Official International Fake Journal Blog

Time to Start Thinking about Which Journal You'll Use for 2012's International Fake Journal Month!

2012-01-14T13:56:00.000-06:00

Above: Clairefontaine notesbooks.
Click to view an enlargement.

April first is still a couple months away, but it isn't too early to start thinking about selecting a book to use for your 2012 fake journal. I've been keeping my eyes open for likely commercially bound journals. Since I typically use my own handmade journals for my visual journaling habit I find that using a commercially bound journal helps to distance myself from my character for the month.

I received a note from Goulet Pens the other day that they had new Clairefontaine notebooks in stock. I use the larger lined notebooks (about 8.25 x 11.75 inches) for my written journals. I use the smaller journals with grids on the page or blank pages for notebooks and logs in the studio (computer log, blog log, etc.) It was time to reorder. Then I noticed that they had the French rule journals in a smaller size. (Typically I've only seen them in the 8.25 x 11.75 inch size.) I use the larger French rule journals for collage and sketching journals when I want to work on smooth lined paper and wet media is not going to be used a lot (the pages will buckle probably more than most people would endure).

Above: View of a page of French ruled paper.
Click on the image to view an enlargement.

I ordered three of the French rule notebooks in the 6.75 x 8.75 inch size. These are perfect for carrying everywhere and could be just the thing for a prolific character to journal in (lots of pages). (I have no idea yet what direction I'm going this year.)

I also ordered 3 of the small journals with gridded pages. Goulet took great care in wrapping them securely in plastic wrap and bubble wrap. They arrived quickly in perfect condition. You don't get to select the cover color that you like, but I'm happy with all the colors in which they are made so it's all good.

Now that I have them in my hands I'm thinking more and more what character would use one of these French ruled journals for a visual journal.

I'll keep my eyes open for the next several weeks and my mind open to possibilities—I suggest you do the same. Read past posts on how to select a journal for the event (the types of considerations to keep in mind) if you haven't participated before. Most important—keep in mind what medium you'll be working in. I haven't decided yet, but I know, looking at these journals that if I decide to go completely with pen and ink they will be a great choice. It's time to start thinking about all the possibilities for 2012's International Fake Journal Month.

Note: I'm not affiliated with Goulet Pens at all, except as a happy customer.

Obituaries: This Really Does Wrap Up 2011 for Roz

2011-05-21T16:54:00.001-05:00

You can read the obituary of Hydra Seetre here.

You can read the obituary of Esther Rayde here.

Everything is put away. It's time to get back to the real journal "full time." It's also time to go for a bike ride and dream up new characters.

Wrap Up for Roz's 2011 Fake Journal

2011-05-21T15:14:00.000-05:00

To see a video flip-through of my 2011 fake journal please the post on Thursday, May 19, 2011.

Each year I set goals for myself during IFJM. The goals relate to media that I've decided to use and the approach I'm going to use. Part of the equation is also the character I elect to explore. The character chooses the journal that I'll work in. I may have selected several to choose from, and had a "plan" of action I thought I would take, but the character steps in and takes over at that point. It seems at times that I essentially sit back and let the learning take place after that—but it isn't that passive.

Each year brings special challenges that cause the project to go in unforeseen directions. Sometimes those challenges are caused by the character, sometimes by the circumstances in which the character moves. Sometimes the challenges are external to the project and relate to my real life, work, and family.

This year I had an ambitious plan to take off most of the month of April and actually do little else but be my character. Since I knew, going into it that she was a writer and illustrator and had lots of projects going on, I also knew I would have plenty to keep me busy.

Then the imp in me took over and I decided that my character should have an internet presence for her public faces. Setting that up was simple. Feeding it, when I have trouble managing and maintaining my own internet presence was ridiculous. It sent the project over the top, but in a way which pleased me very much. (Though the nervous tic I developed below my left eye didn't please me—and I'm happy to report it finally seems to have retreated.)

The reality of my life in April, however, did not allow me to fully devote myself to this project: to the grand, large scheme. And I saw it, even before April 1, dwindle to only an hour a day of activity (in the journal, with some miscellaneous cross referencing on the blogs).

One thing about the project didn't change from the beginning, however. My character, Tyra D. Sheere doesn't explain things. She isn't a teacher. She doesn't care if people know she found this type of media difficult to use for this application or whether she prefers one brand of gouache over another and why.

I wrote "No Explanations" on a slip of paper and pasted it to the wall above my desk. Every year in IFJM I look for one aspect of my actual experience to free myself from, or to cast light on. "No Explanations" was that aspect.

As a teacher my life is about explanations—methodically setting out steps to things and communicating the ways in which materials, media, and techniques can be made to work. As a graphic designer much of my job is "teaching" the client so he'll accept the work as just what he needs.

It was gloriously freeing to have no explanations in my fake journal. Tyra was not concerned with writing out steps for anything—either so that she could do it again or so that she could teach it to someone else by making class notes out of it, whatever. (She did grumble a bit about her editors at times, though mostly on her blogs. Still it wasn't explanations.)

Part of this "no explanations" stance dovetailed nicely with the current realities of my life. I've been examining issues of my mode of expression, both in writing and in painting. But I have also been examining what it means to have contact with your brain, your memory, your skills. I have also been watching the aging process in people I love, and in myself. I have been assessing what it means to productivity and creativity, as well as things as essential as movement. I don't have answers or clear thoughts on any of this exploration yet, but I do know that I am moving back into a private mode in my journals (this happens in waves) which I am really enjoying. These private modes always in the past have come before periods of great creative productivity and I look forward to that. “No explanations” was a great starting point for this exploration.

Let's just say, that this year's IFJM surpassed all my expectations for raising life issues that need to be addressed by me!

There is another aspect of the fake journal that remained constant from the planning phase. Tyra does not carry her journal around. I carry my journal everywhere and have the body wear and tear to show for it. This has lead to smaller journals. I love working in all sizes of journals, but I also realize that the size at which we work impacts on the art we end up with, so I do like to mix it up. Because Tyra doesn't carry her journal and her journal is large, she can put lots of bits and pieces she creates during the day in her journal.

This actually meshed perfectly with my current need to be always working on my sketching skills, to push myself. It drove the way I taught last fall's multi-session journal practice class (ending in June of this year) which deals with sketching and collage. It fuels how I am currently working in one such journal now (which is 9 x 12 inches) while I have a 6 x 8 inch journal that I carry everywhere with me in my pack.

My journal practice has always been flexible, and it is once again stretching to accommodate current needs so different from my needs 10 years ago, 4 years ago, or even a year ago. My 2011 fake journal helped to reinforce in my mind all the types of approaches I could take.

Next, because I also think of IFJM as a time to play, I started with a character who would be making stuff, specifically stuff that I also enjoy—books. This allowed me to effortlessly fold over my love of making fake book covers into the process of IFJM.

In some ways this year's fake journal is the most personal of any I've shared. Her observational mode is most like mine. And she certainly shares my background experience (from Australia), my third culture kid sensibilities, my sense of humor, and an abundance of my interests. It seemed when she came to me that this was appropriate, since I'd planned to spend all my time with her. In hindsight the universe probably saved me from spending all my time with her.

In playing at being Tyra I forced myself to use a different palette of colors than I normally use. This provided a bit more stretch, even in the discomfort it raised. I think it is good to shake up things about our approach to art every once in awhile, whether or not we decide to be someone else to do it. I'll be exploring these different colors (more oranges, more reds) in the future, as well as trying additional departures—now I'm anxious to make time for them right away.

That's one of the great benefits of IFJM for me—it makes me crazy to get started on other new projects or new approaches. It's why I started posting about it in 2009, using the internet to draw a wider audience to IFJM. I wanted to share all the fun I was having. Sometimes the fun doesn't seem like fun at the time (2001 was a pretty dark year in IFJM for me) but when the work is done the fun always seems to rise like cream to the top. I can live with that.

Several people have asked me why Tyra had to die. The answer always seems obvious to me. She didn't have to do anything. She made choices. She went to Borneo. She played tug of war with the orangutan. As one of my real friends might say about the encounter with the orangutan, "Girlfriend, that wasn't too bright." And that action (and my friend's voice in my head) reminds me of the precariousness of everything, and the need for joy in everything, and if not joy, then gratitude. And if not gratitude then forgiveness. Because frankly we all have way too much to do to behave otherwise. And it is important that we pay attention at all times. Not in an obsessive and paranoid fashion, but in an engaged way.

Originally, as April wound down, I thought I might actually deal with Tyra next year in IFJM as well. But immediately the idea was answered with silence. She wasn't there. And when I asked my mind why, the answer came up.

Ultimately too, there is that love of narrative thread I can't escape, the Dickensian impulse which likes to wrap things up. Blend that with my own dark sense of humor and the logical conclusion is a chocolate fountain.

I have a lot more thinking and working to do because of IFJM. I'm looking forward to it. I want to thank all of your for participating, for promoting, for checking in. I love seeing what other people come up with when they give fake journaling a try. I love seeing the changes they encounter and make in their lives.

I want to thank all my friends who helped me with the creation of Tyra this year, especially Tom, who took pictures of me so that we could do Project Journal Infiltration within IFJM. (I adored all the ways participants worked out to include me in their journals—brilliance! I'm grateful and awed.) And to Dick for supporting the full throttle approach. All you need to know is that Tyra is a lot more lippy than even I am, and a lot of it spilled over into my real life.

It is my hope that each year participants gain a new insight into who they are, how they work, what they could do to take their work in a new direction, what that direction might be. I hope if you participated you found some of that. I hope that you join me next year for another go at it.

Life's so short, why live only one?

A Video Flip Through Roz Stendahl's 2011 Fake Journal

2011-05-19T15:37:00.001-05:00

If the above embedded video doesn't work please view my 2011 fake journal video at YouTube.

The video flip-through is about 8 minutes long. If you've seen enough of the journal by reading my posts and seeing the scans on this blog, and viewing the physical journal doesn't matter to you, I encourage you to still check out the final few minutes (end of the flip through and the credits) to learn a little more about my character.

I'd promised my written wrap up today as well, however, I'm between meetings and will have to post that at another time. Please check back to learn what this fake journal month meant to me.

Wrap Up Thoughts for 2011: Artist Debra Ripp Shares Her Thoughts

2011-05-18T18:35:00.002-05:00

Twin Cities artist Debra Ripp created "Fisherman" for her April 2011 fake journal. I was intrigued with her use of cards to create a stack of journal cards. She had the following to say about her experiences.

When I started this project I was ready to use an old crossword dictionary, except, then I came across a pack of my former image postcards. The size and intimacy were a pleasure to work with, they were easy to paint over and also revealed a surface character of their own. The most appealing aspect of this project is the idea of being someone else and I went as opposite as I could. I imagined myself as a 9-5 desk jockey turned nature nut when he decides to go fishing to escape work. For me it wasn’t about everyday recording but more a reflection of the changes in orientation and what is carried from one (office) environment to someplace (fishing lake) completely NOT his orientation. Hopefully, I am going to develop the idea much further, but I would like to express my wonder at how much this project stretched my focus and perspective toward my own work.

I found the manner in which Debra embraced opposites so completely (including changing her gender) a delight. In fact she gives us a nice template for future fake journal plans—list what you are and go with the exact opposite! Take that internal critic!

The image cards Debra recycled were postcards of her own artwork. She didn't prepare the coated cardstock surface in anyway before she added her paint. The resultant peeling and textural strokes add a wonderful dimension which she loved working with. Since I've seen the cards in person I can add that the effect is also one of depth and adds interest. I was shooting in poor light on a reflective table so it isn't always clear in the photos.

I'm excited that Debra used IFJM 2011 to reflect and play with these ideas and media. I look forward to more adventures from "Fisherman." Thank you Debra, for sharing your art and experience with us.

Wrap Up Thoughts for 2011: Artist Mimi Holmes Shares Her Thoughts

2011-05-18T05:00:00.071-05:00

Above: A page spread from Mimi Holmes' 2011 fake journal. Here her character, Emma Jane, a sixth grader, is drawing trash using pens. I did not get a photograph of the earliest pages where Emma Jane worked only in pencil. At the top of the page you'll see Emma Jane's notes. Below her drawings in red ink you will see comments by Emma Jane's teacher, Mrs. Andersen, along with a grade: a check plus or check minus. Click on the image to view an enlargement. Artwork ©2011 Mimi Holmes.

I was privileged to see Minneapolis artist Mimi Holmes' 2011 fake Journal on Saturday. The lighting wasn't great, but I took a couple photos to share with you. Before we get to Mimi's comments about the project I wanted to share a little background about her fake journal with you.

If you would like to see some of Mimi Holmes' fiber art and paintings please go to MNArtists.org and enter her name in the site's search engine. Images will then come up in a list for you to view.

Mimi used a large (10 x 15 inches?) scrapbook-style book (with a stab spine). She purchased it at a sale for $1.49! The price tag was still attached. Mimi's character, Emma Jane Randall was a sixth-grade girl taking part in a school drawing project. She picked up junk everyday and drew it. Later she started to take photos of it (because of a fictional teacher's request for photos). The journal is filled with her "sixth grade" handwriting which Mimi mimicked perfectly; the sketches; the teacher's comments (in a different hand); the photos; and some final reports required by the class.

Above: Another spread from Mimi Holmes' 2011 fake journal. Here Emma Jane had transitioned to drawing on the trash she picked up. Click on the image to view an enlargement. Artwork ©2011 Mimi Holmes.

Here's what Mimi wrote about her experience in April:

I think I learned how to make the best of it as I progressed. I certainly didn't know how it would turn out when I began it.

Mrs. Andersen being so critical inspired me to have the extra credit options... and the shows at MCM and Textile Center fit beautifully.

I knew starting out what the first three weeks parameters of materials would be: pencils, markers, liquid ink. Didn't figure out the fourth week ( drawing on collected trash) until rather late in the game as I was hoping to do the chicken writing on found trash, but I couldn't figure out how to make that work given what had already progressed in the journal.

I'm not sure if I am disappointed or not about starting a blog and posting pages on it. I enjoyed going to the blogs of others, but didn't leave any comments. I worried I would not have time to post on my blog daily. I photographed daily at first ( the whole page); then it became easier to do several pages at a time, and to photograph several days objects at a time as well. Then resizing images on the computer! Probably spent as much time on that as drawing.

I liked seeing it build up and amount to something over the month. That's the key to all artmaking, I think: do at least a small amount every day and over time it really adds up!

The color type emphasis at the end of Mimi's comments is mine. I couldn't agree more. I also think it is important to let art projects evolve. It's great to have parameters (and I suggest that here in posts on preparation) but it is important, once you get immersed in a project to let the life of the project evolve. Mimi's fake journal clearly did that, as she moved through the month and allowed her character to respond to the "task" at hand in creative ways.

Above: In this image you can see a page spread where Emma Jane was drawing on trash, along with the photos (above the journal) her teacher asked her to supply. To the top right of this image you can see some of the actual trash items that Mimi used for this project. Click on the image to view an enlargement. Artwork ©2011 Mimi Holmes.

Mimi's summation also addresses something that I think everyone needs to be aware of. It's more important to keep making the art than posting it. Sometimes it seems to me that the best way to deal with IFJM would be a simple video flip through at the end of the month, when it's all over. Each artist has to decide what works best. For some, the daily posting spurs them on. For Mimi, I know in part the posting was difficult because she had such a large book and it was difficult to scan or photograph. I dealt with a larger than normal book myself this year and was not happy with the time it added to the "business" of posting.

Thank you Mimi for participating this year and for sharing your fake journal. I love all the aspects of it and the wonderful insights Emma Jane has along the way.

Wrap Up Thoughts for 2011: Participants Share Their Experiences

2011-05-17T18:00:00.004-05:00

At the end of International Fake Journal Month I always encourage participants to take a moment and write down how the experience went for them—what they might have learned, what they realized they won't be doing again, and so on. I call this debriefing.

The following participants responded to my request and have written about their 2011 IFJM experience. Please click on a name in the list below and read their comments.

Also, Miss T. who doesn't blog, wrote her summation for posting here and I've included a link to that post in the list. For the same reasons I have since added Mimi Holmes and Debra Ripps to the list, with links to their wraps ups which were posted on this blog.

Thursday I'll post my video flip through and write up.

Now go read what people have to say about their 2011 IFJM experience:

Melinda Bilecki

Anne Bray

Michelle Himes

Mimi Holmes

Evie Nev

Debra Ripp

Lissa Rachelle Robillard

Jeanette Sclar

Miss T

Joan Tavolott

Note: If you participated and would like your "debriefing" including in this list please send me a link. Thanks.

Final Page Spread from Roz's 2011 Fake Journal

2011-05-11T05:00:00.023-05:00

Click on the image to view an enlargement.

This is the final page spread of my fake journal, completed on 4.30.2011, the final day of IFJM. For ease of viewing the image I have put a vertical version below the text (a virtual tilting of the journal so you can view it right side up).

This is the end of the journal, completely filled to the endsheet. I will be posting a video flip through of the journal (in fact may already have done that). I will also be posting a few debriefing comments about my experience with my fake journal this year—what I learned, what I tried to do, what I couldn't get done, that sort of thing. I hope you'll check back.

The text on the recto page, which is actually the endsheet in this Moleskine watercolor book, hence the change in paper color, reads:

11 p.m. Today was my last day with Gert so I wanted to make sure I got one more sketch in. A rainy, rainy day…I went over to Roz's to return Gert because I'll be leaving soon. Roz had me stay and make books with her. I made two. She helped me and made five more—which she then gave to me for my trip! Lovely 8 x 8 inch square books with Winsor & Newton 90 lb. Hot Press Watercolor paper. I can't wait to work in them.

(Roz thought my reclining Gerts were hilarious—not an angle she's approached.)

Left: If you click on this image you can view Gert rightside up.

Twenty-Ninth Page Spread in Roz's 2011 Fake Journal

2011-05-10T05:00:00.013-05:00

Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Above, the twenty-ninth page spread in my 2011 fake journal. The text reads as follows:

This print is too red—too violet… I didn't have any lights set up…
"Clicker trained" 12 x 16 inches.

April 29. 2011
9:18 p.m. the end of a long + productive day. Oscar came for another sitting and we had great fun… got lots of sketches and notes—but ultimately I went with a sketch from months ago. After Jennie and Oscar left I refined + transferred the sketch and was going to take step by step photos for my talk in Sydney (if it happens!) and I totally forgot and just kept painting. Phyth Teal and Quin Red, and titanium white, bingo bango bongo.

I'll look at it again tomorrow

But I wanted to stop before I got too fussy. Bill didn't want any more detail.

It's the last outstanding commission so I'll leave in a couple weeks with a clear work table!!

I was so giddy over finishing Oscar in no time at all, that I went outside and sat in the yard. I pretended to take notes on a small pad but actually I sketched our neighbor—he doesn't like anyone in the neighborhood, and this would piss him off…but this sketch I actually liked.

Now my mind is wondering about the neighbor. Wondering about the backstory; the coming and goings.

All day long during breaks—Prince William and Kate—Royal Wedding. I wanted to hear about Alabama. What I saw of the wedding was "pretty" and expected. What I saw of Alabama brought back memories of Goshen Indiana.

Twenty-Eighth Page Spread in Roz's 2011 Fake Journal

2011-05-09T05:00:00.016-05:00

Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Above, the twenty-eighth page spread in my 2011 fake journal. The text reads as follows:

August 28, 2011 11:45 p.m.
At 7 p.m. Gunther stopped by and made spätzel (sp?) for us and then modeled.

A completely difficult and useless-seeming day! Errands all day. Getting ready for the trip. Always great to have an excuse to go to REI and pick out a new back-pack for a trip. And to stop and get some pens and other art supplies—but no one had what I wanted. Back and Forth…

When I got home I had a ton of phone messages. The upcoming trip seems to have caused all hell to break out.

But I reminded Carol that my part in "The Everlasting Sea" is long over and "The Silent Stone" is through—she has my check of the revised pages. So I'm ready to celebrate the end of the series—especially since Pierce didn't die!

