A Month of Fake Journaling

As mentioned in the previous post, I have been working on a "fake" journal during the month of April. It has been a blast!

Lily's Journal

This was an opportunity to work in a journal format that I have wanted to explore, but as of yet, had not. And work in a style different than what I usually do.

When I work on my art, I place a large sheet of paper down on my table and work on top of it. I use this paper to test colors, clean off brushes, make notes, etc. I have been saving these with the goal of using it as pages in a journal or the background a new art project. Tearing the sheets down to journal size, I nestled them in an order that allowed the pages to relate to the ones they were next to. Before binding it, I added some paint randomly on most of the pages to give the journal some cohesiveness. Next I used a stencil to date each page. Then I bound it with a 5 hole pamphlet stitch. The pages were torn which created a nice deckled effect.

Since I usually work in a grid-like fashion with squares and rectangles and lots of collage, this fake journal incorporated circles and I prohibited the use of any glued on material. I found this to be the most challenging part, but the most beneficial. If I wanted to visually depict something I was forced to draw it. I used graphite pencils, colored pencils, acrylic paints and inks and various types of markers and pens.

The layers of random jottings and paints created a very intricate, complex, beautiful background. One I would not have been able to create from scratch. It happened all by chance.

I have wanted to create some abstract work but really did not know how to begin. Creating this journal taught me how to approach it.

The best lesson I learned was to just go for it and have fun! That I did.

Click on the photo to visit my fake journal blog. There you can read all the entries.