I have been inspired, by you, to create a crafters journal and use it as a way to explore Joy, