Accordion Journal Experiment

First page in the newly made journal. 

Sketch using Sharpie pen and Grumbacher watercolor.

I have been making accordion style journals this winter to use in an exchange project with my students and yesterday after school I taught several students some bookbinding basics and an accordion journal is what we made.  The after school binding session was planned on the fly so we had to make do with some of our binding supplies but I was able to find nearly everything we needed in my classroom.  We used mostly recycled materials including scrap matt board as covers and we painted old mailing envelopes (the large tyvek type) as decorative papers.  One element that was not recycled was the paper for inside the journal, we used Canson Edition paper, which is a paper I have never used before.  

Now it was a risk on my part to go on a paper run to JoAnn's and I knew that when I went but I was in a rush and it was the closest shop that might have art paper, so off I went.  Of course they did not carry any paper that I had used before with any sort of success in an accordion so I was going to have to experiment with a new unknown paper while teaching a book structure and hope for the best.

When I was there shopping for paper I had three important qualities I was looking for 1) sturdy smooth paper that could be used for both pen and watercolor sketching and hold up; 2) a paper that was going to take a fold with the grain and not crack as well as hold up in an accordion structure; 3) a 22x30 sheet grained long so I could use all the measurements from a book I have made before and not have to do new book making math on the fly as well, and the Edition paper seemed to meet all of these qualities best so it got purchased and used without being tested first.  

I am happy to say the paper risk paid off.  The paper took folds well with no cracking ( I am still watching for them as the book wears in) and after using the first pages this afternoon to sketch it seems like a pretty good paper for both pen and watercolor.  I do not think I have just found my new most favorite paper but it works well and I am happy for that because things could have gone terribly wrong considering the circumstances surrounding my using this paper for this book in the first place.  

A couple of notes on the paper itself.  It is a paper made for printing so it does take a while for the washes to dry.  I noticed that even my pen lines took a bit to dry and I had some pen bleed as I began to paint in my orange, although after finishing the color it is not noticeable in the least.  It is buckling a little bit, not badly like some papers but know that after applying watercolor the page is not perfectly flat anymore.  I intend to continue using this little book as my journal and I will repost any new findings about the paper as they become evident.

My students were happy to learn how to make their own books and excited to try them out at home once the glue dried.  And I am happy that the paper worked so their experience making a book was a good one and I am really relieved that it works for pen and watercolor, being that is what many of them were hoping to use the book for in the first place.

 Journal closed, showing the painted

cover and elastic strap to keep the journal closed. I used watered down acrylic paint

and a scrap of matt board to make the design while the paint was still wet.

 Two more views of the journal standing and open on the table.

The first page with the blood orange sketch from the top 

of the post is just peeking out.

Collage Page Stage Two

This is my collage at the week two stage from the Strathmore online visual journal workshop with Pam Carriker. The focus of the workshop is to reuse art work from previous journals and change and re-purpose it as a new journal page.
This week was a real challenge for me, and that was the whole point of the workshop - to try something new.
So this week's task was to add under journaling in pencil, depth with charcoal, then add new color with oil pastel, all of which got blended into the page with a gesso wash.
I have to say, when I began the page I was not really happy with the result, I wished I had journaled on the gridded paper instead of the open paper and the page was oddly gray, rather than shaded from blending charcoal into the matte medium used as glue, but I continued. After I added the color with the oil pastels, I was really not happy. I felt like I had made several bad color choices and the entire page was ruined, not to mention completely garish. I continued on with the next step, however, and added the gesso wash.
When I checked back after the gesso had dried I was pleasantly surprised with the page, it was not as bad as I though it was going to be. I added a little bit of ink with a brush pen to get back a few details and re colored a bit of the face. I still am not sure how I feel about the page and I know for sure I have more time invested in it than any other page in my journal.
The next step is to add a texture element in the negative space with found objects and acrylic paint, which I should get to in the next day or two, then we will see what it looks like again.

Owl Collage Page

Here is the second collage I did in my sketchbook for the online Strathmore Visual Journal workshop series that began on January first. Our task for the first week has been to reuse and recycle imagery from previous sketchbooks and artwork as well as ephemera or scraps. For this page I began on a prepainted page spread in my altered journal. For collage elements, I used photocopies of journal pages, and a painting, as well as paste paper and a stamp image I found online. I am very sure that next weeks task will be to continue to work with the collage pages we create this week, so this is step number one in a process.
I wasn't sure how I would like reusing art and collage in my journal as I usually just draw, with only the occasional glue in element. I have kept an open mind and I have to say it has been fun to try something different. Creating a collage is also a great thing to do while doing something else, like watching a movie or TV. I gather my supplies, sit with a try table and quietly clip out elements, arrange, rearrange, and then glue. I have finshed a page by the time he film is done. Family time and art time all in one.

New Art in the New Year

Happy New Year!
For the first time in a year I will be working in two journals at once, one where I will primarily draw and paint and one where I will be experimenting and trying some new stuff. The image above is from the new journal (see previous post about altering a purchased journal). Not much of an experiment, a drawing with watercolor and some Chartpak marker transfers. I am still up in the air on whether or not I think this page is complete. I do not like the words I added, so I am contemplating adding some collage paper over the text. I am also not working in this journal in order, because of the alterations, I have different sized pages to choose from so I am going to be jumping around a bit to fit what I need onto the page that will work best.

As a part of the Strathmore Visual Journal workshop, I am exploring reusing and recycling art from previous journals and other personal art and ephemera as collaged journal pages. I have to say I struggled a little with the idea of reusing art to make a new page in my journal. I usually work to come up with new drawings in my sketchbook/journal, not copying and reusing work that I already have finished. After digging around in my studio, I decided this was the perfect use for some of the many examples I create in my classroom, that are finished but never really feel like "art" because they get made while I talk to students and explain the process.

Working on a page spread that was prepainted with liquid acrylics and that had a foldout on the right hand side, I added some graph paper and paste paper scraps that I ripped and glued down with matte medium. I then used the background from a photocopied drawing that was an example from my drawing class. The background from the drawing was a solid mass of doodles and line pattern, so I cut it up into small rectangles and squares to glue down. I glued a few elements on the closed page too, even though it will be the next page and I will probably draw something different there, I felt like it should flow when the flap was shut.

The face drawing on the inside of the foldout is the subject matter of the drawing I copied and cut apart for the background designs. It just happened to fit well on the page, so I went with it. The image below is my first completed recycled art collage for the visual journal workshop. I think we are going to continue to work with the collage we create this week, so I intend to make at least one, hopefully two, more to work with, especially since this feels done to me now.

So far so good on my personal challenge to draw or create art of my own every day this year.