Art Journal Class

Hello again,

Thought I had better make some progress in my home-made artist journal. Only one week remaining of the class. There has been a great deal to think about. Kate Johnson, the teacher, has given us so many examples of journal pages, possible layouts and more. My entries here are fairly mundane but I enjoy the ocean and its creatures so much, that I thought I might fill this homemade journal with ocean pictures.


Both pages were done with Cretacolor watercolor pencils. The top one, with the friendly looking orca and dolphin, was then washed with with water. The bottom drawing was left alone. One thing that I have learned is that I can't seem to write in a straight line!

Looking forward to more journal pages. And braver designs!

New Artist Journal

I have been wanting to create my own journal for quite some time. . . but have not had the confidence to do so. This week is the first week of Kate Johnson's Artist's Journal class and to celebrate, and do to the inspiration I have received from other students, I created my first journal. I used two full sheets of regular "cold press" watercolor paper, folding and cut to size, creating two signatures. I then sewed the signatures. The cover was made with some recycled card stock covered in leather scraps that I found at a recent Mountain Man Rendezvous. The inside covers are made from a recycled gift bag that had a pretty print. And I finished it off with a small sand dollar just because. Now it's already to go. What should I put in it now?

Seeing things

Well, as you know, I have not been posting regularly... mostly because I have not been drawing and painting regularly!! Shame on me for ignoring something that I love to do and that brings me such happiness.

One thing, of MANY, that I need to work on is drawing the human form. And for personal reasons, I decided to draw an eye. That's why it looks like I am staring at you! Done in a sketch book with regular #2 pencils.

Pablo's Railroad in Argentina

Today, in our virtual tour of the world, we visit the Ferrocarril Piedra Baya. This grand scale railroad is owned by our friend Pablo Jäckel (who is turning the engine on the turn table) and makes its home the geographical center of Argentina at the foothills of the Comechingones Sierra. Pablo originally told the story of his railroad in the pages of the Grand Scales Quarterly magazine.

Pablo tells us how his railroad came about: The sadness of having to dismantle a large HO model railroad, gave way to “domestic” approval to try something bigger on our property —both as hobby and to carry passengers in the not so distant future (for we run a small tourist business). We llived 7 miles from the nearest town (Merle - pop. 5,000), which could be reached only by an unpaved country road. All the materials needed to build a RR had to come from other cities, like Buenos Aires, some 500 miles away. . .
If you would like to read Pablo's complete article, click here.

Sketch based on a photo by Pablo Jäckel.

On a beach in Antigua

After walking through the war torn remnants of Angola in my virtual travels, I needed a vacation! So I virtually hopped on a plane and flew to Antigua in the Caribbean. The country is actually known as Antigua and Barbuda but I only “visited” Antigua on this journey. I needed some serious beach time. I don’t remember the name of the beach but the water was such a gorgeous blue! And the palm trees were gorgeous, some even leaning out over the water.

Fortunately for me, most of the people speak English here. Many also speak a dialect that can be made up of English, various African languages and even some European languages. While English is more formal, the dialect is more colorful. For instance, if you hear someone say, “Wah eye no see heart no grieve”, it means, “What you don’t know won’t hurt you”.

The people can be very friendly and relaxed. And they use a phrase here that I learned in Jamaica many years ago: Soon Come. Life will take care of itself. Time is viewed casually. And people are more important then rigid schedules. Not a bad idea really.

Sketch above was done with pencil, watercolor pencils, and Pitt artist pen in my travel sketchbook. If I can get myself away from this beach I will head to another country . . . or just stay here awhile soaking up the sun.

Get me a ticket for an aeroplane . . .

Thought I better get my ticket out for my next journey! You can create your own ticket (for your amusement) at Ticket-O-Matic. Happy travels!