OMG!!! Is This Neat or What??!!

NEW WORKS FROM THE STUDIO OF ART BY WENDY

You know Journal are my Thing!

I have tried lots of different ones.

But, I think even for me,

This Journal is Over the Top!!

To begin with I had a Problem.

It was with my Artist in Residency at Revelstoke National Park this summer.  They wanted a Journal for our time in the park. It was only a short time so I really didn’t want to start one of my usual books.  What would I do with the rest of the book?  (I know, a bit of my thriftiness there!)  So I decided that I needed to make my own Journal just for that event. 

Basic travel kit for my Journal

I settled on a flip type journal.  The pages are like an accordion and you can make it as long or short as you like.  It worked great!  I attached it to a little clipboard and as you can see all my materials fit into a small ziplock bag:  small, compact, easy to carry and easy to use.  The pages are just right for a quick note or sketch, 3.5 in by 5.5 in.  My favourite medium is ink with graphite. ( You can do quick sketches and then get lots of values with your pencil, much faster than crosshatching with your pen.)

Front Cover: Balsam Lake

Back Cover: Mountain View from the Summit

 Of course my little journal needed a front and back cover and that is where the real fun began!!  I decided to use 4 x 6 in.  canvases that I have been holding on to forever.  I treated them with gesso and absorbent ground so I could use watercolour and then started painting.  It was so much fun to make little coloured pictures to go with the black and white pages.  (You know I love miniature things so this was all right up my alley!)

The finished pictures then had to be varnished to protect them, would you believe 6 coats?  After that I glued it all together with a cord to close it and my Journal was complete!

 Very neat eh?!!

Sorry to say I have to say good bye to my Journal for awhile it will be part of my work for the "Art in the Park 2014" show which will open Nov. 7- Dec. 5, 2014 in Revelstoke, BC.  The show will then travel for a year promoting the 100th Anniversary of the Park and the Parks Program in Canada. If you are in the area check out the show!

For more ideas for Plein Air work or Journaling see my Plein Air Adventures Page in my blog.  

Special Note: To learn more about the Residency see my first three August 2014 Posts beginning with this One.