like the end result because even then, we're learning.

So pull out your sketchbook and look for a page that just doesn't quite make you happy or that you downright dislike. Consider what you can do to make it better, more likable. Will more pen work help, will adding a different color or a background or more values or perhaps using stamps change it up? Will small changes do the trick or do you need something more drastic like gesso or a piece of ephemera? Is there an area you can cover up with another piece of paper, like craft brown paper that would help?

Finding the courage to make those changes is the first step.

WIP - Beach Visit Watercolor in Stillman & Birn Zeta Sketchbook

Ah, yes, summertime is upon us here with a vengeance. It's hot. It's humid. It's like walking through a furnace whenever you go outside. 

Torn tape to make the faux deckled edges

Creating Faux Deckled Edges*

Today, there aren't any sketches to share or tutorials on art.

Instead, I'd like to make a special request. Something personal.

I've very recently received some devastating news from a friend who had been missing from the landscape of my life. While I had noted the absence, I did not reach out to them. Even when this lovely person had crossed my mind several times, I wasn't tuned into my intuition that said, "pay attention."

When I saw a post on FaceBook, I mistakenly thought all was well.

Intuition is easily and often overlooked.

We're all going a hundred miles an hour with family and jobs and other activities.

For these reasons, I'm going to ask that you look around your life and note any absences from your life of friends or family, near or far.

And then I'm going to ask you to reach out to them.

Make a call, send them an email, a message on FB or stop by their house.

All may be well.

It might not.

But knowing that you cared and reach out may make the burdens of living a little easier to bear.

And you won't be left with a pocketful of wishes of what might have been.

I've closed the comments on this post because I want you to reach out to someone you've not heard from in a while rather than me.

Please, for me and for my friend, in the name of friendship…reach out to someone.

NOLA Street Performer, An Imperfect Sketch

Mistakes.

They are a fact of life and yet, they continue to confound us all. Especially those of us who put ourselves out into the world in a visual way. Words, dance, singing, sculpture, poetry, painting, sketching, sports...you name it, and there is an element of fear that creeps in because we just might make a mistake.

It has taken me long years to learn to view mistakes as opportunities to learn. To NOT invest a lot of anger or aggravation in them. (And yeah, occasionally I still do.) Mistakes only become a big, honking deal when I turn them into a big, honking deal. Even more important, if I get so focused on the fact that I made a mistake rather than what I can learn from the mistake, I've compounded my mistake! Big time.

Mistakes are necessary, fundamental, and a requirement for learning. Resistance is futile. They're gonna happen.

Below are some thoughts I've collected over the years in my creative journey I kinda wish I'd known going in. Might have saved me some trouble. It certainly would have saved me some aggravation.

1. Mistakes, nor failure, are fatal. Okay, maybe if your a bomb defuser or a rocket scientist or a brain surgeon, but for the rest of us? Mistakes are annoying, aggravating, irritating, possibly demoralizing, certainly demotivating but not fatal. So go ahead, make some.

2. To become a better artist faster, lose your fear of making mistakes. How do you lose the fear? By doing. Not by thinking, reading, wishing, worrying, studying, analyzing or looking at other people's art on the internet. By doing. If you create more art, you will make more mistakes. Because you are making more mistakes, you'll learn more, faster, about what works, what doesn't, what you like and what you don't.

3. Mistakes are part of the process. It's just like when you learned to walk. You didn't climb out of the womb and onto the couch. You had to learn to roll over, sit up, scootch forward or backward, get your knees under you, how to crawl, how to pull up, stand up and stay balanced, how to move your foot forward, then the other one, how to turn loose and…how to fall down. Repeatedly. And get back up. Just. Like. Doing. Something. Creative.

4. No matter how good you get, you will make mistakes. It is inevitable. You're human. Just accept it and move on. Oh, and chances are good, it will be a rookie mistake that you know better than to do. Just saying.

5. How you respond to the mistake you've made is one of the most important choices you will make with regard to your art. Rather than dread the making of mistakes, treat it as a learning opportunity, as no big deal, as a part of the process. If you can't fix it, turn the page and holler out, "Next!" and begin again… OR…waste a lot of time moaning and groaning and grieving for that great piece of art you were creating. Staying upset and refraining from making art is fear dressed up in grown ups' clothing to make you think you're being wise to not waste time, materials or energy if you can't do it right. Bull hockey!

6. It's not a mistake or failure nor a waste of materials or time if you learned from it. Let me repeat that…if you've learned anything from putting a mark on the page, then you've gained something even if you deem the end result a mistake or failure. But don't call it a waste if you got anything out of it that will make you stronger or better the next time you put down a mark.

7. Before you decide a sketch or page in your journal is a complete failure, give it time. Often, when we are in the throes of creating and something doesn't turn out like the perfect picture in our mind's eye, we judge our results as lacking, as wrong, as a mistake. Turn the page and go on with another sketch. After a few days or weeks have passed, take another look at it. Many times, when that perfect image in our mind has faded, the work in front of us is often better than we thought.

Puffin Doodle I have no idea what happened with his legs!

8. Being afraid of making a mistake won't stop it from happening. How many of us have not put in a darker value or a background or added words to the page because we feared messing it up? I dare so most us. What's the price? A piece we know could be better if we were just brave enough to take that next step. If we do that enough times, we erode our self-confidence.

9. Sometimes we have to learn what NOT to do by doing it. Yeah, it sucks, but the bottom line is there is no teacher like experience. It's kinda like getting your fingers burnt after being told not to touch something hot. You don't forget it. Some lessons are like that and it's necessary to learn the hard way, but you learn. Don't let the fear of learning the hard way stop you. Keep creating.

10. Do not feed the fear [of making mistakes]. If you find yourself obsessing over making a mistake or messing up on a piece of art you really, really like, ask yourself what is the worst that can happen. You totally destroy the piece and get your artistic license revoked. Then ask yourself what's the best that can happen. You create a gorgeous piece of art and go on to win the most prestigious prize in the country and world acclaim. Now, decide where you want to put your energy and efforts. You've got at least a 50/50 chance of being right!

11. So you've totally bungled the page, now what? Go play. Seriously, all expectations are gone. You're ready to tear the page out of your book. This is the best possible opportunity to play and experiment with some new idea or technique. To do something fun or outrageous or different. What do you care if it works out at this point? You were going to tear the page out the book anyway!

12. Is it a mistake or is it an imperfection? How many times have you bought a garment that had a tag saying something about how the imperfections were part of the nature of the fabric? What about a piece of pottery that was prized for the imperfections? It's not just semantics. It's how you think of the matter that is important. Learn the difference.

13. Did you fail? Fail better the next time. Much as when you learned to walk, each time you got up and tried again, you did a little better. So it goes with art. Embrace the opportunity to learn and make a new, different mistake the next time so you can learn from that one, and the next, and so on.

Fear is often the end result of having made mistakes or failing. This type of fear can paralyze your efforts to be creative, stunt your growth, or at the very least, slow it down. This kind of fear often sounds rational, reasonable and very adult-like when it whispers in the back of your mind that you don't want to put pen or pencil to the page because you're just wasting time and materials. You might mess up. Again.

If you'd listened to that voice as a baby, you'd still be lying on your back waiting for someone to come along and roll you over!

Turn the fear into fuel and let it fire your efforts. In other words, do it anyway. Because really, we talking about a little bit of paper, some paint, a touch of ink or lead and some time you'd probably have wasted trolling the internet looking at someone else's art or reading about making mistakes.

After all, if you try and fail, you have gained an opportunity to learn.

If you fear and do not try, you've gained nothing but fear itself.

P.S. This post is a continuation from this one!