• Email Laurie to see if she can set up a school visit/talk when I'm in Melbourne. I also want to have time with Sue and Mrs. C.
• immunizations?
• driving?
• Sydney talk details—Pat.
• Where can I see orangutans in Borneo? Cost? Duration of Stop?
• School uniform photos to send to Pat for the cover artist.
• pick up iPad and load with the talk images
• find mini projector I can bring to attache to iPad. There must be one.
• New sketchbooks.

It's killer going all day with no chance to sketch. I stayed up after Gunther left and Bell went to bed and sketched Law and Order…

Twenty-Seventh Page Spread in Roz's 2011 Fake Journal

2011-05-08T05:00:00.016-05:00

Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Above, the twenty-seventh page spread in my 2011 fake journal. I've included a vertical view of the verso page at the end of this post. The text on the recto page reads as follows:

April 27, 2011 New pen—the crispest ever! I can't even write with it!
6:50 p.m.

He came into the room while I was seated, journal in my lap, page open to Sean Connery, smoothing the tape down, over and over, lost in thought. I must have looked unhappy.

B: Are you sad mostly about Connery not being Grim?

T: No, not mostly. Not even perhaps. I'm realistic about that. Today I've been thinking about Jim and how he treated Anne. Cheating her with the business. And we can't say anything.

B: No we can't say anything.

T: If only she'd talked to you or me first.

B: I knew she'd over paid. We could see things were changing.

T: He lived his life on her back.

B: Yep.
long pause

T (smiling): I'm going to write a murder mystery about it. Stealing someone's life that way.

B (chuckling): I thought you would. You have a tell. Whenever you're about to kill someone.

T: I do?

B: Yes, you stroke the page with your fingers—just like that [pointing], as if you're smoothing it down, pressing out wrinkles—left index, right index.

T (absently watching her fingers): Hmmm you're right I do.

Laughter

I don't think I would have noticed. How do you notice something that is so ingrained it's unconsciously performed? And then later I realized I've always had this tell. It started when I was three. I would stroke my stuffed kitty which had real fur (rabbit I suppose?). I would stroke its head one finger at a time. And think, and plot, and ponder—until everything was smoothed out.

Left: Click on the image to view an enlargement of the verso page of this spread, turned so that you can view it in the correct orientation.

Twenty-Sixth Page Spread in Roz's 2011 Fake Journal

2011-05-07T05:00:00.014-05:00

Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Above, the twenty-sixth page spread in my 2011 fake journal.

Verso Page

•wider stance
•deeper chest
•drop in in between space
•longer leg bone
•Rear toe slightly visible on each foot from this angle.

Recto Page

The feet fold up like napkins when he picks up his foot.
Drawing paper
Pen doesn't work well on eith[er] of these papers. 60% Indigo 40% Red Earth. Sketchers from Monday…which was gorgeous and sunny. And now I'm inside and it's raining buckets and it's only 40 degrees F!!

Wider
Nostalgie

This works
head and neck in ret[reat]
Nostalgie
wider body

Twenty-Fifth Page Spread in Roz's 2011 Fake Journal

2011-05-06T05:00:00.026-05:00

Click on the image to view an enlargement.

As many people have worked out, or read in the explanatory page, the keeper of this journal is Tyra D. Sheere who writes mysteries under the name of Hydra Seetre and children's books under the name of Esther Rayde. (You can friend both of them on Facebook, and follow their blogs too.) On this the twenty-fifth page spread in my 2011 fake journal she is sketching up some suggestions for an upcoming murder mystery cover on the verso page. On the recto page she is writing about the arrival of another of her children's books.

Verso Page (the callouts aren't reproduced here, they are simply directions for additions to "filling" out the atmosphere of the cover, such as "Chemistry stuff on table top—glossy black surface." The rough column of text starting below the thumbnail at the right reads as follows):

or an even greater close up with braid and rope somehow the focus.

The line art should be crisp and sharp—even a manga-esque line and shape to the figure.

I'll think about [it] for awhile and send something off as a suggestion to Pat.

I'm still wondering if we should mention on the cover that Grim has a walk-on only in this book.

Other than that: I'm relieved and glad it's all finally off and whatever they do is going to be just fine.

Recto Page:

10:45 p.m.
This proof arrived in today's mail. I love the way the new sketch ended up looking on the cover. I'm not sure I like the curly type on my name—it doesn't show up well on the spine but Carol said that on the actual size proof it's totally readable.

Now that this has wound down I'm excited to get back to the mysteries. But mostly I'm just looking forward to a couple weeks off with nothing to do but sketch and think up new ideas.

Miss T's 2011 Fake Journal: Observations by Alizarin Redwood

2011-05-05T16:13:00.001-05:00

Introduction:
Miss T wanted to participate in the 2011 celebration, but doesn't have a blog so she sent me images to post. I'm just now getting them processed. Miss T actually also happened to win the Project Journal Infiltration portion of this year's prize drawings. You'll see those sketches here as well. Not all of her journal appears below so you can't exactly follow along, but you'll get a sense of it.

Background:

Miss T wrote the following explanation of her journal with her first image.

The writer of my journal is an alien researcher (a plant-based life form, who lives in fear that she might encounter a vegan) who's here on earth studying humans. She uses the name Alizarin Redwood here.

If you attempt to read the text, note that she writes from the bottom of the page up, rather than top down. (As a plant, she thinks of things in terms of growing from the ground up.) She is gradually improving her English skills as she proceeds through the month, so the text starts out very rough and smooths out a bit mid-month.)

The typed footnotes were made by the editor/translator, Dr. Lafayette J. Pigeon, who has translated any non-English text and also provided explanations of some of the events and locations referred to by the writer.

To read Miss T's debriefing, feedback from me, and view an album of her fake journal pages please click to view the full post.

2011 Debriefing by Miss T:

[In response to my request for debriefing Miss T obliged by sending in the following report]

After a hiatus of too many years, I’ve started to draw all over again. The first thing I noticed in my recent work was that there were several giant, gaping holes in my education. Since I wanted to use IFJM to work on a specific problem, I chose the biggest and worst of the Giant Gaping Holes: human faces. I’d never drawn them. Not on my own, and not in art school, either. I had weaseled my way through daily figure drawing by either suggesting the model’s head with a few brief strokes of charcoal, or by cutting it off entirely and concentrating on the torso. Nobody ever really called me on it. Back then, I wasn’t interested in drawing faces (I don’t recall why). Now that I am, I’m mortified at my clumsy attempts. Okay, I’m mortified by all my drawing—starting over is incredibly difficult—but faces were the worst.

A solid month of drawing faces had to help, right? So I developed a character, Alizarin Redwood, an alien researcher who was sent to Earth to study humans. She had very rudimentary English skills (obtained by studying a dictionary and notes brought back by a previous researcher), a few pencils, and a journal. (Purchased from an Etsy seller, this journal turned out to be very poorly constructed, something that would have upset me if I was using it for my own journaling. But it was perfect for an alien who had to hack together a book with whatever materials she could scavenge. It’s not holding up well at all, but again, that fits with the story.)

I got two books to help my process: Facial Expressions: A Visual Reference for Artists, by Mark Simon; and The Artist’s Complete Guide to Facial Expression, by Gary Fagin. The former was my source of subjects; the latter got me out of trouble when I got into it. Each day, I selected a face (or two) to draw, and a location in the Twin Cities where Alizarin would encounter that person.

As the month went on, a story emerged, of course (there’s always a story, with me), and it went in some interesting directions I didn’t expect: Alizarin had a major conflict going on with one of her colleagues back home who was trying to sabotage her. Our cold April weather was too much for her and she stole a sweater to survive, the recovery of which by its owner proved to be the reason Alizarin lost her journal—all her hard work—on the night she left. The editor and translator of the journal became more and more opinionated and snarky, and I learned that was because Alizarin had drawn him, too, and he was furious at coming across his own face in the document he was editing.

Alizarin’s English improved during the month, as she listened to people talking around her. But what about my drawing? Well, I drew 30 faces. The first one was dreadful. The second, only slightly less so. But by the third, I realized not only what was wrong with my drawings of faces—I’d hit on what was wrong with my other sketches as well. I’d been trying to work too fast. I wasn’t slowing down to see. Perhaps I was hoping I could turn back time and pick up where I shouldn’t have left off if I just sketched fast enough. This incredibly boneheaded error in judgment led to not only some atrocious sketches, but to a tendency towards excessive, nervous crosshatching that wasn’t doing my work any favors.

So, I put in the time. Hours each day, if that’s what was called for. This was not without drama. After seeing some steady improvement, near the end of the month I not only hit a plateau, I felt I was backsliding. I made some bad drawings. I freaked out, positive that I can’t draw anymore and maybe I never could. And then, miraculously, with just a few days to go, I hit a groove. Even fewer lines, less shading… and more the essence of the person. Am I all the way there yet? Of course not. But I’m much further than I expected to be in one month, and I found a genuine reason to continue drawing.

I now have a completed book with at least six or seven drawings in it that don’t make me cringe. I finished a regular journal at the same time, and while my first sketch in the new one isn’t perfect, it feels light years from where I was in March. March! And it’s not even a human. It’s a tapir, a non-embarrassing tapir sketch that I couldn’t have gotten to without drawing 30 humans. I have to say that I gained far more than I expected to from IFJM (including a reason for the existence of the month of April). Thank you, Roz, for putting this idea out in the world and tirelessly insisting that we all sit up and take notice—it really does work.

Feedback from Roz on Miss T's Debriefing:

Miss T, first I'm glad you had an over all good experience. A certain amount of cringing is to be expected as we are always our harshest critics. And plateaux are common to the landscape of any journey, artistic, personal, public, etc. I'm glad that you stuck with it and worked your way along because I believe by working through such things we actually are in a better position to quickly dispatch them in the future.

It's clear from your note that the time away from art has been painful. I hope this project is the first step in many that reconnect you with all that you've felt separated from.

I also believe that by setting clear goal for yourself (human faces) and drawing together the reference resources you needed and setting aside the time to devote to this project you guaranteed that you would have a success. I encourage you to savor that success.

I'd like to reiterate something I wrote at the end of last year's celebration for everyone who has participated or is thinking of participating in future years:
What matters is that you followed your intention to stretch your creative muscle and put that intention into practice in your already full life. You carved out time for yourself. You experimented with new media. You tested new paper and books. You listened to that inner voice that says softly "I want to say something." You let that voice be heard over your internal critic.

Thank you Miss T for sharing your adventure with us this year.

Album of Images from Miss T's 2011 Fake Journal
Click on an image to view an enlargement.

Twenty-Fourth Page Spread in Roz's 2011 Fake Journal

2011-05-05T05:00:00.029-05:00

Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Above, the twenty-fourth page spread in my 2011 fake journal, from April 24. The blue excerpt is from Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. The Sean Connery rubberstamp is a custom stamp from my drawing.

Text on Verso Page:

Sunday April 24, 2011 5 p.m.
I've been struggling with this all day but I think this idea is going to be shelved again.
For 20 years Dodger Down Under was a positive idea. Something to play with and think about. Then for years I let it go, so I was surprized [sic] when I latched back onto it this weekend so fiercely after watching a modern Jack the ripper movie. Dodger became a damaged character (Sikes + Nancy) and it seemed an interesting possibility for repatriation but the years don't work out. The book came out in 1838 and Ripper was busy in 1888…so even if Jack Dawkins were only 10 at the time that makes him 60 and it's unlikely. Or maybe it's just uninteresting to me now—or maybe I can't lose sight of my positive spin. Or maybe it is closer to fan fiction than an homage.

I can think about it when I go back to Sydney in May.

[Vertical]

6:45 p.m. More plans deferred…Regrets? Can't really have them. But I've been thinking about this since Friday when I got the call…

Text on the Recto Page:

and now it's all I can think about and I don't feel like painting on this page I prepped this a.m.

Peregrine Jones is definitely going to the big screen now. But it won't be with Sir Sean Connery as Grim Jones. With the hope of sequels from the 13 volumes of adventures he's considered too old. The joy is that the movie of Murder at the Back of Beyond will be made at all. So I'm focusing on that. I'm so tired of writers saying they don't have someone in mind. It isn't that simple. Grim is not anything like Connery but I always felt Connery could play him.

So I'm going to focus instead on the upcoming trip and meetings, see some of the old sights…Hope Grim translates well to an audience fed on 3D and super heroes.

Twenty-Third Page Spread in Roz's 2011 Fake Journal

2011-05-04T05:00:00.000-05:00

Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Above, the twenty-third page spread in my 2011 fake journal. You can read the handwritten text when you view the enlargement.

Winners in the 2011 IFJM Contests Announced

2011-05-03T17:23:00.000-05:00

There were three contests for this year's IFJM:

1. Participation by publishing your images.
2. Promotion of IFJM (posting and keeping the promotional button up on your blog until May 3).
3. Project Journal Infiltration WITHIN IFJM (drawing me [or "sighting" me in words or photos as some participants chose to do this year] in your fake journal).

After eligibility was determined (i.e., I checked that people had done the required minimum of pages, or were still showing the button, etc. depending on the contest entered) slips were made and placed into three baskets. A friend came over this afternoon to conduct the drawing.

The winners are:

1. In the Participation category: Sarah Robinson.

2. In the Promotion category: Joan Tavolott.

3. In the Project Journal Infiltration Within IFJM category: Miss T (who doesn't have a website, but she has sent pages to me to publish, which is an option, and I'm behind in getting that stuff up—so I'll do that as soon as I can).

I'm relieved the contests were drawings, because frankly there were so many inventive and fun approaches this year I don't know how I could have chosen between one journal and the next for a favorite.

I hope to get all the remaining buttons (for promoters and foreign participants), along with the prizes, out in the mail in the next two days. I need my work table back!

Again, I want to thank ALL OF YOU for participating in this year's celebration of IFJM. I love seeing what you do, and I love hearing afterward what epiphanies and discoveries have come forward.

I hope you will all join with me again next year to "Dig Deep." Look for the pre-April activities to start on this blog around March 1, 2012.

In the meantime, please know that you'll be able to see the rest of my 2011 fake journal here over the next few days. I finished my fake journal this year on April 30 by using the last page and the endsheet.
While I didn't start a new fake journal for May, you can still visit Tyra D. Sheere's two nom de plume websites (Esther Rayde and Hydra Seetre) through May 2011. She is still going to be active.

In addition there will be a flip through of my entire fake journal, after all the pages have posted. I like to post the spreads individually so that people can read them, but I like the video flip through because it gives a sense of pace or activity that the character went through. If you make a video flip through of your 2011 fake journal please let me know where it's posted so I can view it.

I want you to know that I am grateful that you chose to spend your creative time and energy in April on this project. I hope your journaling adventures for the rest of the year are beyond your expectations.

Twenty-Second Page Spread in Roz's 2011 Fake Journal

2011-05-03T05:00:00.000-05:00

Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Above is the twenty-second page spread from my 2011 fake journal. It has more of the Franzen article Tyra is saving. (The article was actually put down in the journal on the same day, 4.21.11; but there was a second visit to the pet store with a new brush pen.)

The paragraph on a blue background is the end of the article and, again, if you are interested in Franzen, Wallace, Robinson Crusoe, "the novel" and any number of other things I recommend you get a copy of the New Yorker and read it. If Tyra hadn't saved it and put it in her journal I would have put it in mine.

Twenty-First Page Spread in Roz's 2011 Fake Journal

2011-05-02T05:00:00.010-05:00

Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Above, the twenty-first page spread in my 2011 fake journal, April 21, 2011. The article Tyra is saving is Jonathan Franzen's "Farther Away" from the New Yorker, 4.18.11 issue. These pages deal with David Foster Wallace. The handwritten portions should be readable when you click on the image to view an enlargement. I recommend that you check out the article in the New Yorker if you are interested in Franzen, Wallace, Robinson Crusoe, or "the novel."

Debriefing, It's Important after Any Mission

2011-05-01T11:00:00.000-05:00

OK, so you got through IFJM. Maybe you completed 30 entries (one a day) or more (several a day) or one a week, or one every other day—it doesn't matter. Now that you are through the experience it's time to look into how that experience went for you. And today is the day to do it, while that experience is fresh in your mind. Please take a moment to sit down with your 2011 fake journal and do the following:

1. Write a brief sentence or two about what your goals were for you, for your character. This might turn into a paragraph, but keep it short, with the barest of facts, e.g., My character was a children's book illustrator/writer and mystery writer who keeps a fake journal which she rarely carries around with her and which she doesn't explain in. I would like to work in the journal several hours a day and fill two if possible, all with her works in progress.

2. Write a brief sentence or two about what happened to your goals, e.g., Life happened, family requirements ate up my free time requiring me to severely limit time spent on this project. I was happy with finding time each day to work on it.

3. Next write something about any epiphanies you had during the month. To do this you might find it helpful to open your journal and look at it page by page, reminding yourself of the journal's progress. Note down whatever comes up, including how a certain entry made you feel, how easy or difficult it was to capture what you intended, how easy or difficult it was to get into character, etc. (I'll be posting a summary of my experience at another time. I don't want this post to get too long!)

4. Write some sort of summation about the project, including what you could have done differently, how you could have sidestepped some impediments, how you might arrange things differently for next year (if you have decided you want to participate in 2012).

5. Set this debriefing aside to read in 2012. You might write a note on your calendar on March 1, 2012 to reread this debriefing. It will help remind you of the experience and your answer to item 4 will help you set up for success in 2012. Or if your debriefing wasn't written in your real journal or as a note attached in the back of your fake journal, you might want to do it on loose paper and fold it up and put it in an envelope with a note to open it on March 1. Whatever works for you—just keep it handy for next year.

6. Congratulate yourself on completing the project, at whatever level you were able to do so. CONGRATULATIONS! You exercised your creativity in a way that pushed your boundaries. Regardless of how far you pushed those boundaries you took that step towards bringing creative play into your life. That's huge. Be sure to pat yourself on your back. It doesn't matter if you posted your journal and only 5 people came to see it or 500 people, or 5000, or if you didn't post it and kept it private. What matters is that you pushed yourself. Congratulations!

7. Take a moment to look forward in your real life. Based on your experience in your fake journal what do you want to bring into your real life. Did you work on sketching faces every day or painting with watercolors? What remains to be learned if you focused on one technique or one subject matter? Is it time to push harder and take a class? Is it time to push for another month, this time in your real journal, on the same subject? Maybe what has come out of the experience is the need for a space of your own (that can be as simple as a side table in a corner—the goal is for a space to work for now). Maybe what emerged is a realization that there is no time for YOU in your life and that needs to change. Or maybe the opposite emerged and you realized that there is too much YOU in your life and it's time for you to branch out into the world in all the ways you've been holding back. Write down a list of new goals for yourself, your REAL SELF, for the coming year (through April 2012). Put this list of goals in your journal, or on your wall (if it's private, because these are private goals for right now). Start exploring ways that you can work on and achieve these goals. Make a to-do list of steps, check it over tomorrow after more research, and again next week after even more research, and then start with step one and you're on your way.

8. Finally today, as appropriate, while setting good boundaries for yourself (i.e., not exposing issues or items that are too personal for public consumption), write a public debriefing which explains how the process went for you and post it on your blog. Send me a link by May 5 and I gather all the links in a post here. I think it is really helpful to have this sort of background information for future participants as well as past participants. Future participants will get a sense of what they are in for if they join in next year. Past participants may see in your experience a way to better structure their time and energies to improve their experience.

Today I would like to thank you all for participating in and supporting IFJM. It started by word of mouth and in a good year maybe 8 people participated in some capacity. Since it went public on the internet in 2009 it has grown into over 50 people who completed the project this year.

There will always be reasons that people have to drop out (internal critic, work, family crisis, health, etc.), there will always be reasons for people not to participate ("What are they crazy?" "My internal critic thinks it's stupid."). It is exciting to me that every year people take the plunge. I want to thank you for giving it a go; for believing that you might possibly learn something about your journaling practice, your creativity, art medium, art techniques, whatever. I want to thank you for making time in your life for creative play and investigation. I believe there are benefits you have gained this month that will appear throughout your journaling life in helpful ways. I appreciate the time you took to try and achieve that.

So, in this next week you'll see my debriefing, a video flip-through of my 2011 fake journal, the rest of my page spreads, and of course our contest winners. Mark you calendars for March 1, 2012 when you can once again get in the fake journaling mode. Plans for next year are already underway here.

