The best thing about having a day off during the week is you can go to so many places that are usually busy.  The crowds aren't bad in most places but driving up the coast any time it is best to avoid rush hour traffic unless you like sitting by the ocean in your car.  I try to take the coaster (commuter train) up to the seaside at least once a year.  It's funny reading the signs at the overlooks because they always say,"Don't crawl down the cliff."  These are harsh vertical drops from several feet up on sand.  If you don't know how dangerous that is by looking at it you don't need a sign to tell you that.

The back of a shop that I loved and I have no idea what the shop actually was. 

Lucky...pink

Tackling some more pages...

 "You look nice today," was already on the page so I drew a Buddha around it.

I'm not happy with the colors so I'm going back in with the colored pencils

 I took pictures of roses while hitting the yard sales in one of my favorite neighborhood.  I love arts and crafts / mission style houses so I was in heaven.

pink

Pie

     A few months ago the New York Times did a story about a bakery  and I loved the photographs so I reworked them and added my favorite pie sayings.  Today it was amazing and sunny and I took my book outside and just colored in it on the fake grass.

Messing around with collage

        I have an aversion to pre-made backgrounds but I'm trying to get over it so I'm working in a smash* journal.  I like when I see what other people do with the pages they made or pre-printed pages but I feel a bit locked in when I have to connect with the colors in the background.  My mini solution is to work out of order on the pages so I can choose the right colors to fit the bits I'm working with but I tend to work out of page order in a plain white journal.

         The original idea was to take my more labor intensive journal to work and leave this one at home so I can work on something simple when I am dead tired after work.  I flip flop with this idea and pulled it out again on my day off and I'm going to take it to work with just a pen and a few pencils. I just need to do something and include it with packing my bag for the day like packing my lunch.  I'm still working on this page but I like seeing the process and I'll retake all the pictures in natural light when I'm finished. 

Working on a new journal

The green is two shades of pan pastel and sprayed with fix.

The dogwood flowers were painted with white Higgins ink.  I loved the way white looked aged because it sunk into the brown paper.  I added a bit of colored pencil around the edge.  I sprayed fix over the pages in layers so I could work on the whole page without smearing the green pan pastel.

I started making a journal to work in at work on my lunch break and it was pushed aside a bit by life and working on other projects but I'm starting it up again.  I still work much better when I bind the pages after I finish them.  I have always been into story telling in the way of fairytale and myths so it creeps into my artwork in the way the pages are arranged.  If I were to bind the book I would be forced to think a bit more about where I drew each picture.  I'm not one of those people who gets over something that isn't working but at the same time I don't think everything has to be perfect.    So for now it remains a folio until I get to the binding stage.  The pink jacket is still a work in progress since it is way to bright and almost glows in the dark.

The Sketchbook Project.

 The theme was "Travel with me," and I decided to draw pictures of my dreams and a few meditations thrown in for good measure.  I'm sure these themes will pop up in my next journal.

I finally invested in a new computer and some new photo editing software along with a new job that I finally feel settled in.  The good news is I can get back into blogging and posting art quickly.  The sketchbook project was a lot of fun despite that fact that I didn't actually get started until the first of January and it was due the 31st.  I work better under pressure but my next project isn't due till August and I've already started it.  I may use a few of these pictures for inspirations because it's kind of sad to send so many pictures away.