Category Archives: moleskine

High School Art Class

April 6, 2010 By in art every day, art journal, art journaling, art studio, art teacher, crayon, mixedmedia, moleskine, moleskine journal, portraits Tags: , , , , , , 14 Comments

I’ve not taken many Art classes past my high school days, but I loved walking into the Art room way back when. It had a smell to it, kind of earthy like clay and crayons. It was always kind of dirty in a cool way and finding an unbroken crayon, pastel or piece of charcoal was rare. I vaguely remember the funny little square Conte Crayons and have to admit, back then a paint brush interested me far more.

I bought some a while back and thought they’d be good for on the go sketching in my Moleskine journal so the other day I had a few minutes to play in my journal and I pulled them out. They were laying in the box, pristine and unbroken, each one nestled in its little compartment. I started to sketch and was quickly engaged, surprised at how smoothly they laid down on the page. I was even more impressed with the detail I was able to get with them. These pages took only a few moments, some Conte Crayons and a blending stump.

This medium will be perfect for working outside in the sunshine. I love to sneak out for a few minutes of solitude and vitamin D every chance I get. I’m liking these crayons so much I went back and ordered a box of colored ones. Sometimes the overlooked, simple supplies can be just the thing to inspire you to go back to the basics.

Beat the Heat

June 22, 2009 By in art journal, eggs, flowers, mixed media, moleskine, portrait 11 Comments

Ah summertime. It’s going to hit 97 today so we are off to the lake. I just wanted to share a couple of the journal pages I finished while on my trip. I have to say I’m amazed at what you can do in a Moleskine journal. The pages hold up really well to paint if you don’t use too much. Gesso works great on them also. I took limited tools with me and had already added some paint and collage elements, even a little stamping to the background.
Have a wonderful day, stay cool and don’t forget to do a little bit of art everyday~

Random Thoughts

April 28, 2009 By in art journal, creative workshops, moleskine, online workshop, pam carriker, visual journal 7 Comments

I have been playing with paint in my moleskine and much to my delight the lovely journal holds up to this medium well with a little care. I tried it first prepping the page with gesso. This works well but results in a bit of a thicker page. Then I tried it straight to the page and if your paint is too watery it soaks in and doesn’t allow for much movement of the paint. My best attempts were achieved with a mix of paint and Golden’s Fluid Acrylic Medium in Satin. It allows for movement of the paint, keeps it from soaking into the page too quickly and doesn’t add to the page thickness too much. Gluing collage items down with gel medium as a base will also allow for paint movement. Now I can play with all of my favorite art supplies in my moleskine.

For anyone interested, my online Journal Workshops are now ‘open’ for ongoing enrollment. There will be no starting/stopping dates so you can work at your own pace with unlimited access to class materials.

Timeworn and heartfelt

April 19, 2009 By in art journal, byzantine, gesso, melange, mixed media, moleskine, paint, zne 21 Comments

Gesso and paint finally made their way into my Moleskine journal. I knew it would happen one day and yesterday was it! I prepped several pages and used up some leftover paint to start a section of painted pages. The Moleskine held up beautifully. It works especially well if both the front and back of a page are coated with gesso.
I am trying to get back to posting journal pages more frequently, but just because I don’t post them daily, doesn’t mean I don’t do something in my journal almost every day.
I was told by my father in law that my work has a Byzantine feel to it, so these pages were inspired by that comment and some of the glorious work I saw at the art gallery in D.C.
I like to play ‘rough’ in my journal sometimes, creating edgier, more distressed pages. It just feels good! Playing without worrying about perfection.
Just the process of adding layer after luscious layer of whatever is on hand.
I like to just use things I already have out, whatever
is in reach. Try using old tools in new ways.
I get my fingers messy when I work like this and have
been known to ruin good clothes, so I do try to remember to wear an apron. I said, try…
I loved the posture of his hand, I need to try one like this on a canvas.
My favorite thing about this page is her halo. I love that it is imperfect, looking like it is aged and worn away.

Silent Consumption

April 11, 2009 By in art journal, caran d'ache, colored pencil, moleskine, pam carriker, pear, prisma color, zne 9 Comments

“A pear should have such a texture as leads to silent consumption”

I love to play around with pear shapes. There is no ‘wrong’ form as each pear is unique and slightly different.

This pear was done with my new Caran d’ache Pablo colored pencils. Smooth lay down, creamy, no waxy build up. Ability to layer color on top of luscious color and blend-able.

A perfect compliment to my Moleskine journal.

A side by side comparison to Prisma colored pencils. So many colors to choose from! A bit harder to color with, and a waxy build up, but still lovely and fun to play with.

And did I mention the color choices?

Endless possibilities…

I like playing with pears so much that I actually have some pear stamps, so I used those too.

This is one of my favorite pieces, it was published in Cloth, Paper, Scissors July/Aug ’08. Layers of papers, wax, inks, stamps, shading, writing on canvas.

This journal page was the inspiration for the piece.