Everything Is Grist for the Fake Journal and a Look at Roz's April 24 Page Spread in Her 2009 Fake Journal

Above: the April 24 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: If you are reading my page spreads in order this is the SECOND post for today and you'll want to read the other post first.

Whether this is in a fake journal or not I will always remember this bird and this day. I was returning on my bike from a lengthy ride, tired of fighting the wind, and this female just swooped along side me. I had to stop and sketch. (I used those sketches to make this page spread because I didn't have my fake journal with me on my bike.) I was fascinated with the way the bird kept hopping vertically and clinging to the bark of the tree that was right on the parkway edge. She was totally unconcerned that I had stopped and was watching her. There is something very joyous about the red cap of a Pileated Woodpecker, but watching them work (eat) is a marvel as well.

On this day I also noticed that there were about 6 houses for sale along the River Road (Minneapolis) and then Mississippi Blvd (which it turns into in St. Paul). This is the largest turnover I have seen in decades and I think it's indicative of the economic situation. This translated, in my fake journal, into abandoned houses. Everything is grist for the fake journal.

The text of this spread follows, Verso to Recto, top to bottom.

8:30 p.m.
Everyone was subdued today and Chuck was esspecially quiet. (His left eye and cheek are horribly swollen but he told Roger he was good to go so we went back to Hidden Falls to look for more geese.

On the bike ride home this afternoon this female pileated woodpecker swooped out of one of the abandoned houses on Mississippi Blvd. That dipping strong swoop that woodland birds h. She was parallel to me for a short while. I had to stop. Chcuk let me sketch her while Fleck took lots of photos.

Because of the fire pit and problems last night there is a two-city wide kerfew [sic—curfew], but even at 4:30 it was already abandoned—empty on our route.

Chuck begged off a sketch session tonight so he could rest. Rather than go out with Lou or Hopper I just did paperwork and worked on my geese illustrations.

Pileated (symbol for female) woodpecker

Brown-ochre tones in the forehead and along top of the beak.

09.04.24 4:30 p.m.

A little bit of white ticking on the breast feathers on the side of the breast.

Withdrawal and the April 23 Page Spread in Roz's 2009 Fake Journal

Above: the April 23 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.

Looking at yesterday's post, before putting this post up I was struck with how much I enjoy having that grid pattern from the paper behind my sketches. It just seems yummy to me. Maybe I'm easily amused. I wish I could get the paper in large sheets. I would mount it on mat board and use it for large paintings. I'll have to look into that. I'm still having withdrawal from my fake journal. This is something that you will need to deal with if you were keeping a fake journal daily (or almost so) and have stopped at the end of April to return to your regular journal. Hang in there and keep working in your regular journal.

The bite of need to do the fake journal came today on my bike ride. I was returning home along River Road (the road runs along the Mississippi River) and saw some crows mobbing a Bald Eagle over the Franklin Avenue Bridge. It was a fabulous sight to see the brilliant white cap of the eagle darting and weaving to avoid the intent black swarm. On any day this April I would have spent some time drawing and writing about it in my fake journal, letting it be something that my author saw in her day.

Today, I'm just mentioning it to you all and then getting busy printing 150 prints for an upcoming art exchange—so it's a good thing I don't have to do a fake journal page spread today!

I hope your day was filled with real wonders that you were able to record in a journal of some sort!

Here is the text for the above image:
Note: I'm starting at the top of the verso page and transcribing the entire related text across the two spreads. Below this I will put the labels and bottom of the page notes from first the verso and then recto page. It should be clear.

10:30 p.m.—We're all back safe—more or less. Chuck has a black eye. We were returning from H. Falls when a woman came running down one of the cracked side streets picking her way through the weedy asphault [sic] yelling!! There was a fire in the corner park an old Ronald MacDonald statue from the children's hospice there seemed to be standing guard—colors faded, arm broken off.

Chuck got out in front. A small crowd was milling about. Then's when Ken Darling saw us. I recognized him from the posters and was going to call Chuck's attention to it be [sic—but] I could tell by a look Chuck already knew. We'd been told to watch out for Darling—he's the last of the neighborhood watch—a diehard.