Now I'm off to catch up on some fake journal reading at your links.

Twentieth Page Spread in Roz's 2011 Fake Journal

2011-05-01T05:00:00.018-05:00

Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Above, the twentieth page spread in my 2011 fake journal. As you learned on Esther Rayde's blog Roz has lent Gert to Esther. On this page spread the artist captures two views of Gert reclining.

Ninteenth Page Spread in Roz's 2011 Fake Journal

2011-04-30T05:00:00.014-05:00


Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Above, the ninteenth page spread in my 2011 fake journal created on April 19. (Note: She scanned one of her pigeon sketches and printed it on Infinity watercolor paper using 4 of the 5 to try out color tests with gouache. The images were perforated and glued into the journal before being painted.)

The text below the images reads:
April 19, 2011 4:40 p.m.
"When I go looking for a new bird species, I'm searching for a mostly lost authenticity, for the remnants of a world now largely overrun by human beings but still beautifully indifferent to us; to glimpse a rare bird somehow persisting in its life of breeding and feeding is an enduringly transcendent delight." Jonathan Franzen, "Farther Away," New Yorker April 18, 2011

For me I have that transcendent delight when I see an invasive species, like pigeons persisting…adapting to the mess man has made. Sure I would love to see always the rare bird, and to know they will survive…but the invasive species also speaks to the power of adaptability and survival urge of nature. And I can be reminded daily!

Eighteenth Page Spread in Roz's 2011 Fake Journal

2011-04-29T05:00:00.009-05:00

Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Above, the eighteenth page spread in my 2011 Fake Journal.

Just a quick word of explanation, since the only text on the page is the date and time the page was put together, 4.18.11 3 p.m.

All the portraits on this page were done on scraps of paper and then glued down to a painted background. The paper used on the left is Nostalgie from Hahnemühle and let me tell you it is killer fun to work with Pentel Pocket Brush Pen on that surface! The guy on the right was done on a Rhodia pad that had little dots in a grid. You can see the edges of the sheets because of paint buildup on the edges, if you look at the enlargement. The finch was sketched on Strathmore Mixed Media paper (in their Mixed Media Visual Journals).

Seventeenth Page Spread in Roz's 2011 Fake Journal

2011-04-28T05:00:00.006-05:00

Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Above, the seventeenth page spread in my 2011 fake journal. Just a quick word of explanation since the scan doesn't show it—the light green in the background is sparkly! Since the text was written rather small, here it is typed:

4.17.2011
2 p.m. Como

Later, at 6:30 p.m. on our walk, watching Turkey Vultures soar, scratching on the limited lift over the E.R. Flats ridge.

B: Turkey vultures are a pretty bird.
T: No I think they are an ugly bird.
B: Maybe their face but they have a very pretty wing from underneath.
T: No, not their face. They are a scruffy, ugly bird. You're a ginger who wore a green suit. Stylistically your opinions don't count for much.
B: [uncontrollable laughter, per usual.]

Sixteenth Page Spread in Roz's 2011 Fake Journal

2011-04-27T05:00:00.006-05:00

Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Above the sixteenth page spread in my 2011 fake journal. There are little notes scrawled here and there which should be readable when viewing the enlargement, things like "this one." The top left paragraph reads:

April 16, 2011 10 a.m.
Doves + pigeons at Sam's. Killer headache but it's the only time I could get out there. Bill drove and took photos.

Fifteenth Page Spread in Roz's 2011 Fake Journal

2011-04-26T05:00:00.005-05:00

Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Above the fifteenth page spread in my 2011 fake journal, it was created on April 15. I think it will all be readable if you click on the enlargement. The sideways text on the right edge of the spread is as follows (just to make things easier for you)

4.15.11 3:30 p.m. I met Dick* today too. He took a vacation day to finish the taxes. *her husband.
We only had time for this quick sketch because we both had so much fun painting Gert. I took some reference photos—we'll get together again to sketch.

Fourteenth Page Spread in Roz's 2011 Fake Journal

2011-04-25T05:00:00.016-05:00

Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Above is the fourteenth page spread from my 2011 fake journal. The text and dates are below.

Verso Page:

April 14, 2011 7:30 p.m.
Playing around after watching an episode of "Out of the Wild: Venezuela" (sp?) Thinking about how some of the people who give up aren't the ones you would expect…making a joking point
T: "I'm not a very emotionally sound person…"
B (interrupting): "I love the way it rolls off your tongue."
He repeats it, with clipped tones and clearly ennunciated [sic] syllables. Laughing. Mimicing. [sic]
"It's…you sound like Joan Cusack."
T: "I love how you laugh at my emotional distress and drepression." Smirking, but neither hurt, nor surprised.
B: "It's only because I love you.
[sketch time] 9:37 p.m.

Recto Page:

Marriage, after all, is itself a kind of narrative that you have to make up, develop, vary, and sustain as you go along." David Denby in "End Games: the films of the Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami." New Yorker 3.14.11
Use for Libby Vernon?

10:30 a.m. 4.15.11 too much to do. Too much stress. How can you make a permanent eye tic funny?

Thirteenth Page Spread in Roz's 2011 Fake Journal

2011-04-24T05:00:00.003-05:00


Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Above is the 13th page spread in my 2011 fake journal. If you click on the image to view an enlargement you'll be able to read the text. It was created on 4.13.11 at 9:54 p.m.

Twelfth Page Spread in Roz's 2011 Fake Journal

2011-04-22T05:00:00.037-05:00

Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Above is the twelfth page spread in my 2011 fake journal. It was created on April 11 (the yellow background portions) and April 12 (the far right fox sketch with color test swatches).

Text on the yellow background portions reads:

[vertically at left] 9:30 p.m. Space after"u" in last line of reviews

[Three columns of text]

April 11. 2011 My Birthday and what a great present in today's mail. The mock up for "That's No Excuse…" I know it's not the final cover, but it's worrisome to see a typo…Makes me nervous that I'm missing others. I'll look at it again tomorrow with fresh eyes. And have Bill look at it. The Real Bill. More cake today. Always a good thing. Lots of phone calls from friends. When I got home from my bike ride (26 mph gusts!) there were 6 calls, each one singing a birthday greeting.

Maybe it's possible to think about a sequel to TNE? If it's a hit, they'd probably go for it. Cats are a pain to draw but this Bill has such a fun personality. And it would be fun to have plush toys.

Text on the back cover (left portion) of the book cover proof stuck to the left page (front cover and spine are readable):

All around him things were falling apart. If Bill didn’t act quickly he was going to end up having a very bad day indeed. What’s a cat to do?

Praise for That’s No Excuse…
“Bill takes multitasking and disaster management to new levels
from which we can all learn. I couldn’t put it down.”
—Tony Hayward, former CEO of BP

“How Bill overcomes the calamity that is “Tuesday, the 10th of May” will have every reader, young and old, rolling on the floor in laughter.”
—Booklist (starred review)

“Not one day goes by when I don’t pray to God that this woman would stop writing books,
and corrupting our children.”
—Sarah Palin, former governor of Alaska and current reality TV star (unsolicited endorsement)

Cover illustrations copyright@2010 by Esther Rayde
Cover design by Emma Spark

Mind Factory Books / Dapper Design
Printed in the United States of America

Ages 7 and up
$7.95/ Higher in Canada

Text on the White background and painting on right reads:

Cobalt, Indian Yellow, English Red, All Schmincke gouache, Also Holbein white handy at time
4.12.11 10:08 p.m.

Eleventh Page Spread in Roz's 2011 Fake Journal

2011-04-20T05:00:00.022-05:00

Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Above is the 11th page spread in my 2011 fake journal created on April 10. The painted text might be difficult to read so it is typed below:

Verso Page:
[Along the left edge vertically] life drawing 4-5:30 p.m.
[Bottom] Squint

Recto Page:

The artists sketching were more interesting than the model. No biking today—I believed the weather reports and then when it wasn't raining I'd already talked myself out of it.

(I like this #2 Ruby Satin monogram liner the best. Better than the #4. Buy more.)
4-10-11 10 p.m.

[Along the right edge vertically]

You cannot out smart crazy. Crazy always finds a way.—Jon Stewart.

Tenth Page Spread in Roz's 2011 Fake Journal

2011-04-19T05:00:00.000-05:00

Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Above is the 10th page spread in my 2011 fake journal. It was created on April 9, 2011.

An Explanation of Roz's 2011 Fake Journal

2011-04-18T15:37:00.013-05:00

Since the buttons are flying off to participants it seemed like a good time to let people in on everything that is happening here with my fake journal—who is the author, what does she do for a living, etc.

Because the explanation is a bit lengthy I decided to post it as a page:
What Was She Thinking?—Roz's 2011 Fake Journal Explained.

So if you are interested in who, what, where, when, how—go check it out.

That only leaves Why? To which I can only respond, "Why not?"

Now you understand a bit better why this year's slogan is "Dig Deep."

The Participation Buttons Have Arrived!

2011-04-18T05:00:00.073-05:00

Above: The 2.25-inch button design for International Fake Journal Month 2011. (The actual button does not have a black outline.)

As many of you may have ascertained, Esther Rayde, children's book author and illustrator, is my character for 2011. (Well, not REALLY—but more about this in a separate post later today.)

Pierce, the French Bulldog from Esther Rayde's book, "The Year of the French Bulldog" is on this year's button.

Each year, in addition to the main blog slogan "Life's so short, why live only one," there is a button slogan.

This year's slogan is "Dig Deep." And that's not just because Pierce is a dog, it's because that's fake journaling at its best—when you dig deep.

Once again the folks at Pure Buttons did a fantastic job. These buttons are so bright, shiny, and well made that I can't stop smiling. You'll love it.

Buttons are going out today (Monday, April 18) FREE to all the journal keeping participants who followed instructions and sent in their postal address with their entry. People who didn't, were sent an email on Sunday and, have until Sunday, April 24 to email rozjournalrat@gmail.com with their postal address (don't add it as a comment to this blog).

Note: People participating in the promotional aspect of the contest—your buttons are being held for you until the final check of your blog at the end of that contest, in May. If you do not send me your postal address, by April 24, however, you will not receive a button in MAY.

Note: People participating in more than one contest will only receive one button. If you are participating in both the posting and promotional contests your button goes out today with the other posting participants buttons.

After Monday, April 25, anyone who wants one of the remaining buttons (supply is very limited) can order a button for postage and packaging costs. (I'll update this post when I get back from the Post Office and know what that is going to be.) The buttons themselves will still be free.

Thank you again to all the hardworking participants who are making this such a fun International Fake Journal Month 2011. Thank you for giving me a reason to make buttons!

New Image for First Page Spread in Roz's 2011 Fake Journal Posted

2011-04-17T11:36:00.000-05:00

Since I found out that I can actually scan my oversized journal on my scanner, with a little bit of overlap for knitting together, I went back this weekend and scanned the first page spread.

If you return to the First Page Spread in Roz's 2011 Fake Journal post you'll be able to see the improved image. I hope you enjoy seeing this improved view.

When Enough is Enough: Stopping Your Fake Journal?

2011-04-17T05:00:00.063-05:00

It's past the half-way mark for people who started their fake journal on April 1. I thought this would be a good time to discuss stopping early.

Here's a little secret. This year, 2011, I experienced a huge epiphany on day two of my fake journal. (I started before April for logistical reasons, which means that on March 27 the light bulb turned on.) The epiphany was so clear, so loud and persistent, that I felt confident I'd learned what I needed from the experience and could stop. I didn't stop, however. I'm holding out for a couple more epiphanies, or so much irritation that I can't wait to get back to my own life full time. But I wanted to share thoughts with you on when to throw in the towel on your fake journal.

1. If you're uneasy, uncomfortable, maybe a little queasy, scared, frustrated, and your feet don't feel right in your shoes: Keep Working!

Don't quit on the time table of your internal critic or your subconscious or even your general habit (which might be to end things early). Quit on your own terms.

a. Assess the situation. Ask where the discomfort is coming from. Think about how you might be able to address that discomfort by changing media, making more time to work on your journal, taking less time to work on your journal, etc. Make a list of what comes up in your questioning and address it.

b. Consider ways to tighten up your goals by scaling back on the scope and breadth of your project. (Do 30 minutes a day, instead of one hour. Do one page a day instead of one page spread. Stick to only one type of medium. Stick with or return to a medium you are comfortable using.)

c. Focus on finishing the project rather than posting your results daily on a blog or website. For some people the scanning and posting adds too many extra steps to their already time-squeezed days. Finish your journal project first, then in MAY scan and post your results. The project is important—not when you post. (Alternately some people may find it helps to post everyday to get their momentum moving.)

2. If you have an earth shattering epiphany about your creative process—don't stop your fake journal. Keep going another two days while you take time to also think about that epiphany and what it means in your life. After two days of digestion, you'll know whether there is any point in continuing the fake journal, e.g., "I found out X, now what else can I find out?" Literally ask yourself that. (This is the position I was in this year.)

3. If your whole life seems topsy-turvy, the dishes aren't getting done, and you feel so much stress some other aspect of your life is becoming unhealthy (e.g., you see your coffee consumption increase), back off of the project and participate three days a week, or even one or two days a week only. You'll keep up the momentum. You'll still learn something. You won't be giving in to your internal critic.

In any type of exercise, physical or creative, we have to push ourselves past our current ability and habits and patterns. It's where the growth and learning take place. But part of that growth and learning comes in the form of new knowledge about ourselves and how far we can push without collapse.

Keep that in mind as you work in your fake journal. You are pushing to get stronger, not to wear yourself out.

Don't quit—assess and stop on your terms.

As for me, yep, I'm still working in my journal, even though I have a sense of my limitations with the project and really want to start exploring the epiphany further. I know two things. 1. The epiphany, if genuine, will hold for another two weeks. And 2. I know enough about myself to know that there's more to come out of this process if I hold in there for the month. (I know this about myself because I've done these types of projects over and over again. If this is the first time you have done something like this you might be learning this for the first time.)

I also know I'll enjoy the completeness of it—we get so little completeness in real life. I also know that at the last hour, in the last push, some final barrier will part and I'll get even more. (Again because I've done this before.)

The deal is to know yourself, and to give yourself a chance to grow. If you want to stop, look at the steps above. Think again.

If you still want to stop after your assessment, do so on your terms, knowing that you do it because it's right to do so at this time. Take a moment to write down what you have learned, the difficulties you've encountered, what you could have planned for better, and so on. Basically take some time to honor the project by debriefing yourself. Allow an hour at least, and do it on the day you decide to end the project. It is important to do it when all of your reasons are fresh in your mind.

By honoring your project in this way you can walk away from it with self-learning, while your internal critic just stands there slack-jawed, and powerless.

Here's another secret, which isn't all that secret, because I've written about it here before. What you learn keeping a fake journal can be applied to your daily life, your real journal. If you have always wanted to keep a real journal but have always stopped for some reason, now is the time to set yourself a new goal, one month of real journaling. And during that month, if you feel you aren't going to fit it in your life, go through these steps and assessments.

Journaling isn't for everyone. People process their lives differently. You won't know if journaling is really an activity and process for you, however, until you really honor the process and give it a fair shot. Queasy stomach and uncomfortable feet and all.

The quicker you show up and assess journaling as it might fit in your life and process the quicker you'll be able to get on with it—or move on and find that process which really does speak to you and your creative needs.

Ninth Page Spread in Roz's 2011 Fake Journal

2011-04-16T14:33:00.000-05:00

Click on the image to view an enlargement.

The above left page and first column of the right-hand page were done on April 7. The remaining work was done on April 8.

The text on the left-hand page reads:

4.7.11 12:30 a.m.
Lunch remains
Exterior
Interior
Pitch to Pat—Kiley Ramsay—forensics artists
What it's about. She's just out of school and economy is bad, no jobs.
Who does she work for—agency/dept.?
Normal duties.
How she's embroiled in murders.
What's the proper term?

Next column:
Drawing Your Heart Out
Drawing from Death
Drawing Your Last Breath
Death Penciled in
Murder in Grisaille
Murder in the Abstract
(too fine art-ish) [mark for both the last two]
Portrait of a Murder
Palour (sp?) in Pastel
*Chalk Up Another Death*

First column on the right-hand page—You're on your own. Even I can't read it at this point.

Second column on the right-hand page:
I'm exceedingly frustrated that I can't remember things like my bike wheel circumferance so I can enter it into my bike computer—which needed a new battery (as it does every year) and lost its data.

Life seems to be a succession of battery replacements and changings never in sync. Yesterday the alarm system battery today the bike computer, always the cell phone. 4.8.11 noon.

Third column on the right-hand page:
B: You ask those questions people stop asking at 4.
T: Don't you still need those answers?
4.8.11 10 p.m.

Eighth Page Spread in Roz's 2011 Fake Journal

2011-04-14T05:00:00.008-05:00


Click on the image to view an enlargement.

The text on the spread above is written around the edges of the pages. On the far left edge of the page, running up vertically from the bottom of the page the text reads: 4.6.11 a.m. Sunny, high 40s degree F. E.R. Flats.

At the base of the page, starting at the left and running along the bottom of the page and up the right fore edge of the right-hand page the text reads: the whole meeting was an elaborately staged act of misdirection—DAVID GRANN in New Yorker, April, 4 issue on the assasination [sic] of Rodrigo Rosenberg in Guatemala.

Seventh Page Spread in Roz's 2011 Fake Journal

2011-04-13T05:00:00.016-05:00

Click on the image to view an enlargement.

In the above page spread the horse shooting research continues on the verso page. The photo of Jackie Kennedy-Onassis on the recto page (April 5 entry) is ©1971 Ron Galetta and was torn by the journal keeper from an advertisement in the New Yorker Magazine.

The handwritten text on the verso page reads as follows:
April 4, 2011 7:05 p.m. "Do you want your caramel now?" I ask. He nods, not even taking his eye from the road. I unwrap the wax paper carefully, without touching any surface of the candy, a rectangular log. Using the wrapper as a glove, pinched on one side I hold the candy up for him. Keeping his eyes forward he turns and nibbles the candy off the sheet with his teeth. He laughs. "I don't want you to get any germs," I say. "I love you more than anything." And then I laugh at my own germphobia. (On the way back from cake.)

Sixth Page Spread in Roz's 2011 Fake Journal

2011-04-12T05:00:00.001-05:00

Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Printed text on the above spread is a collection of articles on horse shootings, with authors listed for each note. The handwritten text reads as follows:

April 3, 2011 9:30 a.m.
File Reasearch folder in Box 2—2011
All notes including book list.
Pat Called on Friday and we talked about my horse idea. Despite some of the accounts I dug up—or in her mind because of them—she is not sold on the idea at all. I've been processing my arguments and still think I can make a great novel on a serial killer in training. Pat argues 1. follow the money and do the insurance angle and 2. No one wants to read a hard, gritty forensic book from me. "They expect your snarky tone and an occasional (sp?) bit of "wisdom" from Jones.["] I'll move on to the next idea for now, but I'll keep this much out to keep it in mind.

Fifth Page Spread in Roz's 2011 Fake Journal

2011-04-11T06:00:00.006-05:00


Click on the image to view an enlargement.

I know that I wasn't going to do explanations, but with this spread I have to do a short one. On the verso page that bantam is a sketch I did last fall in my journal (with the Pentel Pocket Brush Pen). Well I used a scan of it to make a transfer with Rub-onz, a product I reviewed on my regular blog.

Here's the text from the Verso page:

The Answer Starts with the Right Question. For me today that's Who?
[below bantam]
•Hazel, fanny, Maureen (Mo).
•Bainbridge, O'Reilly, Cower, Corby, Booth, Harris, Price, Bell, Locke, Gordon, Parkinson, Frazer, Foster

main column of text:

4.1.2011 5 p.m.
All over the neighborhood even this late, I can hear hammering. People are having their roofs fixed—a bumper crop of ice dams have [sic] led to this. It's 43 degrees F and finally a little low sun after a cloudy day…but still some snow on the ground. I should have gone out for a walk when the sun came out but I convinced myself I was tough enough to read John M. Barry's "The Great Influenza." I've taken stabs at it throughout the day and I keep putting it down. No problem reading about Marburg but influenza accounts make me queasy. I heard Barry giving a talk on MPR the other day and "[sic] thought ["]there's something I need to look into for future reference." Well not today. And it's not really in my line anyway. Not poison, not mayhem of the usual sort. Indiscriminate, uncontrolled. He writes that when influenza kills it kills through pneumonia. Evan Osnos in the 3.28.11 New Yorker has an article on the Japanese earthquake, tsunami, and reactor radiation problems. He writes very clearly about the devastation. He talks about an outbreak of influenza in Kamaishi threatening the survivors.

