Tryin Some Thangs…
Recently I sent this journal off to a gallery in preparation for an upcoming art show. Thankfully I took photos before shipping them out, but I absolutely cannot transcribe the text as I usually do from these pics. (My poor middle aged eyes .👀😐😩 So instead…
Let’s Talk About Process
I was in the process of packing for a move and the show and collected all of my journals from 2019 to present. They were fun to read through and one in particular was practically empty.
I was inspired by the way I used to design layouts with collages and laughed at how cringy the lettering was. I mean…I tried 😅 Since I picked up calligraphy this past year, I knew I didnt have to fake i this time. I could experiment with this, but flip it by applying what i’ve learned since and enjoy now.
dot matrix…
I remember enjoying these premade journals with dotted grids on the pages. It helped me create interesting layouts and spreads. They do an okay job fading into the background. After giving the journal a spin, I realized I don’t find the dot grid truly necessary anymore and prefer the look a clean page and thicker paper. But they were good training wheels for planning my layout before i dive in.
Inky abstracts & Collage
The paper handled ink for calligraphy and long form writing with a fountain pen better than expected. But I didnt want to press my luck getting carried away with mark making on the paper. Plus I was itching to collage…(it’s been so long!)
So I experimented on some cardstock with my usual calligraphy drills, splats, ribbons, and scratchy marks. It was a big ol mess after a while, but made great material for collaging.
So satisfying to break apart the shapes and rearrange the flow of the strokes and blobby shapes. I like when the marry and redefine their expression of movement. I want to harness this to it’s fullest effect…