He came charging at us and literally bounced off of Chcuk who'd got off his bike. Then on the rebound Ken made the mistake of grabbing Fleck—who immediately crumpled, whimpering. I don't like to be hit either, but it if it going to happen anyway give as good as you get—so I dropped my bike and stomped on Ken's foot while he was kicking Fleck with the other one. Boots always trump sneakers. Ken fell back two steps screaming not in pain, though is face showed it, but about there not being enough bat houses in the area. He cocked his arm, ready to punch me. "Take care of us not the damn birds," he shouted in my face. That's when Chuck got between us and was all over him. Free for all—with the fire stragglers joining in. Ken pulled a knife on Chuck who got him down on the ground just as a guard unit showed up. (Fleck had called them!) They bundled Ken into a jail van—he was screaming about flu, warm temps, and mosquitoes, as they dragged him to the van. Some guards stayed behind to break up the crowd and clear the pit. We stayed to assess the damage. We found 31 partially burned birds—12 turkeys, 5 downy woodpeckers, one male cardinal, 7 crows, 5 pigeons, and a ROBIN!!

The guard science officer said he'd send us a report but he would bet they were all trapped or poisoned. It's what Darling does….Now they have him on assault with a deadly weapon. They were jubilent [sic].

[Verso bottom]
09.04.23 7 p.m.
Hidden Falls 73 degrees F. with storm clouds and no storm. My ink is congealing on the pen nib! I love this neckline view. I'm sure I have enough details to use it for Fleck's article illustrations.

wide stance

[Recto bottom]
look at the level angle

The April 22nd Page Spread in Roz's 2009 Fake Journal

Above: the April 22 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.

Well there may not have been a lot of dogs in the alternate world the author of my fake journal was living in, but in my life there was—one small Jack Russell Terrier-Mix type dog, feathered out and looking hypothyroid-ish, but sweet and eager nonetheless. It would have been odd indeed for me to finish even a fake journal without one canine in it. By April 22 my real life was impinging in the most seamless way with the life of the author of the fake journal. I have to say that today two days out from the fake journal I am missing it mightily.

The text on the page spread reads follows.

Verso, top to bottom:

We got geese. River Flats and Hidden Falls. Fleck and I prefer H.F. as it's larger and provides more species. A tactical nightmare for Chuck.

After a day of sketching geese and helping Fleck at H.F. I have zero inclination to be shut in with the others. Chuck came out here to the vacant lot with me. How grand to spot a dog—so rare in any urban area effected by the 2005 urban die off. Ownerless dogs rounded up and euthanized. Holistics crusading with their "no safe dogs" laws. I always believed people—wherever they were would have dogs despite the Holistics. Perhaps we're living in a sorting out period. Yet here comes this little hypothyroid-looking Jack Rus. Terrier mix out of the shrubs—contained in a cloud of white feathery fluff! No contact of course, but I had to sketch him as he searched about in the failing light. It's hard some times to remember the familiar shapes. Some corps members still have dogs at home but he's lucky Michelle is no longer with us.

09. 04.22 8 p.m. 56 degrees F calm after another blustery day.

Recto top to bottom:

Topline visible but then there is feathering all over the body and beyond.
The topline.

Lots of feathering on the legs.

All this feathering around the body is bad enough but on the feet you can't see where the structure is!

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.

The April 20th Page Spread in Roz's 2009 Fake Journal

Above: the April 20 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.

One of the happy "accidents" of doing the bird sketching theme of my 2009 fake journal is that I ended up with some fun sketches like the gull walking towards me (bottom left-hand page) which I am intent on using in a finished painting. Just like our regular journals fake journals can provide more reference material for our artwork outside the journal. It's still about observing, seeing, noting details and gesture.

The text on this spread reads:

Verso (top to bottom):

The pages of this journal are now so bulky they are hard to hold down while sketching.

Sprinting across the cracked tarmac

Leading edge on ground and this portion up [refers to bird's foot]

They are walking away today—or so it seems

Head shape works

dip about to raise wings

Yes!

09.04.20 2 p.m. Target Parking Lot

Recto (labels, then text):

Brow has slight overhang from this angle.

ack too short

tail doing something odd

Yes!

Stretching a wing

head down and turning away
sense of a brow here too

8:30 p.m. Last night there was a lot of anger—again directed at me. Others wanted the chicken dead. whether they agreed with Michelle's actions or not (and Hopper did!)

Chuck played his harmonica last night in an impromptu concert with Fleck on guitar. An obvious attempt to diffuse the situation and distract everyone—but hey it worked. Chuck also got us assigned to Target today so I could draw more gulls. And it's away from everyone else. Fleck has been taking lots of photos and today was no different.

It took me a while to warm up—I'm still stunned by Michelle's action—but I got some good final sketches on watercolor paper by the end of the day. Roger was pleased.

