Journaling

Thank you for the compliments on my cats, I've never known I could draw like this, really! ^^

I've never attended an art school, on any level of my education, or any art courses (only the silver & copper jewelery course, but that doesn't count here since they didn't teach us how to draw, just how to make jewelery! ^^). But still I've tried drawing and painting in many techniques, I have some works in pencil (very sci-fi/fantasy like, they even were almost printed in a Polish sci-fi magazine called "Fiction" ^^), I painted one picture in oils (well, it wasn't ANY good, that's for sure!), I tried watercolor paints, acrylic paints, pastel crayons, pencil crayons, glass paints, I'm always on the lookout for the new techniques and tools, and I'm always behaving silly in the art supplies shops, because I have no idea what I want to buy... Because I was never taught about the types of paints, crayons, papers, brushes, gesso, ect, ect, I stand in front of the shelf with millions different bottles and tubes, and I endlessly admire their colourful containers, I touch all the papers, and eventually I point my finger at something and that's what I am sold. Lucky me I found one art supplies shop where the assistants are nice and don't look at the non-artistic clients intimidating!... ^^
Since I feel too old for the Art studies (and you have to be really talented to get there, with numerous drawings to show them at the entrance exams and an extensive art knowledge, which I don't have) and I don't have money for the private classes, I may try some book courses, I believe I even have one at home somewhere, must dig it up! *^v^*

I've recently felt an urge to come back to journaling again.

I've never written a proper diary (like a moleskin cover notebook with pages filled with "My dear diary, today was a crappy day, because..." written late night hidden under the duvet with a flashlight... ^^), in my teenager times I had a scrapbook with drawings, poems, stories, dried flowers, scraps from the magazines, ect. It was one very thick notebook and when it ended I stapled another one onto its back cover and continued my musings there. ^^ I was 16 at that time. When I was 18, I had a new journal, this time it was in the daily planner - not that I paid much attention to the dates, I just filled it with whatever emerged from my loony teenage head. *^v^*
Then I had a journal about four years ago, where I put my thoughts on my daily existence and also lots of wise citations from several psychological and self-improvement books and magazines. This one still isn't finished, I may come back to it sometime.

Nowadays, apart from the online blog and photoblog Friendsheep:Fragments ^^, I keep a designer's diary where I put all my ideas for clothes, bags and other things I make. It's nothing special, just a notebook that was a freebie to an old "Elle" magazine, but it's very handy because it has blank pages and it's square and fairly small, so I can carry it with me in my bag and put my ideas down when they appear.

On Monday though I bought two new notebooks and I love both of them!

The first one is the one I spotted in a shop first, with flowers on the cover that remind me the Summertime and a pink elastic that keeps it closed.

Then I realized that it's this time of the year - September is near (oh, please, it's still one whole month to go, but you know the trade law, they will try to sell you the fur coat in June!...) and there was an alley in the supermarket full of school supplies! So, I browsed a bit and found the second notebook - this one has some retro photos on the covers, also has an elastic to keep it closed and it's divided into three parts: 1/3 of the pages is lined horizontally, 1/3 has both horizontal and vertical lines, and the last third is blank, and there are orange pages between them.

Moreover, the second notebook's pages have an interesting rough texture and I'm crazy about touching everything with inspiring textures, it may give interesting results with crayons and paints.

I also bought a set of watercolor pencils in a metal box. have you ever used them? I haven't! *^v^*
That's why I'm so excited about them. Apparently you draw with them like with pencil crayons but then you can spray some water on the picture and use the paintbrush to smudge the colours like with watercolor paints! (or not, just let the water flow, or use your fingers! ^^...) I'll be doing some tests soon.

Next Monday we are leaving for a week at the cottage and I'm taking my new journal with me, we'll see how I'll get inspired in the woods! *^v^*

Here are the two journaling artists I admire:
iHanna
Marieke

In case you are wondering, there was no knitting going on here since Friday, but there was a lot of sewing happening, photos tomorrow. ^^