Who's Posting Their 2011 Fake Journals?

2011-04-10T16:37:00.002-05:00

This posts provides links to the fake journals that people are posting themselves. I will create a sidebar of links to these posts so if you should wish to return to them later you won't have to find this post again. Simply look for the 2011 Participants List in the right column of this blog.

Many people started a blog dedicated to IFJM to contain the postings on their fake journal. Others are posting on their regular blogs. The links should take you to their first IFJM post and after that, either way you should be able to navigate to the rest of their posts using their blog apparatus.

If you don't find yourself on this list it means that your entry(ies) didn't reach me.

If you intended to enter but don't find your name on the list please follow the instructions for emailing your intention to me in this post.

If you have been sending your images to me to post here because you don't have a blog, please note that I am going to start doing that next week. I will hold the post until I have your 8 journal pages (or spreads) and then create one post for you.

If you are participating in IFJM in a private way (i.e., not publishing your pages) I would like to offer you encouragement to keep going, to keep working, and to keep looking for the insights you set out to find when you set your goals. I hope it is a great journey for you as well.

This year's crop of fake journal characters is diverse, I'll let you discover who each is as you visit the links. Please be sure to leave a note to let participants know that you have stopped by to see their project!

Anne M. Bray (I wrote about the return of spygirl a couple posts ago)

Carol Bonomo

Timaree Cheney

Denise Thornton

Donna McMenamin

Jamie Williams Grossman

Jeanette Sclar

Jill Lee-Jones

Joan Tavolott

John Tubbs

Judith D. Gluck

Kalina Wilson

Kitty Lynch

Kyra Scrapacat

Meinhild Selbach

Melinda Bilecki

Michelle Himes

Mimi Holmes (no website)

Nan Westbrooks

Sarah Robinson

Wendy Lynch

If you want to find additional examples of fake journals, scroll down further in the right-hand column of this blog—just below the category list you'll find the "2010 International Fake Journal Month Participants who Post Their Pages." Some links may no longer be in use as people take their work down, but you will find several interesting examples of fake journals to look at.

Fourth Page Spread in Roz's 2011 Fake Journal

2011-04-09T06:00:00.001-05:00


Click on the image to view an enlargement.

The text on the recto page is clipped off from scanning. It reads:
it has been warm, (43 degrees F) all day. It's raining outside—which is not good for flooding
I'm out of white paint and have to stop fussing
the beads will need to be perfect shiny orbs

Third Page Spread in Roz's 2011 Fake Journal

2011-04-08T06:26:00.018-05:00


Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Above is the third spread of my 2011 fake journal, covering 3.29.11 and 3.30.11. The text reads as follows:

Verso (Left) Page:Top Left: March 29, 2011 Harry at Bona for dinner around 7 p.m.
Around sketch at left: Harry looks just like Jack Lemmon looked before he died.
Main Text Column: Harry is getting older. It struck me hard tonight while his family talked after dinner and I sketched. I noticed this—How sometimes suddenly we cease to look like ourselves, the iconic self we carry around with us in our minds, that perfect self that immediately ressonates [sic] from photos and video as "ah, yes, there I am." The self we realize is our peak self—never improved upon. There is a hardening around Harry's eyes and cheeks—a hardening of edges and a softening of the fleshy bits.

Recto (Right) Page:

And a hollow-ing. The skull is peering out. "I see you. I'm coming." The face of death you have to look past to see the iconic self. The familiar self, the self you wish hadn't passed its peak.

Fortune Cookie Fortune:
May your faith always exceed your fears--no price is too great to go through life afraid.

HUH?!

Text on torn paper:

3.30.11 4:30 p.m. My mind is filled with little thoughts and I blew off my workout this morning, so even less focus is possible. Instead I keep thinking "I have acrylic paint all over ALL my pants. I have acrylic stains on all my hand towels. Some part of me says that I should worry about this, but the moment that might start to happen there is another part, a larger part that tells me I don't give a damn. It's amused that I even let these thoughts in for more than a notice. Why ponder what you aren't going to change? The real question is why did I blow off that workout? Get at that.

No just get out period. It's brilliantly sunny, I can hear the birds singing. I just got up to go check the temp and it's 43 degrees F.

6:18 p.m.—why does everyone think I'm a DeLorme? I got stopped by drivers 3x.

Sketches 5:54 p.m. E. River Flats. Five pairs.

Second Page Spread in Roz's 2011 Fake Journal; also Preparing a Links List

2011-04-07T11:07:00.002-05:00

Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Above is the second page spread in my 2011 Fake journal, the March 28 entry. On a happy note, I messed around with positioning my journal on my scanner. I found that since the scanner takes a slightly oversized view I am actually able to get most of the journal on with only two scans, stitched in the gutter by a slight bit of overlap.

This weekend I'll be compiling a list of people who are publicly posting their fake journal pages on their own blog, website, or Flickr account. Even if you aren't entering any of the prize drawings, if you are posting your images and would like to be included in this list, please send me an email at rozjournalrat@gmail.com. Include a link of course. (If you are entered in the contests and have already sent me your information there's no need to repeat it.)

Despite the scanning clarity you still can't read the page, and since I'm not doing explanations with this journal (more on that another day) I am typing the text out below.

10:22 p.m. Can George be a viable character? Can I find his shape under all that fluffy hair? Does a one-eyed dog bring too heavy a symbolism? Can I get his shape in movement? Are there too many dogs. Not enough dogs?
I went over to Wet Paint this afternoon and met the oddest person…potentially the oddest: Roz Stendahl (found out she's a graphic designer). She was over in a corner by the paper counter chatting with Tim who works there—I've seen him before. As near as I could make out they were talking about Anthony Mann Westerns. Who does that? She laughs quite a lot. She is rather enamoured of buddy films, which is where the conversation edged. They were also talking about the Kimberly 9xxB pencil. I didn't know about it. Tim had some lovely zoo drawings he'd done with it. Soft, textured tones, but not horribly smudgy. I bought a couple (tested them out sketch[ing] George.[)] A bit stiff and scratchy but it really keeps its point.
I bumped into her again near the Schmincke pan watercolors. Turns out she also likes Schmincke gouache—and dogs. We talked for a long while and since she wasn't totally irritating and because she had an interesting nose (large) I asked if I could paint her portrait. She said I could if I could also sketch her in my sketchbook (she assumed I kept one because I had a new one of these in my hands). She has some sort of project: Project Journal Infiltration. She wants people to sketch her from life in their journals.
Now she was sounding a bit like a nut job, so I started to back up and said I'd probably only do studies from photos in my sketchbook. But I need to take photos of her and have a sitting.
When she started asking me questions about my painting and art it turned out that she has read both books by Rayde and Seetre. I meet so few pepole who have done both.
Blue lettering: Swapping "I" for "me" does Oprah cringe when she sees it later?

First Page Spread in Roz's 2011 Fake Journal

2011-04-05T04:00:00.021-05:00

Click on the image to view an enlargement.

REVISED POST: CLEARER IMAGE
Above is the first page spread from my 2011 Fake Journal.

This is a REVISED VIEW because I found I was able to scan my journal after all (my scanner, it turns out, takes slightly larger than an 8.5 x 11 inch sheet and allows me a little bit of overlap to knit the two halves together.)

The journal I'm using is an 11.5 x 8.5 inch Moleskine Watercolor journal; they don't have perforated pages at this size.

Part of the 2011 experience for my character is "no explanations" so that's all I'll write at this point. I will say that she was testing a pen which I will have something to say about on my regular blog later in April (need to do more tests). My character has abandoned the pen, and frankly I'm just about to do that myself, except there are more tests to be run. But now we're getting into explanations.

Oh, one thing, yes, the journal started on March 25, 2011.

They Are Up: Photo References for Project Journal Infiltration within IFJM

2011-04-04T12:54:00.000-05:00

I have created a page that holds 11 photos you can use for drawing references when incorporating me into your fake journals for this third portion of the contest.

View the photos.

Read the guidelines on using the photos (what types of situations you can put me in, etc.) and submission guidelines here.

Reminder: Please Follow the Instructions for Entering the Prize Drawings

2011-04-03T21:44:00.000-05:00

I'm really excited to see so many people are joining in to celebrate International Fake Journal Month this year.

Many people are writing messages to the blog saying that they are joining in, and that's great to hear, and a great way to share what you are going to be working on.

Please note, however, that to enter the drawings for prizes you need to follow the instructions for submitting an entry to me off-blog, as indicated in one of the contest sections.

There are 3 contests and they are listed with links in the right column of this blog under 2011 Contests, as well as repeated here for your ease:

1. Post your own images or send me jpgs to post (if you don't have a blog or Flickr account).

2. Promote the contest by button a linked button on your blog.

3. Do a Project Journal Infiltration within IFJM (more on this later)

If you have written to the blog, but want to enter a drawing, please be sure that you take a moment to follow the instructions for entering the drawings so your entry ends up in the right folder. Thanks!

Welcome to International Fake Journal Month 2011!

2011-04-01T10:51:00.000-05:00

Today is the first day of International Fake Journal Month 2011. Time to explore your character's life and journaling practices.

Several folks, including me, started in March—some started out of sheer excitement to get going, I had to start in March so that my character could actually meet some people she needed to meet before April. More about this later.

Great news from Anne M. Bray—Spygirl is back this year!

I'll post a list of links and participants at the end of each week, but I thought it would be good to start you off with work from a past participant.

And finally one more tip:

I know I've said it before, but for some reason I didn't listen to myself—choose your book size so that it is easy for you to post your images! I elected to go with the Moleskine Watercolor Journal that is 11.5 x 8.5 inches (no perforated pages in this size!). Well it doesn't fit on my scanner! I would have to make a couple scans and splice them for each spread. Even if I only wanted to scan a page I'd have to make two passes to get it all. That extra half inch! So there is much gnashing of teeth in the Huron Blvd. studio! (OK, not that much gnashing, I'm not blind and I did realize this problem going in, but I needed a large commercially bound book and ignored my own advice.)

On the bright side, I'm five page spreads in and already have learned something key about myself (more about this later too), so I will not complain more about this. I am spending my energies working out what would be the best way to show the pages. If I photograph an open book I'll need to get the lights out each time, and it's already too cluttered around here, and so it goes. I'll work this out and put something up on Monday.

In the meantime…

Everyone get busy with your fake journal. Have fun, enjoy your materials, enjoy your process. Let me know how it goes. Don't forget, in medias res. (Now that really is the final tip for today.)

Tips on Getting Under Your Character's Skin

2011-03-30T04:00:00.042-05:00

Journal keepers have a bit of an introspective nature. They are examing the world through their own lens, their own preconceived notions, the events of their lives which forged them into the person they are. When we join a fake journal all of the journal character's past is just that, past. But you, as the creator of the fake journal (which is different than being the character who is authoring it) need to access that past information in playful and interesting ways, just as that material would fall within the course of a real journal. Each bit of information will tell you more about your character and help you create a journal from that character's perspective.

Whether it's the first time or 50th time for you keeping a fake journal here are a couple of ways to keep your interest in your character growing and developing in your journal pages.

• Read a book that you would never read, but that your character wants to read. Write about it as your character would, setting aside your own notions. Illustrate something in your character's day which reflects or echoes the thoughts brought up by his reading of that book.

• Ask yourself—"What is your character's favorite magazine, and why?" Listen to what he says to you. Don't close your mind because it isn't a magazine you would read. Go to the library and read through a couple back issues of this magazine, keeping notes about article topics and journalistic slant, and so on. Note the design elements of the magazine. To whom is it supposed to appeal? Is that who your character or is he perversely interested in things that aren't aimed at his socio-economic demographic? If so, why is that? During April purchase a current copy of that magazine. Read a little bit every day or over a couple days and journal as if your character were reading that magazine. What does he find of note, what does he quote from it, what plans does he generate because of it?

• Watch a movie you would normally avoid. The genre, actors, director, writer, or theme might be ones that you avoid. Instead your character loves all or some of these characteristics of the movie. For your day's journaling write your character's response to the movie in his journal. Part of your character's response might be vehement disagreement with a movie critic's column on that movie (or agreement?).

• Go to a restaurant that is not one of your usual haunts. Order from the menu and view the restaurant from your character's eyes.

• Go to a restaurant that IS one of your usual haunts. Journal about how your character views the menu, the food, the ambiance, etc.

As you can see from the simple examples above, there are things that you can do daily throughout April which will give you increased fodder for your character to journal about. Explore your character's life through the media and experiences he allows for himself.

Everyday as you go through your life, make a mental note how this same experience would be viewed by your character. If you happen to have the chance and you have your fake journal with you, actually stop and journal from your character's perspective right then!

You don't have to struggle to find experiences for your character. There is a whole life of experience that is streaming right next to the life you are currently living.

Location, Location, Location: Where To Set Your Fake Journal

2011-03-27T17:23:00.000-05:00

I encourage first time fake journal keepers to make it as simple as possible for themselves—don't worry about changing your handwriting, and if you do, just change your pen; keep your journal in the present time so you aren't prone to anachronisms; write about something that you already know about.

There is another way that you can keep your fake journal project easier to keep up with—locate your character either in your current city, or in a city that you know very, very well.

Once you establish that location it is simple for you to recount details about locations—all the little details you would write and draw if you were sitting at a café watching the world go by.

Several participants of past IFJM celebrations have written fake travel journals with great success. But it also appealed to them at the time they were writing, to do the extra research on locations so that they would have details to include.

Just as your regular journal seems more substantial and clear when you include details from your location, such as cultural events, weather, street names, descriptions of fashion, and so on, your fake journal can benefit from the same focus.

If you do decide to place your fake journal in some distant location how will you handle sketching buildings and such? Immediately you've placed yourself in the "sketch from photos" activity. Will you be happy not sketching from life for a month in your fake journal? Have you been to that location in the past and do you have your own photos from which to sketch? If you don't have your own photos will you be sketching from copyright free photos?

Something to Consider: Remember when you sketch from photos that someone else took you are actually infringing on their copyright. You might think it's OK because you aren't going to do anything commercial with your sketch, but I encourage you to always assume that you might. I can't tell you how many non-professional artists have come up to me and asked me about printing and selling cards, or paintings, etc., that they have painted from the photos of others. Time has passed and everyone tells them what a wonderful painting it is and they have decided they should do something with it. To do so legally would require that you track the copyright holder down and get permission and possibly pay a licensing fee.

I always encourage people who are drawing from photos to use their own photos. That way they get to set up the lighting, the composition, the central focal point—all to tell the story they are trying to tell. And just as important, they now can use that painting in whatever way they want.

Let's get creative for a moment. There's another way that you can go to a distant location without using photos of that location that were taken by someone else. Your character might be the type of visual journal artist who only sketches animals, birds, desserts, food items, etc. These are all things that you can draw from life where you actually are, or from your own photos if that's how you would like to proceed.

You can do your location research and read up about the area, and then next to your illustration of your pigeon (who was actually a neighborhood pigeon you just fed and sketched) you can write about the life of the people around you, based on the reading research you did.

Think about location and how you want to handle it before you jump in! A little bit of planning now will make it easier for you throughout the month.

Adopting a New Identity in Your Fake Journal Through Handwriting and Writing Style

2011-03-25T14:16:00.002-05:00

Above: Examine the handwriting found on this page spread I completed in my journal at one of the Bell Museum Sketch Nights. On the top and center left you'll see I've written with a Staedtler Pigment Liner. On the bottom right and left you'll see I've written with a Pentel Pocket Brush Pen. I've written all this text, but you can see a difference immediately, based on the tool I'm using. Read the rest of this post for more about changing your writing in your fake journal. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

This week I have received several emails from people asking about whether or not they need to change their handwriting in their fake journal. This is totally a matter of personal choice.

For some people changing their handwriting helps them get into a different mindset and distance themselves from the character keeping their journals. For other people it doesn't even come up, and to switch how they write would be more of an encumbrance than a help.

I suggest that if you would like to change your handwriting you look at the simple options first—instead of printing, write in cursive; if you're right-handed, use your left hand; if you print with caps and lowercase letters, print in all caps; use rubberstamps; or use a lettering stencil.

You might discover, after some thought, that your character has a particular stylistic characteristic. Perhaps he always writes in lowercase like the poet e.e. cummings. Perhaps she writes in all caps because of an emphatic nature. Maybe your character trained as an architect and his handwriting is reminiscent of, or exactly like, the handwriting of other architects. Maybe the slope of your character's handwriting is excessive, or in the opposite direction to your natural slope. You might also have a character who works only with unbroken columns of text, interspersed with paragraph symbols when there is supposed to be a break. The possibilities are endless.

There are grammatical stylistic quirks to rely on as well. If you always write in complete sentences you might find that your character thinks and writes only in phrases. Or he has an interesting way of using punctuation, or leaving punctuation all out! Each of these variants can tell us something about the character who is keeping the journal and allow you to understand him/her better.

Left: Another sketch from the Bell Museum on the same night as the first sketch in this post. Here I worked with a Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Calligraphy pen, both for the sketching and the writing. If you compare this image with the first image and the handwriting in both, you can see that there are distinct characteristics that start to emerge when you switch the drawing and writing too. Capitalize on that effect in your fake journal. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Another simple and quick change to your handwriting can be had simply by changing the tools that your character uses. In the two images used to illustrate this post I have provided examples showing how my handwriting and sketching styles change when I change pens.

If you are looking for a simple way to change your handwriting, while avoiding a cumbersome alternative like teaching yourself to work in your non-dominant hand, consider changing tools.

For my 2009 fake journal I had my character work with a dip pen, which is a tool that is one of my favorites. However, I helped distance myself from the character by having her use a nib that is not my favorite. It is also a nib which isn't fun to write with. I then purposely wrote fast when journaling in that book—knowing that my speed would exacerbate the skips and jumps of the pen, and put additional distance between me and that character. Also, because she had lost all her drawing supplies in transit and was using a borrowed nib, it wasn't a nib she would like or choose and her frustration comes out naturally at various places in the journal, in relation to her work with that tool.

Whichever route you take to distance yourself from your character and his/her handwriting and sketching style, your choices will tell you something ultimately about your own preferences, stylistic tics, and artistic goals (speed, neatness, etc.). You're not out to stump a graphologist. You are simply trying to achieve a little bit of creative distance. Have fun piecing together your character!

Narrowing Your Choices to Increase Your Fake Journal Success

2011-03-22T10:17:00.000-05:00

Last week I wrote about expanding your choices in character development in order to increase your chances for success with your fake journal.

Today I want to write about the opposite (so much in fake journaling is about opposites). There are ways you can narrow your choices to increase your chance for success with your fake journal.

Narrowing Your Character Choices
The simplest way to keep your character choices down to a minimum and still have a great fake journal is to actually be an alternate self of yourself. So you will still be the same age, sex, etc., but you will be in a different job, or life situation, or have a different attitude (suddenly goth instead of little pony). You might also find yourself in an alternate world where things don't work the way they work in our world. This might be useful to you because you have questions about social and interpersonal relations which would benefit from such a close fit.

A next step away would be someone who isn't you, but has only one or two key differences. And so it goes down the long chain of choices.

Sometimes by keeping our creations close we can better examine what is close at hand and with only a slightly skewed sense of perspective we can nevertheless develop new insights.

Narrowing Your Media Choices
I have written about this a lot on this blog. If you have never kept a fake journal before or never worked with a project that requires you live inside the head of another character, then the tools and materials you use for this exploration might actually cause you to lose focus or fracture your attention.

If your character is complex and the issues facing that character are complex, perhaps working simply in pen and ink will be sufficient for your progress with that character. Or perhaps colored pencils gives you the little bit of color that you need as an artist to stay with the project. It's a balancing act that you need to consider before you start your project. Do you want to sit down every day and decide what media to use in addition to what your character is thinking and working on? Wouldn't it be easier to simply pick up a tool and let that character work? Which challenge do you prefer? Which challenge will you still welcome on day 28?