It was only in the low 50 degrees and overcast (morning rain) but still comfortable to sketch.

Michelle had been transported out on helicopter by the time we returned.

I Finished My IFJM Journal for 2009

Above: my fake journal kept to celebrate International Fake Journal Month 2009, finished today, the book contains exactly 30 page spreads, one done each day in April. This photo shows how the Alvin Field book pages warped and responded to the dip pen and watercolor attack! Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Well, it's over. For me anyway. Other folks have about 4 more hours until the end of IFJM. If you are new to this blog and wondering what the heck IFJM is go to the right-hand column where it says, "What is International Fake Journal Month?" and click on the link in that paragraph. Read other early posts for more details and suggestions on how to keep a fake journal (or any journal for that matter). See my posted page spreads.

I will continue posting the remaining page spreads over the next few days as we count down to the end of the contest. (The judges need some time to look over the entries, deadline for which is tomorrow at noon.)

I would like to take a moment to comment on how it was to work in this Alvin Field Book—I loved it!!!!

It's sturdy, tough, and resilient. It isn't made for acrylic ink and watercolor, but it took them just the same. I loved that the pages buckled and curled and that they make a delightful crinkly noise when you turn them.

There were a couple draw backs. Because the paper is water resistant painting in watercolor on them isn't the same as other papers. You can however, if you're mindful of your drying times, still glaze colors on if that's your thing.

Another drawback was that the acrylic ink didn't always dry before I got to the watercolor application. So there is some bleeding of the ink. That doesn't bother me.

Still another drawback, the early pages, which have been pushed together in my hand when I've been drawing in the later pages, have started to have areas of spots and smudging, where the ink and sometimes the watercolor, rub onto the previous page. I think this gives those pages a great patina, so I'm fine with it. But there really is no way around this because the pages warp so much that holding them closed and still means they are going to rub against each other in ways that stiffer pages wouldn't. (Everyday, before I started the next spread, I would scan the previous page spread so I do have a record of the pages in the condition they were when completed, perhaps this helps me be OK with the patina?)

This is something to keep in mind should you decide to work in this type of book with these materials.

I have to say I loved it so much that I am going to miss it. I'm going to go into withdrawal tomorrow when I'm not walking around the yard or the river flats looking for a bird to sketch, spilling acrylic ink all over myself (my clothing did not fare well with this year's choice of art materials!!!).

I want to thank all of you who participated, even if your participation was to simply read along and enjoy other adventures vicariously. Maybe next year you'll get pulled in! I hope so. There is a lot to be gained.

What's left: well in a about a week we'll have a contest winner. I'll announce that here. Over the next few days I'll post the remaining pages in my journal. Then I imagine the blog will go pretty quiet until March of 2010 when it will be time to design new buttons, select a new book, find a new author, and start the process all over again.

If you end up keeping your fake journal over the next few months, or you happen upon this blog and start a fake journal before April 2010, let me know. I would love to hear about it.

Thank you all for taking this journey with me.
Now, for me, it's back to my real journal.

Who Is Budgie Marsh?

Above: fake journal work from Janet Hedley examines the life of Budgie Marsh. ©2009 Janet Headley.

Janet Hedley wrote to say that this was her first journal ever! Way to go Janet, jumping into a fake journal to start things off! She had the following comments about her pages:

I loaded up my Lamy pen with Lexington Grey Noodler's Ink and using a journal that I bound myself and was afraid of using—didn't want to mess it up—I just dove in. I found I really like pen and ink on 90# Fabriano Hot Press paper. I tried things I have trouble with like perspective. I used materials that I was unfamiliar with, but purchased at the recommendations of those on the Everyday Matters list. Those would be the pen, a Niji waterbrush, Albrecht Dürer watersoluble colored pencils, and Neocolor II crayons. I found I enjoyed using all of them, but need to get more control with the Niji.

My real name is Janet Hedley, but I took on the fake name of Budgie Marsh. I have had so much fun doing this and have delighted my friends and family with the adventures of Budgie. The best thing for me was breaking out of that idea that everything I did or attempted had to be perfect. After all, I didn't care how Budgie performed. I found out that, when I looked at her work dispassionately, I wasn't critical of her work as I am of my own. This whole exercise was very freeing for me and Budgie plans to continue even after April is over. She's probably going to adventure all over the world. Why not?

