Happy Serendipity and Roz's April 21st Page Spread in Her 2009 Fake Journal

Above: the April 21 page spread from my 2009 fake journal. I used Ziller Acrylic ink with a dip pen and Schmincke pan watercolors. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Note: Over the next few days while the judges are deciding the contest winner I am going to be posting more than one of the remaining pages in my fake journal. I'll still be posting them in order so people who want to read along can, but if you come to the blog late in the day, check to see what the first post of the day is so that you don't miss any of the entries if you're reading along.

Keeping a journal opens you up to serendipity. Things happen and you notice them because you are alert and looking about. Your brain is actively searching for the things you've set it to look for and great connections are made. (It's another reminder that positive thought does have benefits. We can set our internal mechanisms to look for the fabulous.)

When I did the above page spread I was struck with how the turkey I was sketching looked like a raptor, something out of Jurasic Park. There is the same tilting of the head, the elongation of the neck, the strutting. This raptor vibe is mentioned in the text.

Well a couple days ago one of the science/history channels put on a show called, "Morphed" and it's about how turkeys developed from dinosaurs. Of course this is something people have been writing about since the 1890s when people started looking at the fossil record more closely, but on another day, if I hadn't been sketching and thinking about this topic the previous week I might have just skipped over the commercial for that show. As it was I have taped it and will watch it soon. New information? Old information? I don't know, but it will be interesting to look at. Journals give us a way to have on-going conversations with the world about our many interests.

In this fake journal text I also make use of what actually happened to me—mentioning weather and wind conditions I experienced on my bike. You don't have to create all new details in your fake journal. Try skewing things only slightly, exercise becomes work-related for the journal's author.

Here is the text on this spread:

Verso:

Well I'm glad I wasn't assigned the turkey population! After a full day drawing geese and ducks down by the river at Hidden Falls I can hardly concentrate on the shape of this raptor cousin, let along focus on the pattern and color of its feathers. Pedaling back in the 25 mph winds with 40 mph gusts (almost constant) didn't help either.

I was glad to be greeted by feeding turkeys outside the compound. And even happier when Chuck suggested I sketch before dinner. I'm still persona non grata around here.

Recto:

09.04.21 4:30 p.m.
What is she looking at? This Hen outside the compound was constantly looking up into the sky.

Exploring Orange and Other Thoughts for Fake Journals

Above: the April 12 page spread in my IFJM journal shows some turkey studies. (Ziller acrylic ink, dip pen, and Schmincke Pan Watercolors.) I was working with one of my favorite Schmincke colors: Translucent Orange. Click on the image for an enlargement.

I have been working with Schmincke pan watercolors throughout this fake journal and that has given me time to reconnect with one of my favorite Schmincke colors: Translucent Orange. Just after painting this page I happened to talk to my friend Diane about using this color and she went off to experiment with it on her own. You can read about her experiments on her blog.

One of the opportunities created when you keep a fake journal is the freedom to use new materials, new media, new colors, new papers, new whatever, that you might not venture into in your regular journal. Sure you might take time to experiment in your regular journal, but the fake journal can actually offer an opportunity for intense scrutiny and focus on just a few tools and art materials. (Conversely if you always use the same materials in your regular journal a fake journal can give you permission to let go.)

If you're still on the fence about keeping a fake journal this April realize that there is still plenty of time to turn a fake journal experience into a focused artistic study. Select a slim blank journal of your making or a commercial journal, or take a few pieces of watercolor paper and fold them into a pamphlet book as I mentioned the other day. For the remaining days of April spend just 15 minutes a day as an artist who is experimenting with one type medium, doing color studies, doing line work, whatever.

In those daily 15 minutes put that person's hat on and really run that chosen art material through its paces making charts or making swatches of color or line hatching or whatever. You can throw in a few bits of commentary from your author about why he/she is focusing on the paints, or commentary about his/her life.

This approach will appeal to all those folks whose internal critics are still telling them there's no value in this type of play (or in any play at all). When you finish April you'll not only have a fake journal you'll have a useful reference journal of your 10-day exploration of a new medium or tool.

Have a go.

For people reading the text in my fake journal it reads:

Verso, labels at the base:

There's an olive cast to the brown of their feathers. Trans. Orange and Helio Blue can work into this.

Pinky peachiness to legs
Slightly greater distance between feet.

Recto:

09.04.12 5 p.m. Sitting on the compound fence
All hell broke out last night at dinner. People shouting about being exposed to unknown "pathogens" (Which I didn't think was the correct way to phrase it—but I stayed out of it completely!) So did Chuck. Alec and Angie were the most insistent and even though I was silent they kept looking over at me like it was my idea to go to the zoo. I've been lowkey all day today—scarce. Chuck and I did target practice. And I got some more turkey observation time in just now before dinner. Everyone else is using their free time to register written complaints—except Chuck of course who's here with me.

Labels:

Propotions on this sketch work as corected below. Large eye in relation to head. Body angle and carriage like this

Move down. This leg needs to be longer—on same level line from and [sic] toe of rear foot.

Tenth Page Spread in Roz's Fake Journal

Above: the April 10 page spread from my 2009 fake journal. Again I used Ziller Acrylic ink, dip pen, and Schmincke Pan Watercolors. Click on the image to view and enlargement.

I tend to use the page in my regular visual journal in a number of different ways, sometimes leaving a lot of white space, sometimes filling every inch with color and writing. Other folks tend to have a particular and uniform way of approaching their journal pages: a single image bounded by a box, set in the middle of a page with a bit of writing below that, for instance.

With a fake journal it's the perfect opportunity to bust out of a pattern and try something new. If you tend to stay on one page in your regular journal take the opportunity to explore other page use options in your fake journal. Work across the gutter like I did in the page spread above. Use the whole page like I did on April 3 and 8. Focus on one drawing, or make a composite of many drawings. Let your visual artist explore all the possibilities you don't try in your usual journal, whatever they might be. Maybe for that author/artist there is something to be said in finding a pattern? Through circumstance (her supplies are lost at the beginning of the month) my journal's author is using the same supplies (Ziller acrylic ink, a dip pen, and Schmincke pan watercolors) throughout the month. While these are all materials I use regularly it is very rare indeed that I stick with the same materials day after day. A book filled with drawings executed with the same tools is quite satisfying in a totally different way.

For people reading the text it is as follows: Verso page:

Today another day of orientation, explanation of tasks. Since there are no new people on the teams—everyone has been in the field at another location, it was a straight forward and rather boring day. Roger suggested that we all stay close to the compound today so I spent more time with the turkeys, watching them through the chain link fence, Chuck nearby (maintaining what I believe he believes is a discrete distance—or useful vantage point? [closing parens omitted]

09.04.10
4:30 p.m. Another brilliantly sunny spring day. 50 degrees F. Flowing and not flowing I still have not got the hang of this new nib.

Recto page:

So how is this not like a vulture?