More Moleskin Fun

I'm having a great time with my little moleskin journal.   I'm amazed at how this smaller format changes the direction of my work.  I'm also having fun experimenting with my new acrylic and India inks.  I decided that I wanted to play with the ink droppers for my next spread.

I added drops of blue, yellow, and white to and let them run together.  I also pressed the pages together and blew the ink around by holding the book close to my lips.

Here's the left side.  I really like the way the blown ink dried on the page, and the little spots of white ink that didn't blend into the blue.

Here's the right side of the page.   I see a tree and a bit of landscape.  I can't wait to see where all of this will lead.

As I looked more closely at the left side, I began to see the profile of a face, so I took my quill pen and India ink and began to sketch it in using cross hatch.

I followed the lines of the ink marks to the tree shape, and I looked through my collage paper and found the word  "imagination", and clouds in a beautiful blue sky.  They seemed to fit so I used Mod Podge to adhere them.

I used white acrylic ink to add details and highlights to the eyes and lips.

Then, I enhanced the right side with little white bubbles.  I added more white and yellow inks to the sun.

To finish the spread, I added this quote from Henry David Thoreau, " The world is but a canvas to the imagination."  

I had a great time playing with the inks, and I like the monochromatic, simplistic style of this spread.  It's so unlike the over-the-top color that I'm usually drawn to.

I hope you're having fun stepping outside of your journaling norm, and I hope you're having a wonderful day as you "Celebrate, LOVE, and Create!"

PHOTO OF THE DAY

"Yellow Rose"

This rose was given to me on the Friday before Mother's Day.  I can't believe how nice it still is.  Only the outside petals are beginning to show signs of wilting.

My First Moleskin

I had some spare time yesterday morning before our children came over to spend Mother's Day with me, so I did a little raking in my garden area and happily found time to play with my new supplies.  At long last, the weather allows for bringing my supplies to the deck where I can journal among the birds and flowers.

I haven't used inks in years, so I was eager to see how my new acrylic inks would look in my moleskin.  The first thing I did was apply one drop of each color and spread it around with my fingertip.  I was surprised at how far just one little drop of the ink will spread.

On the next page, I blocked in areas of white artist acrylic, blue craft acrylic, black artist acrylic and black india ink.  I couldn't wait to see how my new quill pen would write on these surfaces.

The first thing I did with my quill pen was to block in an area of plain, moleskin paper.  I wanted to practice using my quill pen in that area.

Here's my completed spread.  The red, yellow, blue, and of course, white acrylic inks all show up nicely on the black india ink.  The pen also writes smoothly over the craft acrylic.  I practiced using my quill pen to get just the right pressure, and I experimented with the flow of the ink and how much I could write without adding more ink to the pen.  I discovered that one drop of acrylic ink dropped directly into the nib works out really nicely.  The acrylic inks also blend nicely together so I'm able to get a nice orange, purple and green.


I really like the feel of my moleskin.  It begs for intimacy, small sketches and fleeting thoughts.  I think I'm going to enjoy using it during these warmer months when "feeding the well" can be more important than creating spreads.  I'm looking forward to using this new journal!


I hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day - I certainly did.  We had a great time chatting and enjoyed our food from Scooter's and the awesome chocolate chip cake that Heather made for us. Yummy!


I hope you're enjoying some of the beautiful, sunny weather that we're finally experiencing, and as always, I hope you "Celebrate, LOVE, and Create!"

PHOTO OF THE DAY


Now that the nice weather is back, I'll be taking scads of photos again.  I thought I would add this daily "Photo of the Day" feature.  I hope you enjoy seeing bits and pieces of where I live here on the southern shores of Lake Erie, and the Northcoast of Ohio.

Eastern Garder Snake

I discovered this little guy sunbathing near some planters I have stacked behind the garage.  I don't think either of us were too excited to see each other, but we had an interesting visit anyway!