Currently Browsing: journaling 206 articles
In Context: Everything Included on a Journal Page—How Do I Find It?
In my last two posts I wrote about just getting stuff down on the page. There’s one drawback to this approach if you have a noisy internal critic who likes to interrupt you and tell you what a mess of things you’re making. If you have 10 things on a page, many of which might […]
In Context: Productivity Matters in Visual Journaling
Productivity matters. I believe it matters more than pretty pages in visual journaling. I say this after keeping a journal almost daily for over 62 years. (I started very, very early because it was important to me to note down what I saw, and because my mother liked that I was occupied.) In my last […]
In Context: What Goes on the Journal Page?
There are a lot of ways to work out what needs to go down on your journal page. The most obvious way is to think about the overall design and layout of the page or page spread. I see a lot of visual journaling students tie themselves in knots as they compose a page—thinking where […]
In Context—Sketching Through Pain
Be sure to note the date—it’s last April! I’m doing just fine today and keeping up with all my physical therapy maintenance exercises. This is a couple sketches of Nic Sampson, an actor on “The Brokenwood Mysteries.” Click on this link to read my recent review of the series. (Hint, I’m a fan.) I […]
Snow Pile By Any Means Necessary
The weather is turning warm again, getting back into the 20s (Fahrenheit). I’ve been able to sketch a couple snow piles this winter, but I think it wasn’t until almost the end of December that I got one! Before the weather gets too warm and we want to think only of other things, I thought […]
Journal Practice Hiccups?
I always tell people any day is a great day to start a journal practice. Start. But I know that many people think it important to have a milestone day like the first of the year for a starting point. If it gets them to start then I’m all for that. As a new […]
A Look Back at the Early Days of the Pandemic
Journals remind us of things. They provide a look back. They can be a great record of the events of our lives. They provide a look back, in this instance, to the early days of the Pandemic. The Digital Armageddon I’m going through since February 2, 2021 has resulted in some losses of data—I need […]
Using Your Journal to Ask Questions
A journal is for asking questions. You can ask visually, and you can also ask written questions. To me, often the most interesting thing about my journal pages is not what I drew on the page or what I noticed as I went through my day and captured visually, but the questions and thoughts I […]
In Context: Small Details Matter
In this brush pen and watercolor sketch in a Hahnemühle Travel Journal I’m working with wet media on a drawing paper and loving it. (I’ll have a counter opinion about using non-watercolor paper coming up another day on the blog.) You can click on the image and read the in-context text, me cooling my heals, […]
I Start a New Sketchbook
If the above video doesn’t run you can view it here. I’m not connected to Hahnemühle in a paid capacity, but I sure do enjoy working in their Travel Journal. On the 27th of September I started a new sketchbook that is a favorite type and size to me. In this very short video […]