What can you get done in 15 minutes a day—journaling, and even fake journaling. That's the daily time limit artist Dana Burrell allowed herself each day in April to work on her 2014 fake journal.
Dana has posted her write up here with more images. Her wrap up also details how she approached her fake journal this year; how she thought of her character; what role planning played in this year's project, and the journal that she created for the project. Dana has participated in IFJM before and I think it will help you to see that in any given year setting a new project boundary can generate new issues.
I encourage you to go to her site and see the full write up. I think my favorite part is how Dana worked in watercolor pencils and neither she nor her character had ever used them before so her character created a color chart and test sketch at the opening of her journal. (See opening image.) A sensible character indeed. And in a year without explanations it makes total sense to all those reading why she would do that. It's also a nifty way to handle a bit of life-overlap!
Dana also explains the value of seeing the project as a whole at the end of the month. Her character dealt with issues of anxiety regarding her mother's illness and Dana found this situation paralleled her own thoughts but brought a new perspective.
You will also enjoy seeing Dana's post on "Gearing up for IFJM" here. There you'll see the lovely small book she made with it's vibrantly colored cover.
Next year think about exploring a new medium, or looking at issues you face from a different perspective. The experience can leave you with new skills on many levels.
Watercolor pencils? The imagery is so developed and rich! Dana has made me reconsider how I can use my pencils this summer.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful work. A very rich exploration.
I enjoyed seeing Dana's fruits and vegetables. I too was surprised to read she used watercolor pencils. I thought the journal pages were done with traditional watercolor paints. And good to know the story behind the journal entries.
ReplyDeleteEven after a month I still feel rather clumsy using the pencils. I loved diving right in to the subject with color instead of sketching my usual ink lines.
ReplyDeleteWill the watercolor pencils replace my pan palettes? No, but I'm starting to use my regular travel brushes and water more when I'm out and about sketching instead of always relying on my Niji waterbrush.
Thanks all!
I should mention that I'm not going to abandon the watercolor pencils entirely... my plan is to keep working with them... not every day but often enough to keep exploring.
ReplyDelete