I just have to say that I love the name Budgie. I used to have a budgie (budgerigar) when we lived in Australia. I love that someone has that for a name. I was looking forward to seeing the adventures of Budgie Marsh when Janet originally wrote to tell me of her fake journal. I'm thrilled that Janet has been able to take risks (vanishing point indeed!) and enjoy the freedom. Janet wrote that she is hoping that by this time next year there will be more Budgie adventures and even a blog! I hope so. I'm glad it has been a good leaping-in point for Janet!

Below: Two additional selections from Budgie Marsh's journal, artwork ©2009 Janet Hedley.

A Peek in Diana Oakley's 2009 Fake Journal

Above: A page spread from Diana Oakley's 2009 Fake journal, which includes expressive art with written entries. ©2009 Diane Oakley. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Diana Oakley sent in the above excerpt from her 2009 Fake Journal. You can visit her website to see more of her pages and read more about her process. Read about the interesting approach she has taken in her fake journal, in her own words:

I decided to keep a journal of the flip-side of my world: dreams, daydreams, and everything running through my head. I'm writing it down as if it is real. Makes for some really eclectic reading. The drawings are random too and follow no theme.

I'm using pencil and watercolor pencil - dipping the actual pencils in water and drawing with them. It's going well. I have to make sure I write my dreams down right away or I forget them. I was translating some of the journal last night on the page I set up for it and was surprised at how many of the dreams I had already forgotten.

Diana has given herself a great opportunity for freedom with the use of random drawings following no theme. I love that she is using her actual dreams. She will get the added benefit of having them recorded at the end of the month.

The April 19th Page Spread in Roz's 2009 Fake Journal

Above: the April 19 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.

Fake journals, just like regular visual journals, can provide the opportunity to experiment with materials. I've used Schmincke pan watercolors for decades, but never as my primary, day in, day out, palette. My color choices with this palette are similar to my main watercolor palette (which consists primarily of Daniel Smith watercolors and some M. Graham watercolors), but there are some differences, nuances. There are some colors that are hold overs from before my last major palette overhaul in 2003. (After that overhaul I created smaller palettes to carry with me, but those smaller palettes were based on my selections for the 2003 palette.)

Click here if you would like to see a PDF of my palette selection process. When you arrive at "Leisure Reading" click on "Adding and Deleting Pigments…" under the "Educational Content?" heading.)

One of the benefits of using the Schmincke pan watercolor palette for this year's fake journal is that day after day I've had to confront my color choices and rethink them. The process can be most readily seen when looking at the turkey sketches that appear throughout the fake journal (April 1, 4, 10, 12, already posted; and 21, 26, and ??—there are 3 more days—of drawings not posted yet). These drawings provide a record, interesting to me of my search for the correct mix of blue for the turkey heads. It is also a record of a lot of looking in different types of light, from different distances, and my wavering on whether, after all local color was the right choice. Perhaps next year the idea of local color is something my fake journal author can address?

The image in today's post from April 19 is actually the sister post to the image in yesterday's post (April 18). On two separate days I deal with the idea of shadows on white feathers using different selections of color.

See how much fun this can be? And you didn't believe me!

Gulls and Canada Geese also have repeat appearances in this year's fake journal and they too show me a record of what I'm playing with. Since the author of the journal is someone who is painting and sketching birds the WHOLE day, only warm up or cool down sketches appear in her personal journal and she is happily unfettered by the need to get things down exactly. She will write notes to herself about spacing and sizing and color, but the impression I get is of someone who is much more fussy in her "real" artwork, the work of her daily life. (Perhaps I needed also to keep her "work journal" as well as her personal journal!)

At any rate, those are some quick thoughts on my Schmincke pan watercolors and their use in this year's fake journal. I think testing something out over several consecutive days is always the most efficient way to establish pros and cons, good points, bad points, artistic felicities. What more pleasant way to accomplish this than in a fake journal? So much more accommodating and inviting than a workbook of charts. (Though I have to say, one of my colored pencil students once informed me that she loved making charts and indeed her workbook backed up her statement—the most lovely, artful charts you could ever imagine which still yielded all the "required" and desired information.)

Colors on my Schmincke Pan Watercolor Palette
Note, this palette is the only one I have that still contains a cadmium paint—I don't use cadmium colors much at all. I also don't normally work with this many colors; but all these colors fit nicely as half pans in a small 3-3/4 x 5 inch Schmincke box which I adapted to hold 4 rows of pans instead of 3. When I travel I like to have more colors along with me because I don't know what I'll find. It gives me different options. I have to say I prefer using my smaller palettes with fewer colors, but then they are so small I can have them always with me (about 1 x 1.5 inches). In general I prefer to use colors that are made with single pigments.