In 2009 my fake journal I worked with dip pen and watercolor. These are two items I routinely use, but I don't use dip pen daily and I don't use it out in the field much. If you look at my 2009 fake journal you can actually find a lot about the character that is not that distant from me—she loves birds, she studies and sketches birds, she loves to ride her bike, she doesn't play well with others (when those others are simply being stupid!), she is a fiercely loyal friend. We also both had to deal with the death of a friend.

In reality I am many things that this character is not—first, I don't live in a post-epidemic, post-apochalypic present. In 2009 the sky was still full of birds, Interstate 94 was still in good repair, and rule of law was for the most part in evidence. Also, I'm pretty gregarious and I do play well with others (especially when they aren't being simply stupid).

Electing to limit my media fit my fake journaling needs in a number of ways. As far as my character's situation went it was appropriate that she only have one medium to work in because she begins her journal by acknowledging that all her tools, supplies, and even her journal, have been lost in transit. She can't simply go to the art supply store for replacements; she borrows materials from others.

Sometimes there are contextual reasons a character does something or uses something. Discovering that and honoring that will help you understand the character and create a successful fake journal.

Next limiting my supplies allowed me to play more with her response to her world, not her materials. And it allowed me to play with a commercially bound journal with waterproof pages. (For me IFJM is always a chance to use commercially bound journals because I tend to bind 99 percent of the journals I use. The use of a commercially bound journal for IFJM forces me to deal with what I am given rather than the "ideal conditions" I typically create for myself.)

I also believe that working with one medium only during IFJM allows me to focus on that medium and explore new possibilities with it, at the same time I am focusing more directly on the character.

In my 2010 fake journal I put further limitations on my character: she couldn't talk, she had memory problems, she only had a rudimentary commercially bound notebook, a pencil, scissors, and some colored papers. What she did with those materials was dependent on how she was trying to communicate. She was only like me in that she was a communicator. I don't have the same constraints she had and it was very challenging for me to wear those conditions for the 30 to 60 minutes a day that I thought about and worked in that journal. I believe that the end result was not only new insight into myself, but a new attitude about pencils.

Since I routinely work in color in my regular journals and I kept a regular journal throughout IFJM 2010, the lack of having color media to work with was not difficult. It actually freed up my attention.

I would urge you to look at ways that you can free up your own attention so that you can get at what it is you want to accomplish with your fake journal. Make conscious choices now about how you are going to proceed. If things don't work out the way you had hoped, or you find yourself hitting a creative wall you can always give yourself permission to ease into something else. By making conscious choices now about your character and your materials you are focusing your intention for the project.

Expanding Your Choices to Increase Your Fake Journal Success

2011-03-18T14:04:00.000-05:00

As you start thinking seriously about your character for IFJM (because April 1 is fast approaching) I want to encourage you to think about all the options and choices you have which might be fun to explore within the framework of a fake journal.

Consider working with a character who is a complete opposite to yourself. If you are young, create an aged character, and vice versa (actually vice versa for all these choices I'm suggesting). Urban/rural, poor/wealthy, employed/unemployed (and any of the variables within employment as to type and location). You can even change sex but keep in mind that particular characteristic will take some deep thought to come out convincing and consistent.

When you make a decision about all of the components of your character's life and specifics keep in mind that your character has to be literate or at least visually literate in order to keep a journal. And your character has to have enough free time to make the keeping of such a journal a possibility—or he/she has to have such a burning desire to write and draw that even the most daunting of circumstances doesn't stop him/her. (If we are privileged to work one job, to have our basic necessities met, to have some leisure time, we can learn a lot from the perspective of a character who is driven to create despite severe impediments.)

Your fake journal is also a great opportunity for letting your bad girl, girly girl, inner geek guy etc. come out.

Ask yourself what you want to examine in April. Ask what is topmost in your brain as you think of IFJM. Jot down the first things that come to mind. Chances are one of those immediate answers will provide a direction to hold your interest for the thirty days of journaling.

And if your internal critic decides to help you with your choices by telling you to wait, to not participate, or by saying this is all silly, you couldn't possibly journal as a woman working as a grounds keeper at a zoo etc., tell the i.c. to take a break (in what ever verbage you wish to use). Now is the time to get firm with the i.c. This is creative play, he's not needed. He can take a break. Tell it to him kindly, sarcastically, playfully, loudly, it doesn't matter. Just tell him. He'll get the message. Maybe not the first time or the second, but after thirty days he'll know where the new boundary lines are.

May all your choices bring you insights.

Do-Overs in Life? Procrastination? Can Your Fake Journal Help?

2011-03-16T17:58:00.000-05:00

If you're still sitting on the fence deciding whether or not to keep a fake journal this April for IFJM let me throw another consideration into the mix.

I'm not a person who dwells on the past and regrets. My dog Emma taught me that approach was pretty silly. Even before her presence in my life I'd worked out a little plan that was quite fun—do-overs in my fake journals. An alternate Roz, in an alternate universe who experiences what this Roz (the one writing now) experienced, and an entirely different outcome results. Sort of like the "Sliding Doors" movie, except without all the sadness and loss.

I'm still not advocating an historical fake journal, one that takes you back in time. You'll need to fudge things so the action takes place in April, 2011 so you can journal about it. And I also wouldn't advocate churning up painful past memories that you dealt with long ago. Let them go (that's part of the joy of living in the present moment). But if something is bothering you now and you think you missed an opportunity, well, go ahead and rewrite it on a daily basis this April. See what unfolds. See what new ideas come up that you can use in your current life in positive ways. All journaling helps us see avenues for improvement in our lives, even fake journaling.

Also in some years I've had decisions to make that I put off, using the excuse of being immersed in daily life. On a few occasions I've written a fake journal about a character who actually deals with those decisions. My life wasn't that way, and didn't turn out the same way as the characters', but it always did help my thought processes begin to move towards a decision in my real life.

My mind just needed a push—and my hand moving across the page provided it.

Either way, when the fake journal is filled and closed I've always found a profound sense of gratitude for the life I do have (without the capability of do-overs), or for the ability to problem solve and move my mind forward.

I can't guarantee that the process will work for you that way, but it might be worth a shot.

Defining Some Terms: Faux, Fake, and what about Fake Historical Journals?

2011-03-14T06:00:00.197-05:00

As we ramp up to the start of the 2011 International Fake Journal Month I have had a stream of questions about Fake Historical Journals. People have outlined what they intend and it's clear they aren't making a fake journal at all but a "faux" journal. And then there is the matter of the Fake Historical Journal itself which I've written about at the link provided here.

Here is the scoop as concisely as I can make it.

Fake Journals
A fake journal is a journal that is kept by a character of your creation. It is kept day, by day, as any other journal would be. The entries are dated with the date that it actually is on the date it was written, i.e., today's journal entry would be marked 3/14/2011. What is fake about the journal is the fact that the character is not you, and the character is not writing about your life (exception: alternate universe self—but I don't need to explain that to you do I? Go watch Jet Li in "The One" if you don't understand alternate universes as they relate to the self.)

You must keep a fake journal in first person singular, unless your character is a complete and pompous git.

For example: You are writing today, March 14, 2011. Your character is named Charlie and he writes in his journal (with attractive illustrations which we won't show here):
Correct: I went to see "The One" starring Jet Li today and I found that it was an interesting look at alternate selves in alternate universes. March 14, 2011.
Incorrect: Charlie went to the cinema to see "The One" starring Jet Li today. He thought it was an interesting look at alternate selves in alternate universes. March 14, 2011.

So to recap: a fake journal is a daily (or almost so) journal, with dated entries that relate to the ACTUAL date on which you are creating the entry as your character; the entries are created by a character who is not YOU (see exception above); the entries are written in the first person singular.

Fake Historial Journals

A Fake Historical Journal is also a fake journal, but it falls into a subgroup of fake journals. Like a fake journal it is written by someone who is not you (i.e., a character you are adopting while you write/draw); and it is written in the first person singular. Here's the difference: the entries are dated with the same date as the current date on which your are creating the page, HOWEVER the date's YEAR is changed to the historical YEAR you want to reflect.

For example: This time let's say you are doing your entry on April 15, during this year's International Fake Journal Month (2011). Your character is named Lillian; she lives in NYC; she is living in the year is 1912. She writes in her journal:
Correct: This morning I read in the newspapers the horrific news that the Titanic has sunk. No further details are known for sure at this time. April 15, 1912.

Lillian is writing in the first person singular—"I read." The entry is for the day on which you are writing in the present time, i.e., April 15, 2011. But the entry is labeled April 15, 1912 because that's the year in which your fake historical journal is set.

Problems with Historical Fake Journals

Before I leave the definition of historical fake journals I want to point out the difficulty and problems with them. To write a convincing and satisfying historical fake journal you have to do a lot of research. You need to know the events that did happen, or could have happened, in April of the year that your character is writing about. You need to be well versed in the language of the time (for instance in the 1800s "intercourse" was used to describe more than the sexual act). You need to know about the history of technology so your character isn't turning on an oven without filling it with wood, or using gold coins when paper was the norm, etc. You need to know the manners of the time.

The last is probably the most important. If you have ever read a Henry James novel you will know what I mean. For instance, how does Isabel Archer know that her husband has had an affair with the woman Isabel thinks is her friend (I don't recall the character's name, think Barbara Hershey if all you've ever done is viewed the movie)? She knows because when she enters the room at one point the woman is standing and the man is seated. That's not etiquette, and the little wheels start turning in Isabel's mind. Her thought process works in ways that no contemporary heroine's thought process would work and her observations tell Isabel that these two folks are intimate (in all senses of the word, both modern and historical).

This can be extremely fun, the research, the creation of an historical world where you play with all the social and psychological aspects. But I tend to discourage people from writing an historical fake journal for IFJM because of the time commitment. To make it satisfying you really have to do, as I said, a lot of research.

Also the focus shifts from your own self-discovery (not your character's now but YOURS) as you work through another person in an historical period that is not your own. You've added an additional layer that is like gauze hanging in your face. This can be a useful examination, but it might be more than you can cope with in one month during IFJM.

Faux Journals

A faux journal is not really a journal at all just as faux diamonds aren't real diamonds. A faux journal has none of the aspects of journaling. It is not written daily. It is written by the author as a work of fiction often created in a day's worth of binge writing out of which come entries with dates all over the place, instead of the date that they would have been written had it been an actual journal (real or fake). You might actually get the writing correct, i.e., have the first person singular, but there is nothing else that is journal-like about the faux journal.

One of the important characteristics about fake journals is that they are written like journals are written, on a daily basis.

If you write a faux journal and do 10 entries on a free Saturday, and label those entries April 1 through April 10, 2011, you haven't created a fake journal. You haven't been journaling. You've simply been creating a fiction written in the journal format.

I have nothing against faux journals (there are some interesting works of fiction created as faux journals), but they don't have a place in International Fake Journal Month because they aren't fake journals. They aren't journals at all.

To derive any benefits from IFJM you actually need to work in a journal, actually journaling, day by day. That's the point. It's from that process that you learn something about yourself, about journaling, and about how your creative mind works.

If you create a faux journal, for instance by working feverishly on those 10 entries on a single Saturday afternoon, you might learn something about your creative process, but it is your creative process for writing fiction, not journaling. And you haven't learned anything about journaling that will be of use to you in your real journal.

More on Faux Journals: Either Contemporary or Historical

Faux Journals are simply works of fiction written in the journal format as mentioned in the Faux Journal section above. They are not journals since they weren't written within the constraints of a journaling practice. They then become simply faux journals. These do not have a place in IFJM. They do no meet the criteria of a fake journal as outlined above under Fake Journals.

The past two months I've had several people write to me excited to write an historical fake journal. However, when they describe what they want to do they explain that one entry will be in June 1861, one entry will be in October 1861, the next in November 1861, and so on.

What those people are intending to execute is an historical work of fiction written in the journal format. This is a faux historical journal.

I've encouraged anyone who wrote to me about that to continue with his or her plan outside of IFJM. They are obviously interested in a character they have in mind. They are eager to write a fiction around that character. But they don't want to be contained by the structure of a fake journal (historical or otherwise).

I have encouraged people interested in writing a faux historical journal to join with the writers at NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) which is held every November from November 1 through 30th. That is an appropriate venue for writing a work of fiction in a "group" setting, within a month—whether historical or not, or in journal format or not.

Why Definitions and Distinctions Matter
Now that I've explained the difference between Fake Historical Journals, Fake Journals, and Faux Journals of all kinds, I hope that you'll consider joining me in April to create your Fake Journal (or Fake Historical Journal if you're comfortable with the extra work and research).

I bother with these definitions and distinctions because I want you to have the best possible experience during IFJM. I want you to come away from the project with the greatest insight possible. I hope that each of you discovers something new about how to work in a journal, how to see with a fresh eye, and ultimately how to let go of the clutter that is hampering your actual journaling habit.

I bother with these definitions and distinctions because I don't want you to jump gleefully into the creation of a fake historical journal and them come up for air screaming, "Why didn't Roz warn me there would be so much detail work, so much research!?"

My goal is not to make your life miserable for a month. My goal is to prepare you to have the best fake journal experience you can have, by pointing out the ins and outs. I've been creating fake journals for decades. I know that some approaches are easier than others (i.e., anything is easier than a fake historical journal). I know that some concepts are overwhelming to accomplish unless you take the month of April off—and which of us can do that?

International Fake Journal Month is about taking a small task you can do everyday, build on everyday, and learn from everyday. It's also about having fun. So if you understand the definitions and distinctions you're going to have a chance for success (however you define it) and a chance for greater fun.

I hope this post helps to that end.

Let's not lose sight of the motto of IFJM: Life's so short, why live only one.
Life, any life real or fake, is lived one day at a time, and journaled about one day at a time.

How to Enter the 2011 International Fake Journal Month Contest—Part 3: Project Journal Infiltration Phase Two within Your Fake Journal

2011-03-12T07:00:00.002-06:00

This year for International Fake Journal Month (IFJM) in addition to the publishing and promoting portions of the contest I've got a side contest running. This third portion of the contest is actually a spin off of the year-long contest now going on at Roz Wound Up—Project Journal Infiltration.

Project Journal Infiltration (PJI) is my quest to be included in as many journals as possible before I die. You can read full details about Project Journal Infiltration at the link.

(Note: The PJI contest actually runs through September 5, 2011 so the title of its post has confused some people. The contest started in 2010.)

In PJI people are asked to sketch me FROM LIFE in their journals and then send me a jpg of that page.

Well, immediately people from all over expressed a desire to participate. But sadly I don't travel that much and not everyone can come to me. Also I wanted everyone to draw from life for the main project.

However, that doesn't mean we can't bend the rules of PJI for IFJM!!!

With the help of my friend, photographer Tom Nelson, I now have several photos of me that I have posted as a page on this blog.

For your fake journal for this year's International Fake Journal Month you can select one or more of these photos for drawing reference and draw me into your fake journal—well your character who is keeping the journal can do this.

It isn't ideal to draw from photos, but hey, it's a fake journal after all.

There are a couple guidelines you need to which you need to pay attention when participating in Project Journal Infiltration Phase Two—International Fake Journal Month:

1. You do need to create this fake sighting in a fake journal, not your regular journal. (You do not have to be participating in the publishing contest however, so this might be the only page from your fake journal we see. All the guidelines for the fake journaling contest apply to this page or page spread as well.)

2. No nudity or salacious content when Roz is present. Nothing impolite, mean, etc. My taste in art is pretty wide, in styles and subject matter. If you are sending links or images for this portion of the contest that include excessive or gratuitous violence, child abuse, or pornographic elements a sketch of me in that type of situation don't bother you would be disqualified.

3. No putting words into my mouth. You can either observe me in some public area or you can "quote me" as saying something you have read on my blog, Roz Wound Up.

For example, this jumps immediately to mind, you might sketch me and write—I saw this odd woman today talking to a group of people and she actually said, "Bingo, Bango." You might know I say "Bingo Bango" from reading my blog post "Collage and Sketching: A Look inside a Recent Journal—Part Three of Three." (You don't have to provide the reference page.

Or another example, your character is writing:
I went through MCBA today and this woman was teaching. She said, "Well, that’s just WRONG. Journals aren’t about saving paper for some special painting, epiphany, or skill level that you’re going to attain. Journals are for documenting your life and some of that documentation will take the form of text." (Which actually comes from one of my Journaling Superstition Posts.)

Get the idea?

OK, here's an even simpler example, your character goes to a public event and draws all the people in the crowd and Roz is one of the people. How simple is that?

4. A couple tips, I'm 5 ft. 3 inches tall so I'm not going to stick out in a crowd. I have brown eyes. I was last seen hugging someone in 1998 (well not quite, but you get the idea). I am not now, nor have I ever been, a participant in any Xtreme sports such as skateboarding, skiing, etc., though I do enjoy a speedy bicycle ride. Friends will tell you that I hum constantly—tunes of my own composition. I laugh quite a lot. And at interminable length.

Sending Your Entry In
You can create your fake sighting of me at any time throughout April 2011. The entry needs to be dated just like all your other journal entries. You do have to be keeping a fake journal, even if you aren't participating in the publishing contest.

You can either send me a link to your own blog post for the date/post that you post the fake journal entry including Roz or you need to send a jpg to me of the page or page spread on which Roz appears. The jpg needs to be 500 pixels wide and 72 dpi. (DO NOT send larger files, they will go in the trash folder. Each file sent must be smaller than 1.3MB and sent attached to a separate email.) The emails should come to me at rozjournalrat@gmail.com, with "PJI for IFJM #" in the subject line (the number being which entry you are up to).

You can enter up to 5 times over the course of the month. But each sighting must be on a separate day and so dated. (Multiple sketches of me in different poses on a page or page spread, or within a dated entry, count only as one entry, just like the main PJI contest.) Also the sighting must in some way work with the other activity that is happening in your fake journal.

Include your mailing address in the first entry so I can send your prize if you win.

(And just in case you are worried, I will not use your postal addresses for anything or give them to anyone. I ask for them in your first entry because in past contests I've sometimes had difficulty tracking down the winners. I'd like to simply pop the books in the mail when the drawing is finished!)

By entering you are also granting me permission to post your entry on this blog, or on Roz Wound Up, with an appropriate credit line, so please provide one.

People participating in Project Journal Infiltration for International Fake Journal Month have until May 3 to send me their final image (first or fifth) or a link to their post of it on their own blog. I'm allowing time for people working on April 30 time to scan and send that day's entry).

The drawing for the prize for "PJI for IFJM Contest" will be held on May 3, or as soon as I am able to do so after that.

So now if you don't live in the Twin Cities area and can't bump into me to draw me from life you have an opportunity to join in the fun of Project Journal Infiltration (Phase Two). Go to the album of photo references of me and begin sketching me into your 2011 Fake Journal now. (You can also find this album of photo references by looking in the right hand side column for "PAGES" located below "About Me," the copyright notice, and "subscribe" widgets.

The prize for this contest is book C in the post linked here.

Note: you do not have to live in the U.S. to enter. I will send the prize out overseas.

How to Enter the 2011 International Fake Journal Month Contest—Part 2: Promoting International Fake Journal Month on Your Blog

2011-03-11T13:30:00.000-06:00

The instructions for IFJM contests are a bit involved. Therefore, I have broken them into three searchable posts. This part is for people who want to participate in 2011's celebration by promoting the event on their own blog with a sidebar button link. See the prize for the promotion portion of the contest at yesterday's blog post (book B in the image).

To enter this contest you will need follow the following steps:

1. Go to Roz Wound Up and scroll down until you see the International Fake Journal Month Button in the left column: it is a blue dog on a pink background.

2. Click on this image, drag it to your desktop or put it in the folder you store your own blog information in.

3. Keep this bit of code handy, it's the link you'll need:
http://officialinternationalfakejournalblog.blogspot.com/

4. Go to the "design" page of your blog, however that is set up in your blog platform. You will need to upload the IFJM dog button to your blog and then put it in the margin column on your blog—just as you add other buttons. Here's an example of how to do it with Blogger:

Go to your dashboard and find LAYOUT, and then Page Elements. Click on "ADD A GADGET" in the column of your blog outline. A selection of gadgets will come up.
Scroll down to one that reads "PICTURE" and select it. You will be asked to give it a title and caption. DON'T DO THAT AS THEY SHOW UP AND MAKE IT LOOK MESSY. Instead leave those lines blank.

FOR LINK you want to enter the URL for this blog as provided in step 3 above.

Next you need to click the button under Image, that says "From your computer" there is a circle that should have a dot in it when you select it.

Next hit BROWSE button next to that open box under "From your computer" and navigate to the folder on your desktop where you put that IFJM dog button/logo and SELECT that image. Follow any other instructions to upload it. It should take only seconds and you'll be back at this box where you want to be sure "shrink to fit is selected (it's the default and anyway I think my logo is about 220 pixels, don't recall). Then click save.

You will return to the outline of your blog and the new element will be in the column and you can drag it where you want it, click save and you're done.

5. Once you have posted the link button for IFJM on your blog you need to send me an email with a link to YOUR blog, so that I can go and verify that it's there. I'll check when you put up the notice. Write to me at rozjournalrat@gmail.com, with "Contest Promotion IFJM" in the subject line.

6. To be eligible for this contest you'll need to post the button on your blog by April 10 and display it until May 3.

7. You do not need to participate in IFJM and keep a fake journal—this part of the contest is for all those folks who are still sitting on the fence. You like the idea of participating and would love to encourage people to do so, but your circumstances don't allow you to participate this year.

If you follow these instructions and meet these criteria then your name will go into the drawing for journal B in the photo above. The drawing will be held after I have verified listings on May 3.

The prize for this contest is book B in the photo from yesterday's post.

Thank you for helping to spread the word about International Fake Journal Month!

How to Enter the 2011 International Fake Journal Month Contest—Part 1: Publishing Your Fake Journal Pages

2011-03-10T17:01:00.070-06:00

Left: The three prize books for the three parts of 2011's celebration of International Fake Journal Month. All books are handmade by me (Roz), with hand-painted decorative paper on the covers. Book A is 3-1/2 x 4-1/8 inches and contains 90 lb. Winsor & Newton HP Watercolor paper. It will go to the winner of the participation (i.e., posting/publishing) portion of this year's contest described in today's post. Book B is 3-1/4 x 4-3/8 inches and contains Gutenberg paper. It will go to the winner of the promotion contest, details of which will be posted tomorrow. Book C is is 3-1/2 x 4-1/8 inches and contains 90 lb. Winsor & Newton HP Watercolor paper. It will go to the winner of Project Journal Infiltration Phase Two in IFJM. Details for that contest will be posted in a couple days. All books have a value of $18.00. In the event of some unforeseen incident and destruction equal value items will be substituted as determined by the contest coordinator, that's me (Roz). Click on the image to view an enlargement.

The instructions for IFJM contests are a bit involved, i.e., I can't resist having multiple parts and ways to participate. Therefore, I have broken the contest into three searchable posts. This part is for people who want to participate in the 2011 International Fake Journal Project and publish their work electronically.

There are two ways to enter the publishing portion of the 2011 contest.

A. Post your fake journal pages on YOUR OWN BLOG during the month of April. You must post a minimum of 8 (eight) journal pages or spreads (depending on whether your dated entry is the page or the spread, i.e., some spreads may have two dated entries on them and that spread would then count as two entries. (People who try to game the system by putting 8 entries on one page spread, please think again and join in the spirit of the contest—a spread will never count for more than 2 dated entries, even if so labeled.)

Next, you will need to send me a link to your blog EACH TIME you post an fake journal image on your blog. Send me a link to your POST not your blog.

The email should go to rozjournalrat@gmail.com. Subject line: IFJM MY BLOG Post # (and list the number, 1 through 8 as appropriate). You need to provide a link to your blog in the body of your message. Include your postal address with your first entry so that I can mail your prize if you win.

Please don't wait to send me notification until the end of April, as I will be putting up a weekend update with any links provided. In this way, people who arrive at this blog will find your blog and your journal pieces as you are working.

OR YOU CAN DO THE FOLLOWING:

B. Send me at least 8 jpgs (of pages or spreads; entries as defined in item A) from throughout the month of April. They need to be 500 pixels wide and 72 dpi. (DO NOT send larger files, you will go in the trash folder. Each file sent must be smaller than 1.3MB and sent attached to a separate email.) The emails should come to me at rozjournalrat@gmail.com, with "IFJM YOU POST #" in the subject line (the number being which entry you are up to, 1 through 8 of course).

Include your mailing address in the first entry so I can send your prize if you win.

People participating in part B have until May 3 to send me their fifth image (this assumes they might have created that image on April 30 and not had time to scan and send it).

The drawing for the prize for "Contest Post" will be held as soon as I have 1. checked all the links sent me by people following option A, and 2. posted all the images received by May 2 (I don't know how quickly I'll be able to post things if there is a large participation in the contest).

Everyone posting his or her fake journal entries from April 2011 in either of these two ways will become eligible for the drawing for journal A in the photo at the top of this post. (Journal A is copper fabric covered journal.)

(And just in case you are worried, I will not use your postal addresses for anything or give them to anyone. I ask for them in your first entry because in past contests I've sometimes had difficulty tracking down the winners. I'd like to simply pop the books in the mail when the drawing is finished!)

There you have it. Two ways to share your fake journal work with the world and participate in the journal give away.

I hope you'll consider helping me spread the word about International Fake Journal Month by joining Contest Promotion too! (Details for promotion participation appear in tomorrow's.)

Note: you do not have to live in the U.S. to enter. I will send these prizes out overseas.

VERY IMPORTANT SUBJECT MATTER RESTRICTIONS:
Here's the deal: My taste in art is pretty wide, in styles and subject matter. If you are sending links and images for the contest that include excessive or gratuitous violence, child abuse, or pornographic elements I would rule against listing and including them on this blog. I made a distinction in 2009 about nudity that bears repeating: If your character is spending all his time in life-drawing sessions those pages would probably fall within the guidelines (and there are many other instances where nudity would also fall within the parameters of posting), but if your character is involved in X-rated sexual behavior and sketching those events—probably not.

I know someone could make a fabulous fake journal about the latter, and indeed, about some of the other excluded topics—but I think to be valuable, that artist will need to explore those things in private first. Many fake journals are best not published. I feel an obligation to protect the creator who might rush to show work in the context of the month-long project, before considering aspects of exposure and privacy. That breach of the artist's personal boundaries defeats many of the positive effects of fake journaling.

Time to Gear Up for International Fake Journal Month 2011

2011-03-09T14:13:00.005-06:00

It's time, if you haven't already begun, to start thinking about this year's fake journal project. You've read my post on International Fake Journal Month, what it is and what a fake journal is.

To broaden your understanding of International Fake Journal Month and the process of keeping a fake Journal I also suggest that you take a moment to read my post "To Prep or Not to Prep…"

In that post I walk you through my process of selecting my 2010 book, my testing of art materials, and how I set parameters for the project's daily activity. This overview will provide a template for your own decisions if you have not worked on a project like this before. There will always be little inconveniences, and sometimes large inconveniences, that pop up. Part of the fun of IFJM is the surprises that you're faced with on the spur of a moment. How you negotiate those surprises will give you new skills to bring back to your regular journal practice.

I harp on this a lot, so this year will be no different. Remember it is important that you consider the time commitment you give to this project. I want you to have a successful 2011 IFJM. I want you to have lots of pages at the end of April, as well as a sense of having reached something inside your journaling process. To do that, to have the best possibility for success I know that you need to keep the daily time commitment small. Thirty minutes is great, sixty minutes is pretty much the end of the world.

Fake journaling is not something that you can do on weekend journaling binges. Fake journaling, just like your regular journaling, is something that is done on a daily basis. Finding time for a fake journal on a daily basis means that you need to look at your life, your current commitments, your family obligations, your work schedule, and then make an honest assessment of how much time each day you can give to this project. Perhaps you'll do a Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule and only produce 12 entries for the month. That's huge. If that fits with your life, go with it. It is better to commit to something that is doable than to overwhelm yourself and bow out before you reach your goal—exhausted and frustrated.

If you haven't selected a journal to house your fake journal yet, I recommend that you read this post: "International Fake Journal Month Is Only 56 Days Away! In that post I walk you through some steps that will help you decide what type of journal you'll be using.

For me, because I make my own journals 99.9 percent of the time, IFJM is my opportunity to try out commercially bound journals. You have to think about things like the type of media you'll be using, and who your character is and the type of art that character will be creating. Does he need smooth paper for writing or rough paper for watercolor washes, etc. Will the art be black and white, full of color, lots of collage (so heavier weight papers for pages will work as better support), etc.

Journal size and page size are also important, both because of the type of media you're using (if you use a fine tipped pen and have an 11 x 15 inch page to fill that's a huge time commitment each day) and portability issues (will you be taking the journal with you or will it be sitting on your desk for the start or end of the day?). If you would like to use a commercially bound journal but don't know many choices, read my "Commercially Bound Journals" page at Roz Wound Up, my regular blog. That page will give you some suggestions and possibilities to which you can begin to apply your character's criteria and tastes.

What am I going to do in 2011? Currently the plan is to use a large 8.25 x 11.75 inch Moleskine, portrait, sketchbook—with those slick, yellowy pages that people always complain about. I'm thinking that I'll use acrylic paints if I can't get gouache and other media to work on the pages. I'm not doing any pre-testing of the pages, I'll just see how it goes as my character dives in. One thing I am convinced of is that this year's character does not pre-cut pages out of her journals to make room for collage on other pages, so I expect that by the end of the month the journal will start to bulge at the fore edge.

The one potential drawback to the Moleskine plan right now is that when I took the wrapping off the journal it had a rather strong chemical smell, and the smell is coming from the paper. This year I have set aside time to work in the larger format and if the pages don't air out in time, I might have to go with a different book. There's no way I can bend my head over these smelly pages for the working time I've set aside. I have a landscape format watercolor paper Moleskine of the same size that I could use. I am not fond of the landscape format (and I wanted to use those slick pages), but I bought that book 2 years ago and it has aired out. We'll see.

If you've read this introductory material and have selected your book to work in, take a moment to read "Get Ready, Get Set—Now Throw Out All Your Prep…" This post is a sort of final pep talk for participants last year, and the information still applies.

Whether you are a returning participant or this is your first go at keeping a fake journal, the main thing to remember is that IFJM is really, really fun. You get to leave your internal critic behind and go exploring. You get to explore not only new ideas and new character traits, but also new visual ideas and methods (if that appeals to you).

If you are going to spend 30 to 60 minutes a day for the month of April, you need to spend a little prep time now, reading the above links and becoming aware of the ins and outs of the possibilities of the project. It might be that you discover this project is not for you. It might also happen that you end up starting tomorrow (you can keep a fake journal any time, it's just that April is International Fake Journal Month and it's fun to celebrate then!).

If you do decide that this project if for you, I look forward to hearing from you about how the project is going for you—what are your discoveries and epiphanies? Do you have a sticking point or problem you need feedback on? If you do, chances are someone else does too, so I'll try to answer as many questions as I can relating to the practice of fake journaling.

Tomorrow I'll start posting details on this year's contest–drawing. It's divided into three parts. I'll explain the entry process and announce the prizes in three posts. And again this year, you'll be able to help spread the word by putting a small linking button on your blog. (I'll have details about that in a couple days.)

My main goal for today was to get you all thinking about picking up a new journal, and letting your character speak.

I hope it's a great 2011 IFJM for you all!

Old Business: Final Thoughts on My 2010 Fake Journal

2011-01-27T16:54:00.000-06:00

I came to the blog today thinking that I would start talking about this year's International Fake Journal Month and see I have some old business to wrap up.

Last year at the end of IFJM I promised to provide a wrap up of my 2010 experience. It got put off due to other commitments and then sidetracked completely due to a conk on the head and a nasty bout of pneumonia.

But before I move into 2011's celebration I wanted to thank again, all who participated last year, and if you were reading along and waiting for that wrap up I have just a few words.

Often IFJM is an emotional time for me. I try to deal with issues that will hold my interest for a month, take me out of myself, and allow me to experiment with, or wallow in, some sort of art medium I might not normally use. If I can do even a little of any one of those things then I'm set to say that year's effort was successful.

It isn't always obvious to other people who read my fake journals what my characters are going on about. And sometimes it isn't obvious to me until I'm days or even weeks into the journal. For instance in 2009 I didn't set out to deal with my grief over the death of a friend, but in turning to birds for solace and landing in an alternate Twin Cities destroyed by disease it didn't take much of a stretch to see where all that was heading!

Last year was a year of coming to grips with accelerated aging in the people around me—both extended family members and friends. I ended up spending time thinking about my own experience of aging and what was important to me, and also what was my own worst nightmare—which faculty would I miss most. Watching people around me lose touch with their brains or have other failures in communication, put me out of sorts to say the least. And in that mood faces began to appear to me, and a person who couldn't communicate.

Part of the execution of the 2010 fake journal was simple and the drawings are certainly simple. But there is a lot of frustration in that project, which I can see in the pages because I inhabited the mind of the character while creating that journal and she was beyond frustrated.

Later in the summer a falling light fixture conked me on the head and spun my life around in another direction. I am not superstitious (well maybe about the way I eat my "Chocolate, Chocolate, not a typo, Cake," but not about other things surely) and I in no way believe that exploring a lack of communication and connection with brain brought one on for me.

But I do think it is interesting that in my art, my work, my personal life, and my physical well-being last year that seemed to be the theme. And it was a good thing because I was supported by the earlier introspection brought out by the experience of my fake journal for 2010.

I think that's what art does for the people who make it. (Who knows what all it does for the people who view it.) Creating images and text help you to consider things that are perhaps alien to you at first glance, and then companionably familiar upon closer exploration. Or you get to look at things you want to remove or let go of. It's different for everyone.

For me, since process has always been a big part of what I do, 2010 was a year to look at the process I do follow and see where it is tending, how supportable it is, and what types of resources I'll be able to draw on.

So that's the old business. Don't look for me to find a non-verbal character anytime soon. Time brings that to us all too soon. I have other things to explore.

I look forward to a great 2011 IFJM with all of you. I'll have more to say soon about journal selection and other preparations. I'm very excited that it's almost upon us and I hope you're all itching to get started as well!

The Button Situation: They Have Arrived!

2010-06-04T18:11:00.000-05:00

Left: The buttons for this year's thank-you gift, with a dime so you can see scale. (The buttons are 2.25 inches in diameter and more pink than this poorly lit, quick photo shows.) The buttons match the link-button promoters placed on their blogs. The year appears on the edge. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

The buttons arrived late on Thursday and I ran out today to get mailers for them. I need to go to another store as there weren't enough where I went—but those have all been addressed and there will be a batch of buttons going out in the mail tomorrow! It's so fun to see them on the table, with the stack of envelopes. I'm really pleased with the job and price Pure Buttons was able to deliver on. If you have buttons to make I suggest that you contact them. They use quality buttons with a very nice pin back!

Participants, promoters, and winners of the two prize books—look for your stuff in the mail next week (and for a couple international people, a little while after that)! I can't wait to take the first batch over to the post office tomorrow!

Thank you all again for participating in and promoting International Fake Journal Month 2010. I love seeing it grow every year. Even more I love seeing what participants do in their fake journals. I am already looking forward to 2011's celebration of International Fake Journal Month. I've already designed the button!

The Button Situation and a Quick Update

2010-05-28T09:58:00.000-05:00

Well here it is the end of May and this year's celebration is still not wrapped up. I wanted to let you all know what was going on. The first button company failed, so I had to try another. I expect to receive buttons today—but since they haven't sent me updates as they promised I'm wondering if that will really happen. EEEK. I'm feeling a little jinxed and a little worried.

Don't you worry, however, if they don't work out I will try another vendor—in fact if you have a button vendor that you have used and like write in and tell me so I have a back up! There will be buttons. And when they arrive, of course the book prizes will go out too. Thanks to everyone—you're all being very, very patient. (I know I'm not.)

The only other news to report is that I have not been able to write about my 2010 fake journal experience yet. It has been difficult to pull my thoughts together while elements in my life pull me in other directions and we scramble to get ready for house guests. (It doesn't look good folks! Keep your fingers crossed on that for me will you?)

But I do have some things to say about my fake journal for this year, about how it actually changed my life in certain ways. So maybe check back after June 6 or so for that. The house guests will be gone, some other deadlines demolished, and I will be able to put my thoughts together.

I hope in the meantime all your own journaling efforts have been going along well, whether fake or real.

Fake Notes for a Fake Journal

2010-05-19T14:31:00.000-05:00

Left: The note that is attached to the front of my 2010 fake journal. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

This note, written in fountain pen says: Lois, Please type attached note and copy file. Copy and sketchbooks to to Dr. Hammond at St. Claire's. PD

The note that is to be typed by this fictional Lois is attached to the first page of the fake journal with a dog bone paper clip. (Why shouldn't PD have interesting paper clips? If you have to ask maybe you shouldn't be creating fake journals?)

I wanted the handwriting on the two handwritten notes to be totally non-recognizable as my writing, so I had Dick write them with his fountain pen of course. (It struck me that PD would use a fountain pen too.)

Left: The note attached to the first page of my 2010 fake journal. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

This note, written in fountain pen on a sheet of gridded paper can be read if you click on the image. Again, I enlisted the aid of Dick to complete the last bit of fakery for my 2010 fake journal.

The note explains the background of the author of the fake journal—as much as it can be known given her particular circumstances.

Pressing deadlines keep me from doing my final write up as I'd hoped. This year's fake journal was an incredibly difficult experience for me intellectually—as it brought up a number of issues I really didn't want to think about at this point in my life. It was incredibly easy to execute from an illustrative point of view however.

Now that you at least have these notes you can put the rest of the journal in context. I'll be back next week to discuss what happened.

The Thirtieth Entry in Roz's 2010 Fake Journal

2010-05-17T12:06:00.000-05:00

Left: the final sketch page in my 2010 fake journal. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

This is the last page in my 2010 fake journal executed by the "author." All that's left are some "notes" that go with the journal by another "fake" author. (I tell you, once I get started on fakery—well it's a slippery slope.)

I'll post those tomorrow, and with luck have some time to write about all this. Today the "Got Junk" folks are coming and I'm so excited I can hardly sit still. I keep pacing!

The Twenty-ninth Entry in Roz's 2010 Fake Journal

2010-05-16T15:20:00.000-05:00

Left: the twenty-ninth entry in my 2010 fake journal. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Here is one more installment. We're close to the end. I'll be wrapping it up during the beginning of this week and then trying to put some more thoughts together. (ARGH—it has been so chaotic here.) Thanks for your patience as I weave my way through a maze of interruptions! Go see How to Train Your Dragon—in 3D—today. I wrote about it on my regular blog (use the link). Have a great day.

The Twenty-eighth Entry in Roz's 2010 Fake Journal

2010-05-15T08:38:00.000-05:00

Left: the twenty-eighth entry in my 2010 fake journal. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Moving closer and closer to the end of my fake journal. No time this weekend to wrap it all up, but it's coming. The oddest thing about posting these images now is that they seem like they were done a lifetime ago. My mind has moved completely back to my regular journal. I do miss my time spent drawing faces—sadly events keep cropping up to keep me away from life drawing group, which is where the best opportunity for a "still" person is to be found. I have to mark off those evenings as taken! Time to take stock of my commitments.

The Twenty-seventh Entry in Roz's 2010 Fake Journal

2010-05-14T10:11:00.000-05:00

Left: The twenty-seventh entry in my 2010 fake journal. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

A whirlwind of days, I wonder how I managed my regular journal and my fake journal in April which now seems so long ago! Today I've been posting wrap-ups about the MCBA Visual Journal Collective's sketch out at the Shepherd's Harvest Sheep and Wool Festival. You can check it out on Roz Wound Up and that will lead you to the additional post on Urban Sketchers—Twin Cities, where you can see additional work by me along with Karen Engelbretson and Suzanne Hughes. (It was a cold and sleeting day so participation was low!)