Titanium White, Lemon Yellow, Aureolin Modern Yellow, Translucent Yellow, Indian Yellow, Titanium Gold Ochre, Yellow Ochre, Translucent Orange, Burnt Sienna, English Venetian Red, Vermillion, Cadmium Red light, Permanent Carmine, Deep Red, Purple Magenta, Madder Brown, Manganese Violet, Dark Indigo Blue, Delft Blue, French Ultramarine Blue, Cobalt Blue, Helio Blue Reddish, Helio Cerulean, Helio Turquoise, Cobalt Turquoise, Phthalo Green, Zinc White
To see a chart of this palette click here.

Here is the text from the page spread featured above:

Verso to recto:

09.04.19 7:20 p.m. [side label]

I'm still not calm. It's 9:30 p.m. now. I was sketching the neighborhood chicken after dinner. Two head studies done. A quick body sketch because of the way she was holding her foot was just finished. Up comes Michelle, at my side, about 10 feet away. She shoots the chicken, literally to pieces, feathers floating up and away. The bulk of the body limp when moments ago she'd been looking at me with coy eyes. The noise had been so sudden, so loud. And then silence. I guess when I threw down my sketchbook the wash around the body sketch smeared all over my hand because the teal blue and the black ink was [sic] all over Michelle's collar where I grabbed her. Later Chuck told me he couldn't hear what I said to Michelle—and he was right there—his hand on her gun hand. Lou walked her back into the compound and Chuck took me for a walk. He didn't try to talk 'til we came back.

Now that it's over all I remember is what I was thinking while I was sketching the hen—"I haven't had chicken since I was a child. I miss it."

When Chuck and I got back from our walk there were a couple feathers clinging to the underside of the hedge, and some maroon black spots in the dirt.

Chuck and I filled out breach of protocol reports and an endange[r]ment complaint. She's being evaluated.

[label] curious, tilting her head.

International Fake Journal Month is Winding Down

Above: the April 18 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.

There are 4 more days (if you count today, and today isn't over yet) left in IFJM. I've said it before, and I'll say it again (OK, maybe I won't say it again, as time is really short now), there is still time to keep a fake journal.

Take a lovely sheet of watercolor paper and tear it down into halves or quarters. Take one piece of that, fold it in half and you have 4 pages on which you can sketch and paint. On the 30th when you finish the fourth page you can cut and fold a colorful cover out of cardstock and sew or staple them together down the center.

Simple isn't it?

Also, you still have time to enter the IFJM contest.

Several people have written to me to tell me they are keeping a fake journal, but they haven't told me if they are posting it, and if they are posting it on their blog or other internet site they haven't said if they want to enter the contest.

If you are posting your fake journal somewhere else and would like to enter the contest without posting here you can certainly enter simply by sending me a URL to your post. Just sent an email to me at rozjournalrat@gmail.com with the subject line: IFJM Submission. Your URL for your image should be in the body of the text.

The contest deadline is May 1, noon (CST).

Here is the text for the April 18th entry in my fake journal:
Verso to recto with main text entry, followed at the end with transcription of labels:

09.04.18 7:30 p.m.
Sunny with cloudy periods, 70 degrees F and breezy.

Now I've really done it just by sitting here on the fence. I was hoping turkeys would strut by—out of the bushes comes this domestic chicken. I suppose it's some sort of Bantam…I don't know anything about chickens—and then there was Lou just getting back with Morgan form theri asig[n]ment (Minnehaha Falls) and he started tsk-tsking as if the chicken's appearance were my fault. Michelle suddenly appeared telling everyone to get inside. If I hadn't been blocking her line of fire she would have shot it. Chuck stepped in to remind her of protocol. She stomped off to find Roger and I kept sketching. Bell and Ted finally joined me—but from a more distant vantage oint—sketching and taking photos.

She's way too tame and well fed to not be an escaped domestic. An illegal. I guess that does scare me, because we don't know to whom she belongs. Who's out there breaking the law?

Michelle just showed up with Roger in tow. He said let it be. For now. No feeding it—as if that would happen with this lot! A reprieve for now. (8 p.m.)

[labels; left to right]
lovely rivulets of shadow cascading down her neck.

Yellow orchre [sic] and orange tinges in the white feathers.

bend here under cover of feathers.

great thick pale yellow white legs ending in thick "ankles" and fat toes.