I hope you've been finding fun and challenging visual journaling opportunities in May!

The Twenty-sixth Entry in Roz's 2010 Fake Journal

2010-05-13T14:25:00.000-05:00

Left: the twenty-sixth entry in my 2010 fake journal. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

A series of small family "emergencies" has eaten up my time for today. All I can do right now is push forward with the individual page scans. No thoughts on journaling except to say—make some time to do it today, it can save your brain when everything seems chaotic!

The Twenty-fifth Entry in Roz's 2010 Fake Journal

2010-05-12T08:36:00.001-05:00

Left: the twenty-fifth entry in my 2010 fake journal. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

I'm having trouble with Blogger today so I'm just trying to see if I can get another entry posted and continue to play catch up. More wrap up stuff later. I hope you are all transitioning back to regular journaling smoothly!

EVA and Her Thoughts about Her 2010 Fake Journal

2010-05-11T13:21:00.000-05:00

For a wrap up on EVA's fake journal experience check out her May 11 blog post. I think you will find her breakdown of the experience helpful when reflecting about your own, or when you come to commit to next year's celebration (because I know you want to!).

EVA's spontaneous decision to participate has actually led to her starting not one but three journals! Each will serve a different purpose.

Work in her fake journal has resulted in new choices for books, paper, and materials. She is also considering how to fit the habit into her daily life.

"Knowing you only need to write 30 entries is easier than writing for a prolonged and indefinite time period," she wrote.

I would just like to encourage EVA and everyone who might feel the pressure of a regular journal habit looming—once you have the habit it is as natural as breathing. That indefinite time period which stretches ahead of you beckons rather than intimidates. Each passing year, and the journals they produce, solidifies that creative contract. It becomes neither easy nor difficult to keep a journal, it simply is. It's natural and useful. You will come to "notice" it only when you haven't connected with it for a time. I really believe keeping a journal is one of the best things you can do for your creative life, and that's why I teach journaling.

In her wrap up EVA compared art and golf and the use of expensive materials and fancy clubs. I would also encourage EVA and everyone to buy quality art materials when you can afford them. Golf can be art EVA, but the analogy you're making doesn't hold. If you have quality materials, the ease with which your ideas will flow on to the paper will be vastly improved. Instead of fighting cheap paints with weak pigment loads that don't allow one to get the values and contrasts and verve in one's paintings or sketches one is able to begin seeing steady improvements when using quality materials.

Two good brushes, some quality paper (for the media you elect to use) and quality paints—in watercolors 6 tubes is totally sufficient (a warm and cool of each primary) will allow great strides forward.

And the immediate benefit is that incremental and steady success will push you forward as well.

Inexpensive art materials, inferior paints, crummy brushes, student grade paper—they are all false economies. They waste your most precious resource—your time. You can't get your time back, but you can use your time to move forward in your art—to practice. It's my hope that everyone considers this as they take off on a journaling adventure. A few quality materials provide the means for starting off on the right foot—just as wearing quality shoes will enable you to go on a long and blister-free journey.

Learning new art skills can be frustrating enough—please don't add to the frustration with poor quality materials.

Overburdening yourself with materials of any sort, quality or not can be a problem. So if getting the journaling habit and learning about art materials seems intimidating I recommend starting with only a pen and a book and sketching and learning about that pen—and getting the habit. Add other materials after the habit is present and you're in the experimental phase.

If you are a new artist who doesn't feel worthy of quality materials, or if you feel the only way you'll be able to get out of the door with any materials at all is if they are inexpensive, by all means get out and start journaling with those materials. I'd rather you were all journaling. But please realize that improvement in your art will come when you use paints with quality pigments and heavy pigment loads, on paper that was meant to make those materials sing. Move towards that as quickly as your pocketbook allows. Because not allowing yourself hardworking tools is just one way your internal critic uses to derail you. I've seen it in students for over 20 years.

Lee Trevino could golf 9 holes under 85 strokes with a Dr. Pepper Bottle (or something like that) because he already had SKILLS. Any great artist can take crap materials and make them work for him or her. A beginner starting with student grade materials needs to move to the quality materials as soon as possible to see how real paint moves in a graduated wash, or blends with another paint, or works on a paper sized for heavy duty watercolor technique. It's joyous. The experience will feed you while you work to improve your skills.

EVA, thanks for sharing in this event, and for sharing your experience with others. Readers can land on EVA's first fake journal entry by clicking on her name in the 2010 participants list in the right hand column. Go experience her journey now.

Melinda Bilecki's Thoughts on Her Fake Journal for 2010

2010-05-09T11:05:00.001-05:00

Melinda Bilecki's thoughts on International Fake Journal Month 2010 came in the form of a helpful list of points:

It was truly a wonderful experience for me. Here is some of what I learned:

1. A little planning can be a good thing. Normally, I just dive in when I decide to sketch something. In doing my IFJM journal, though, I spent a little time each day deciding what the image was going to be, where I'd place it on the page, and how the text would read. I think this helped me end up with a nicer looking page in the end. And it actually didn't cause me to lose spontaneity as much I thought it might. I just did a quick doodle on a scratch sheet with the text and basic image placement before I started in my journal. If anything, it made the journaling more enjoyable because I felt more certain going in that I'd like what I ended up with.

2. Using color is fun! I've really enjoyed the ink and watercolor wash sketches I've been doing. Color is a new thing for me, and working with it day in and day out taught me a lot. I've learned how watercolor handles in all kinds of situations—with wet paper, dry paper, lots of water, very little water, with a waterbrush, with a regular paint brush, and on and on. This has given me a whole new dimension for getting my world down on paper that I wasn't accessing before. This isn't to say I'll be using color all the time going forward, but it's definitely something I'll incorporate regularly thanks to this experience.

3. Pacing myself is hard. One of the most difficult parts of the whole IFJM process was taking my time with it. Sometimes I was overwhelmed with the desire to finish it, to rush ahead, play the story out, and wrap everything up. Patience is not my strong suit. So…I've had to relax and live with my fake self day after day. It's been good for me, I think. I've had to realize that the project was about the process as much as about the end result—a pretty important lesson.

4. I am all for a daily practice of sketch journaling. It provides a nice organizing principle for the day. I look forward to it until I've done it, and I enjoy having done it afterwards. It helps me think visually. It even helps me feel grounded in some important way I can't quite put my finger on. I'll be thinking more about this going forward, but the bottom line is that this is a practice I plan to continue.

The bottom line is that I would highly recommend participating in International Fake Journal Month to anyone!

I asked Melinda, after receiving her note, whether or not she thought she would continue doing thumbnail sketches on scrap paper before working in her regular journal. She replied.

I don't think I'll always do the thumbnail, but I think it will be one tool among many that I'll use when the situation seems to call for it. I hardly ever planned a page ahead of time before IFJM, but now that I feel comfortable with that process, I find I've been doing it more and more.

I also asked Melinda if she had ever tried daily journaling before, and if so, what stopped it. She responded:

Regarding daily journaling, no, I hadn't tried it before. I draw almost every day, and I do have a sketch journal. In the past, though, I only worked in the sketch journal when it seemed like there was something especially interesting to record. IFJM has made me reconsider that approach by helping me see that there is more to be gained from keeping a regular sketch journal than just a record. The process itself is very rewarding! That's probably the most important thing I learned this April!

You will find Melinda Bilecki's 2010 fake journal on her blog under the category IFJM (this link takes you to that category). Scroll down to get to the first entry. The category list starts with the most recent post and that is about how she is moving on to another daily project—a great way to keep momentum going after finishing International Fake Journal Month is to move on to another daily project.

Thank you Melinda for sharing your thoughts on your first-time participation in IFJM. I do think it is helpful for people who are considering whether or not to participate in 2011, to hear the thoughts of other participants. People come to fake journaling from all sorts of different backgrounds. Some already keep daily visual or written journals, others have never journaled before. Wrap-ups by participants give people a better grasp on the wide variety of experiences and results and the impact of those results. Good luck Melinda with your daily practice in May!

Whether you decide to share your wrap up thoughts here or on your own blog, or not at all, please do take a moment to think about your participation in this year's celebration. What did you learn about your practice, your habits, your internal critic, your life's schedule? How does creativity fit into your life's schedule? Do you feel the need for change?

Spy Girl: Thoughts on Fake Journaling from Anne M. Bray

2010-05-07T09:26:00.000-05:00

Anne M. Bray is a two-time fake journal keeper. You can find the 2010 fake journal of Anne M. Bray here. (Sorry for the clunky name repetition but I want my links to be "complete.")

I asked Anne if she would write about her experiences with fake journaling now that her second year was finished. I think that people new to fake journaling can benefit from reading about her experiences with fake journaling in part because her 2009 and 2010 journals differ from each other in media and in approach.

I recommend you read Anne's experiences with fake journaling in her own words. Her journey will be an inspiration for people who aren't "hard core" journal keepers. Fake journaling has actually spawned additional blogs for her! I would suggest that those are journals and that Anne is actually becoming a "hard core" journal keeper after all! (You need to check out her delightful blog Cupcake Safari. The delicate colored pencil drawings of cupcakes are delicious.)

I love two things about Anne's 2010 fake journal. First she let the idea flow from a found object—a sketch she found under an oleander bush outside her house. This ties in beautifully with her involvement in "Found It (Urban Artifacts), a Facebook group. But it also speaks to me of the way in which creative minds look around and find something (either an idea or a physical object) and allow it to expand and give life to a whole other creative project.

The other thing I enjoyed learning about Anne's 2010 experience was that she let the fake journal serve for two creative projects she wanted to participate in. ArtHouse sponsored a March/April project for work in a small black moleskine themed "this is where I live." Anne's Spy Girl journal documents what she wore during April.

Sometimes we have a lot of desire to participate in several projects at the same time. Finding a way to satisfy that urge without busting our schedules is a good skill to work on. It can also help you focus on what is truly important to you about each of the projects that you take on.

OK, there's a third thing I loved about Anne's 2010 fake journal: the inclusion of found items in her "confidential" envelopes on each page. In so many ways this simple approach allowed her to combine so many of her interests. When projects are structured that way we have a higher possibility of completion and an even deeper satisfaction in the final product or outcome.

Take a moment now to read what Anne has to say about her experiences with fake journaling. Then think about how her discoveries and approaches might be useful for you next year when you are getting ready to jump in to your 2011 fake journal!

Thank you again Anne for your active participation in this year's celebration!

The Twenty-fourth Entry in Roz's 2010 Fake Journal

2010-05-06T12:38:00.000-05:00

Left: the twenty-fourth entry in my 2010 fake journal. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

I'm still playing catch up with my posts, and juggling deadlines, so today there is just one more entry for you to check out. This ended up being one of my favorites in the project. My character was very interested in the profile line and earlobe of this person. Eyes, ears, and profile tended to be a constant source of interest, but this earlobe was fascinating to her. And by extension, me. The lobe came out of the ear almost like a large flap. Now that I've seen one like this I'm seeing more of them around and it's very exciting!

The Twenty-third Entry in Roz's 2010 Fake Journal

2010-05-05T15:55:00.000-05:00

Left: the twenty-third entry in my 2010 fake journal. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

As part of the wrap of of International Fake Journal Month 2010 I would love to hear from participants about their experiences. Some of you have taken time to write a note to me on Facebook or this blog. Others have written a post about their experiences and posted on their blog. I've also contacted people who participated last year directly about this.

If you have written about your experiences on your blog would you please take a moment and send me a link to that post? I would love to create a post with links to those "wrap-ups."

I think it is important that people coming to fake journaling and the celebration of International Fake Journal Month, find comments from other journal keepers who have recently started doing this. I would like them to hear other voices—even if your experience was difficult.

I write about my experience with fake journaling, regular journaling, and my observations of students and their experiences, but it's only one part of the picture. I think with a more complete picture more people might be convinced to give it a go. Newcomers might be overwhelmed by the links and the volume of pages to go through in participants' journals, but having a "wrap-up" page of links will help them see some of the benefits or problems and then put the pages in a context for them. So let me know if you've blogged about your "wrap-up" experience.

Did I Miss Color?; the Myth of Time; and The Twenty-first and Twenty-second Entries in Roz's 2010 Fake Journal

2010-05-04T08:24:00.000-05:00

Left: The twenty-first entry in my 2010 fake journal. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

As some of you will see I've had to change my highlight and caption text color. A small thing, irritating to me, but not irritating enough for me to bother to switch over to using html codes all the time for something that occurs so frequently. But for those of you who did notice, now you know why.

I'm also trying to get used to the new way the images are handled. And in an effort to catch you all up to the end of my fake journal I have two images today.

Also, a participant wrote in the other day and asked me if I missed using color. I wrote a short answer back to her in the comment section (so much is going on I can't remember if it was on this blog or my main blog) and basically said no.

Well later I finished my work at the computer and got up to walk away. I bent to return something to a shelf and my eyes fell on a print from my 2009 fake journal (alternate Minneapolis, post-some sort of health disaster, all about birds). It was a page spread where many Canada geese move across a vibrant lavender background. The sloppy, drippiness of the washes on the water resistant paper barely contained by the glossy black ink lines, reminded me of how much fun I had last year with my fake journal and Schmincke watercolors over dip pen lines. For a moment I didn't miss color so much as I missed the subject matter and that small book with pages which crinkled (and still do) when turned.

Left: the twenty-second entry in my 2010 fake journal. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

So in a way I think I answered too quickly, because I do miss that colorful experience. But in another way I know my answer was correct. I didn't miss color this year because color wasn't on the character's radar—and I had daily recourse to my regular journal if I wanted color. At the same time I was working on some acrylic paintings. Perhaps choosing a character who worked only with black pencil created a window for more color in other projects?

I have found that International Fake Journal Month has always opened up such windows. Intense focus on one project can have the salutary effect of encouraging the mind to apply similar focus to other projects running simultaneously.

The myth of waiting until we have "the luxury of all the time we need" can seduce us into not using the time we have. Everyone has a point of overwhelm, but you won't find that point by doing one task at a time. I believe one of the benefits of IFJM is the way it can help people manage creative multitasking—help them find out the nuances of how they use their time, and then work to utilize their strengths or create strengths.

By taking your attention in one direction (for me this year: black pencil sketches) you open up the possibilities of simultaneous explorations in other directions. Or you simply get the use of a certain medium out of your system. That's good too.

Winners in the 2010 Contests and the Twentieth Entry in Roz's 2010 Fake Journal

2010-05-03T17:25:00.000-05:00

Left: my twentieth entry in my 2010 fake journal. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Congratulations to Kyra Sanders who won the draw for the Promotion Contest (for all those who put the Link-Button on their blogs).

Congratulations to Gina Mitsdarfer who won the draw for the Participation—Posted on Your Own Blog. (There was a subcategory for blogless folks who wanted to post on this blog but no one entered that portion of the contest.)

Both of these winners will be receiving one of the contest prize books. I have their postal addresses so as soon as the buttons are made I will be sending those out. (Gina and Kyra, you can expect a heads up post next week.)

Everyone else, whether you participated in the promotional aspect of International Fake Journal Month or participated by keeping a fake journal (or both), if you sent me your address with your entry (as requested) you will be receiving a commemorative button. (I hope to mail them next week.)

If you sent in an entry but didn't send your postal address you will have recently received an email from me asking for one. If you want a button, please reply. If I don't hear back I'll just assume you're not a button person (I know not everyone is and that's OK.)

Either way, I want to thank you all for your energetic participation in this year's festivities!

This week and next I'll continue to post the remaining pages of my fake journal and have some thoughts on my fake journal—as well as some explanations for all of you who have so patiently been reading along. I hope you'll check back for those posts.

But even more important, start thinking about your 2011 Fake Journal!

Nineteenth Entry in Roz's 2010 Fake Journal

2010-05-03T09:17:00.004-05:00

Left: my nineteenth entry in my 2010 fake journal. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

I'm just playing around with the new composing window in blogger. I don't know how long they've had it, but I just noticed it while changing some other settings. The good thing about it is that it lets you load images differently. You used to have to load in reverse order as new images always appeared at the top of the post and that was very annoying for multi-image posts. But there are some other things I've haven't quite worked out yet so who knows how this will look. (Not sure I've got the right caption color for one.)

If something very strange appears when you visit please drop me a line to alert me!

In the meantime I'm going to keep posting these images, and will have more to say about them later in the week when I get through the contest business.

I hope you are having a good first few days post-International-Fake-Journal-Month. Is your new journal glad to have you back full time? Did it never even notice you were gone? Is it enthusiastic about your new approaches? (OK, I do tend to anthropomorphize everything.)

Note: one thing I've noticed in switching is that I can't get the same color for my caption color and special text. I'll have to use a different one until I find a way to get back to it and so far I haven't. Also setting the font got messed up going back and forth.

Fake, Fake, Fake—Layers of Fake: A Flip Through of Roz's 2010 Fake Journal

2010-05-02T14:31:00.002-05:00

Above is a short video flip through of my 2010 fake journal. Sadly the quality of the videos my tiny camera makes isn't such that you can read the post-it note on the cover or the handwritten note inside the cover—but those are all part of the fake journal. They were written by ANOTHER fake character, not the one keeping the journal. They'll appear in scanned form at the end of my individual posts of the pages.

For now you can see the wonderful distorted shape the APICA notebook took on during the month of April. And you can see all the pages from April 1 through April 30 in a quick flip through that will give you an overview of the project.

If the embedded video doesn't work please view the video of Roz's 2010 fake journal here.

Eighteenth Entry in Roz's 2010 Fake Journal

2010-05-01T14:28:00.003-05:00

Left: my eighteenth entry in my 2010 fake journal. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Sorry no little video ready yet. I didn't have time to set up the camera this morning—I went on a great, but windy bike ride. But I'll get to it soon.

In the meantime—here's the next image from my fake journal, if you have been "reading" along.

Remember—no rest for the weary today—turn to your regular journal full focus.

International Fake Journal Month Ends, and the Seventeenth Entry in Roz's 2010 Fake Journal

2010-04-30T09:37:00.006-05:00

Left: the seventeenth entry in my 2010 fake journal. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Today is the final day of 2010's celebration of International Fake Journal Month. I finished my 30th sketch and the accompanying text this morning. The glue is still drying on the colored paper insert. Sometime tonight or tomorrow I'll take a little video of the completed journal and post it so that you can "page through it."

I'll still post the remaining images chronologically if you want to stop by and see them in more detail. Also those pages will give me a visual for a few more wrap up posts I will need to make—winners of each of the contests, some post-fake-journal-month notes about what I learned, that sort of thing. Maybe even a couple suggestions that will get you off the fence for next year's celebration?

But right now my focus has shifted to sorting through the two contest folders and making sure I have everyone in the correct folders, meeting the contest rules, etc. I was so excited to have so many people join in this year. I hope that it was a not overly stressful endeavor—in fact I hope it was challenging and fun.

I also am grateful for those who chose to promote the event on their blogs. I am hopeful each year that the project will grow and people spreading the word are a constant help to that.

I was so pleased with the participation on every level this year that I have decided to make a commemorative button (you all know I love buttons) and send it out to all the participants and promoters. So if you were a promoter who included your address in your email and posted the button link to this blog on your blog by April 10 and kept it up until May 3 you'll be getting a thank-you button in the mail. If you participated by keeping your own fake journal and you posted your entries on your blog and sent me links to five such entries (pages or spreads) over the course of April you'll also be receiving a thank-you button in the mail.

The participation contest is over today but I'll do a last check of the promotion blogs on May 3 and have the drawing for the two prize books also on that date. Book winners will be posted here on May 4, but I'll hold on to the books until I also have the buttons to send out at the same time.

So that's the plan for the next few days as the organizational end of this celebration winds down. I'll thank you all at least a couple times over the next couple weeks I'm sure. However, today I would not only like to thank you all for making this an interesting and visually stimulating fake journal month, but I would also like to congratulate you!

I want to thank you all for rising up to the challenge to push yourselves creatively in April 2010. The fake journal that you hold in your hands is a testament to your creative commitment. It doesn't matter if you have a few entries or 30 or 70. It doesn't matter if you filled your book or still have lots of empty pages. What matters is that you followed your intention to stretch your creative muscle and put that intention into practice in your already full life. You carved out time for yourself. You experimented with new media. You tested new paper and books. You listened to that inner voice that says softly "I want to say something." You let that voice be heard over your internal critic.

For some of you it was excruciatingly difficult. For some of you it was easy. For others it was deceptively easy. All of you have something to think about now—your creative process. What works, what doesn't, where do you want to go, what do you want your regular journal to be, how do you want to give voice to your creativity?

There aren't easy answers to any of these questions, and the answers will change over the course of your life. But when you complete a creative project of this nature you give yourself an opportunity to examine these questions and move forward in your life and art with intention instead of impulse.

Don't get me wrong. Impulse is great. But if you give impulse a little guidance by doing a little reflection on your creative process you are able to clear out a lot of clutter and find a sustaining satisfaction in your work.

Don't worry if your friends and family look at your fake journal and mumble, "What's up with that?" (Or worse, tell you "that sucks.") You don't owe anyone else an explanation—only yourself.

Don't worry if your fake journal isn't at the artistic level you set for yourself or to which you normally work. That's your internal critic coming up behind you to whisper in your ear and cause you to doubt yourself and question your intention.

Every page of your fake journal might be complete shit. You might have just created 30 pages of the ugliest sketches and paintings and idiotic writing on the planet—it still doesn't make your internal critic right. It's a step, one that you took, despite the chattering of that internal critic. Future steps will be easier because you took one. (And this will continue to be true every day you take such a step.)

You hold in your hands a document which says "I allowed myself to create; I allowed myself to take risks." I think creative risks are like loose rocks on a hillside. We scramble over them, slipping at times, at other times finding sure footing, so that we can get to the top of the hill and have a better view.

I think having a better view (of ourselves, our creative process, our place in the world, the larger world, the people in our world) is what regular journaling is all about.

My wish for all of you who participated in this year's celebration of International Fake Journal Month is that you take what you learned about yourself and your process and use what you learned to make your regular journal practice stronger, deeper, more challenging, and integral in your life.

Thank you for sharing your journals with me, and for allowing me to share mine with you.

This is the point where if you were all here in Minneapolis we would go over to Cafe Latte and have a piece of cake and laugh and share our journals, and ooh, and ahh. One of us, I'm not saying who, would probably even cry a bit. There would be absolutely no hugging (I'm not a hugger)—OK some of you would hug on the way out to the cars. I wouldn't be annoyed at all. We would all drive home with insanely crazy smiles on our faces. But we would drive carefully because the satisfaction of successful play had grounded us all.

That's what successful play feels like. It has weight and substance. It doesn't evaporate. You have a tangible reminder on your bookshelf right now. Remember that this year as you observe your real life. You can choose to have that feeling every day.

Congratulations on pushing yourselves creatively.

Preparing for End and the Sixteenth Entry in Roz's 2010 Fake Journal

2010-04-29T12:27:00.004-05:00

Left: the sixteenth entry in my 2010 fake journal. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

On day 16 the author of my fake journal fell in love with this person's nose. I have to say I did too.

This morning, the author of my fake journal completed the penultimate sketch, and for me there's a definite tug—"What am I going to do on Saturday?" I know what's happening Friday when this wraps up. It became obvious about a week in, and then it became inevitable, then it didn't seem so, and then again it became so. But what about Saturday, with this time I have always set aside for the fake journal? It happens every year.

In my April 25 post I urged you to make plans for May 1. I'm repeating that urging so you know how serious I am.

In the past some participants have actually felt bereft when the celebration is over. And they miss their fake journal author.

Well, maybe, if you are very attached to your fake journal author he/she can write you letters during the year and stay in touch. You don't have to completely let them go. I'm a huge fan of writing letters and would love to see the illustrated letter make a come back—think about it.

Other participants are happy to see the fake journal authors pick up their tools and leave.

Regardless of how you feel about your fake journal author, please remember that May 1 is the perfect time to establish a useful and on-going switch of journal practices to carry forth in your regular journal. You get to take anything good that you unearthed and apply it forward in your regular journal. You get to leave behind anything annoying, unfruitful, and not useful—knowing that you learned in the process how to approach those "things."

If you worked hard in your fake journal all month, daily, or almost so, don't take a vacation on May 1—keep going. Life and journaling are in part about momentum. Keep the creative machinery clicking, keep it fed, keep your appointment with your creativity.

The "Urge to Finish" and the Fifteenth Entry in Roz's 2010 Fake Journal

2010-04-28T16:18:00.004-05:00

Left: fifteenth entry in my 2010 Fake Journal. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

While today's post only brings you up to April 15 in my fake journal, earlier today I finished sketch 28. With only two days left of International Fake Journal Month 2010 I confess there is a mixture of feelings in my mind (I've written about the melancholy). Most prominent is a sort of sense of urgency to finish co-existing with a desire to not finish.

The urgency comes because I work so quickly in general. Also I tend to set fake journal parameters so that daily time commitment is low and therefore sustainable through the month of April.

Now on April 28, with only two days left there is an urge to "just finish." (It wouldn't take that long after all.)

Resisting that urge and keeping "honest" in the execution of the fake journal within the context of fake journaling, is one way in which I school myself in pacing and try to improve that characteristic in myself as I age. I feel as if I'm holding my breath, but I know, from past experience waiting, that there are new revelations and new insights if I wait and let the process unfold.

So I take a breath and put the pencil away, until tomorrow. And take up my real journal…

Another Fake Journal Keeper Joins the Ranks, and the Fourteeth Entry in Roz's 2010 Fake Journal

2010-04-27T12:07:00.004-05:00

Left: the fourteenth entry in my 2010 fake journal. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

I have a link that I'm adding to the participant list: Gina Lento.

Go and check out her fake journal. She started on April 19 and has been experimenting with different media in a new brand of commercially bound journal—that's just the type of thing that lends itself to useful fake journaling. Keep going Gina.

Keep Working and Don't Care—and the Thirteenth Entry in Roz's 2010 Fake Journal

2010-04-26T16:38:00.005-05:00

Left: the thirteenth entry in my 2010 fake journal. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Only four more days of International Fake Journal Month 2010. Hang in there. Keep working.

If people don't understand what you are doing or if they don't like what you are doing in your fake journal, embrace the fact that you don't care!

And if you do care—well spend some time in the next four days thinking about the freedom of not caring, the freedom to create from your mind and heart to please yourself and no one else.

Look at your fake journal this way—a journal full of that which you were pleased to make. Just 'cause!

You can feel that way about your regular journal too. When you do, a whole new world of fun opens up for you. It's just play. It's not work. And you are engaging yourself, your creative mind. Take some of that freedom back with you to your regular journal—a gift from your fake journal author.

What To Do on May First, and the Twelfth Entry in Roz's 2010 Fake Journal

2010-04-25T14:54:00.005-05:00

Left: the twelfth entry in my 2010 fake journal. Click on the image for an enlargement.

So far this is the only person the author of my fake journal has sketched more than once. I don't know if this will still be true five days from now.

Plan a journal outing on May 1—even it if is just a 10-minute coffee break in a lounge where you work. Sketch something. Write something true about your life. Decide how you are going to use your "fake journaling" time when April is over.

Little by little you have carved out a bit of time for your fake journal. This is time that you wanted for your creative project. May 1 is the time to remind yourself that you do have time in your life for your creative pursuits, no matter how busy you get. May 1 is the time to turn your fake journaling habit into a useful habit for your regular journaling. You've exercised your journaling muscles with cross training!

Eleventh Entry in Roz's 2010 Fake Journal

2010-04-24T09:59:00.005-05:00

Left: my eleventh entry in my 2010 fake journal. Click on the image to view and enlargement.

This is one of my favorite sketches from this year's project. For me the eleventh day of April was a bit of a turn around. Definitely a day in which I had more clarity about the author of the journal (which I'll write about at the end of April).

For now, there are 6 more drawings, 6 more pages to do (I've finished today's entry). I'm already getting a little bit of a sense of, don't know what, melancholy is too strong a word, but a sense that I will miss the project when it's over. Things become habit when we do them daily over time. That habit happens quickly. It's great that journaling is such a helpful and healthy habit!

Have fun on these remaining days. Savor the moments.

Oh, and yes that's dried glue on the red paper at the spine. Isn't it wonderful! Fussy Roz doesn't have to worry about it at all because it's not her journal! Pure enjoyment.

Taking Stock and the Tenth Entry in Roz's 2010 Fake Journal

2010-04-23T10:31:00.006-05:00

Left: the tenth entry in my 2010 fake journal. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

No tip for today, just a companionable reminder to keep chugging along whether it is going smoothly or whether it feels a struggle—we've only got a week left!

OK, so there is a tip, with one week left in International Fake Journal Month 2010 take a moment today to page through your fake journal and ask yourself what "more" would you like to see happen in it.

"More" can be anything from more color to more intensity of emotion. "More" can be visual or verbal. "More" is not about taking more time out of your day and devoting it to the project. "More" is not about spending more money on art supplies at this point.

"More" might be as simple as making a date with your fake journal every day at the same time and finding a way (a pre-journal cup of coffee, a nutritious snack, 15-minutes of yoga, a short walk…) to get completely away from your life before you get into the fake journal so that you are present (as your fake journal author of course). Remember many of the techniques and approaches you use during International Fake Journal Month can be useful when you are keeping your regular journal. This is the time to try out different approaches.

Also this review is not a time to let your internal critic speak up. What I am suggesting is a review of your project as it stands so far, with an eye to pushing the envelop just a little "more" in some direction. Yes this will mean that you skate closer to risk and odd or ugly pages, but it also means that you will really let your fake journal author have control of his/her book.

Give it a push for this final week.

Facial Vocabularly and the Ninth Entry in Roz's 2010 Fake Journal

2010-04-22T09:13:00.006-05:00

Left: the ninth entry in my 2010 fake journal. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

I've been thinking a lot about faces this month, because of the way the fake journal is structured. I found a slim but delightful book from Dover that I recommend to people working with faces—"Sargent Portrait Drawings: 42 Works by John Singer Sargent."

You'll also find books with drawings by other masters like Holbein and Leonardo. The great thing is that many are $6.95 (the price of the Sargent book).

The drawings in this book are reproduced in a large enough size so that you can see subtle nuances of line and shade. (One drawing on each 8 x 11 inch page.) Some of the drawings are loosely started and left unfinished, others are completed and fully realized (though I would argue that even Sargent's unfinished work has a sense of being fully realized).

Seeing how a great master like Sargent makes pencil and charcoal do his bidding to capture a likeness can inform your own efforts. You can see how he developed a vocabulary of marks and approaches that capture the 3-D in the 2-D surface. It is helpful to see how someone so skilled understands the structure of the face and the play of light and shadow on that structure. And it is always instructive to see how a great mind and hand "cheats" and suggests detail with a sure touch, when there is no detail upon close observation.

Sargent, Holbein, Leonardo—and all the great masters—can help you find a facial vocabulary of your own. I recommend you check out some of these books.

International Fake Journal Month Tip of the Day: Enjoy the Chaos

2010-04-21T12:58:00.005-05:00

Above: my 2010 fake journal on April 15, halfway through the process. More about what is happening to it in the post below. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

As you can see from the above photo, by April 15 my fake journal was curling up at an amazing angle. Additionally things were getting tight at the spine of this simple, sewn pamphlet (an APICA commercially made soft-covered notebook which I have written about before).

For many journal keepers the journal's final aspect—whether it looks worn or brand new—is important. Fake journaling can help you bust out of your prejudices as to whether or not there is a "right way" for something to happen, or whether there is a right way for something to end up looking.

Often people come to visual journaling with the idea that their filled journal should be (must be) a publishable piece of artwork—rather than whatever it turned out to be.

Imposing such restrictions on yourself can be limiting, even crippling to your journal practice. You allow your internal critic free-reign and constant access to weigh in on any of your activities—he gets to micro-manage your choices. You might put off working in your journal because you don't feel well or you don't think you have enough time to do something that is "worthy." You might actually find yourself thinking about "worthy" all the time—I've seen this happen. (Just the other day a friend told me she finally felt worthy to work in a journal I'd given her made with wonderful paper. I wanted to scream. Happily she feels worthy now, but the book has needed to be worked in all this time—books need to be filled.)

Sure there are artists creating journals that delight the eye and intellect so much that every page should be published. But if you look at the work of those artists you'll see that it is wonderful because they aren't hampered by preconceived notions of what they are "going for" but instead are simply working.

I would love to paint like Gérôme but life intervened and I made other choices and I didn't work as hard as he did, and frankly don't have the natural talent. I can be a realist about it. And because I can be a realist about that I can also be busy in my journal working from the point where I am at this point in my life.

This is something to keep in mind when you look at the journals of artists you admire—they are at a different point than you are, in skill, in talent, in interest, in work ethic, in circumstances you can't even begin to imagine. All of this plays into how their journals look at any given time.

The journals that I really admire are filled with pages of risk taking—risks that pay off because the artists are skilled, but risk taking all the same—which could result in failure. Embracing risk is part of making art, whether you are doing something to publish or not.

So my tip today, as we hit the final stretch in 2010's celebration of International Fake Journal Month is: embrace all the chaos and risk that comes your way while creating your fake journal.

For me this year, the scope of the journal was different from any journal I've done for myself. I have only been using pencil (something I haven't done since college) and my journal author has been using paper inserts in a way that I wouldn't do in a regular journal without making compensations (i.e., cutting out other pages to make space for the insertions).

The result is a physical object which is warping in a way I had not expected (though if I'd thought about it at all before hand I should have realized this would happen) and has caused me to further let go of my "fussy" procedures as to cutting and gluing. The second half of the book is really about "making it work" rather than getting it to work in the most optimal way. (And the great thing about it being a fake journal is that the author has to make it work, not me, and she doesn't seem to mind at all, so that's good role modeling for me!)

By embracing the "chaos" of this approach in this particular journal I'm able to whittle away at my own particular "optimal way" mentality. It doesn't mean I will stop being someone interested in experimenting and finding optimal ways to do things in my journal, and with the art materials I elect to use. What it does mean, however, is that I can free myself from the need to find the optimal way all the time. I can step away from "optimal way" when that means getting onto a more useful path to creation. That's always a good thing.

For me, over the years, that has been one of the most striking benefits of fake journaling. Last year's use of an Alvin Field Book, dip pen, and watercolor helped push me back into non-archival materials like school notebooks (something I used throughout my childhood). It has freed me even more from "archival" materials. It's great to use archival materials; it's great to work in journals that I have bound myself with archival materials; but fake journaling reminds me that it is simply just great to be journaling, with whatever is at hand.

For someone of opposite tendencies fake journaling might be a time to trot out the specially made journal with archival pages…

As you move through the final days of this year's celebration I hope that you find a way to embrace the oddities, the risks, the less-than-you-had-hoped-for results that may have happened. Own them as part of the journey you're on to express your vision. Use the accidents and mishaps to encourage you to more experimentation, rather than allow them to shut down your creative experimentation.

When we were young and we played, we don't get graded on the quality of our play (unless you played with a really bossy child or an absurdly intrusive adult); your passing or excelling "grade" in play was the feeling you got—the satisfaction you had—in knowing that you were really engaged. That's what matters. Remember that, and bring it forward into your journal practice.

Let your journal (fake or real) be a record of your play and experimentation. Enjoy the satisfaction of being fully engaged.

Eighth Entry in Roz's 2010 Fake Journal

2010-04-19T04:00:00.001-05:00

Left: The eighth entry in my 2010 fake journal. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Yesterday I posted an additional list of new links to people participating in International Fake Journal Month 2010—people who are posting their work on their own blogs. Well, after that I put those links and the previous links all together in a links list at the side of this blog—2010 Participants. You can find them there and check on them throughout the month. (And into May as many of us might be behind in posting.)

I hope you will stop by the blogs where people are working on their 2010 IFJM Journal and give them encouragement.

More International Fake Journal Month Participants and the Seventh Entry in Roz's 2010 Fake Journal

2010-04-18T15:02:00.004-05:00

Left: the seventh entry in my 2010 fake journal. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Here is an update on participants in this year's fake journal celebration. I have provided the name of the artist and then a short note about the fake journal. If you click on the name a link will take you there.

Gina Mitsdarfer (Gina shows us Santa Fe interior designer, Syndey Greene's journal.)

Margaret Sloan (Her journal keeper is off on a trip to an unusual land—Divergencia—where there are snail trains and cloud cows.)

Jana Bouc (Jana shares a book of spells and unspells—useful for all sorts of things! This is Jana's second year participating in IFJM.)

Ky Sanders (A young boy, Danny, begins a life changing journey.)

I'm going to make a sidebar feature with links to participant's postings on their own blogs. You can also click on "2010 participants" under categories and get to the related posts which list them.

Again, I'd like to encourage you all to jump in and start a fake journal if you haven't already done so. And of course, visit the blogs of those people who are posting their efforts!

Sixth Entry in Roz's 2010 Fake Journal

2010-04-16T15:08:00.002-05:00

Left: the sixth entry in my 2010 Fake Journal. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

I'm getting more links ready for a post tomorrow. If you are posting your fake journal on your blog and I haven't already put you in the links update then be sure to let me know so I can include you.

In the meantime, keep enjoying the experience of fake journaling. I will have some more things to say in the next couple of days. And don't forget to check in on the other fake journal keepers—links are found in my April 9 post.

Fifth Entry in Roz's 2010 Fake Journal

2010-04-15T21:58:00.005-05:00

Left: the fifth entry in my 2010 International Fake Journal Month Journal. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Today is not only Tax Day, but it is the midway point in International Fake Journal Month.

If you have been working right along with the rest of us then you are half way through the month! Congratulations and keep working.

If you are still sitting on the fence, come on, join in. You've got two weeks to have some great fun—stretching, playing, and exploring!

Fourth Entry in My 2010 Fake Journal

2010-04-14T15:00:00.003-05:00

Left: the fourth entry of this year's fake journal. I'm still using only the Stabilo All (black; used dry) and cutting away the page to expose Canson Mi Tientes. I'm working in the APICA soft-covered notebook. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Since I don't use pencil in my visual journals much (I don't like all the smearing and smudging) I'm having a bit of a vacation from myself and my usual prejudices against smudges.

The insertion of a backing sheet of Canson Mi Tientes on each page (you can see the previous page's backing sheet at the left of the image) has caused this slim writing notebook to start to curl (with the grain of course) in an interesting fashion. It causes the pages to rub against the previous page—and since this isn't my journal I'm not in the least concerned.

Yep, quite a vacation.

International Fake Journal Month Tip of the Day: Don't Worry about "Bad Pages"

2010-04-13T18:26:00.003-05:00

Left: Page 3 in my 2010 fake journal.

Sometimes our pages don't turn out the way we expect them to—or hope. Fake journaling helps us get over the push to have "perfect pages." I addressed an aspect of this in yesterday's post—the need to keep going.

But beyond the push of keeping yourself going when a page doesn't turn out the way that you would have liked or hoped, you also need to let go of the idea of having perfect pages, even in a "special" journal such as the fake journal.

On my third day of sketching in this year's fake journal none of my angles were working out. But because I'm not concerned with the need to make perfect pages I can use this experience to delve deeper into the mind of my character, freeing me even more from the need to be accountable to any internal critic.

So as this drawing started to depart from my initial hopes and direction (the shading was too dark and clumsy in some areas, the angles and proportions not keenly observed) I started asking my character what her expectations and thoughts about this were.

And that's when I really met and connected with the author of this year's fake journal. So I recommend you turn any moments of disappointment into moments of discovery. These are opportunities to understand your character's goals and expectations—which may be totally opposite from your own.

Part of the fun of International Fake Journal Month is the opportunity to try out someone else's approach. This means you have to step back out of the way so that can actually happen.

When you learn to step out of the way in this fashion, without bringing judgment to the situation, you are also building your mental muscles for dealing with your own internal critic.

Accept what happens on each page—but also take a moment to learn from it. Let the "aha moment" of discovering more about your character happen.

If you are really stuck in the concept of "I must have perfect pages," then read my post "Journaling Superstitions #4: Each Page Must Be Perfect," on my regular blog Roz Wound Up.

Keep working.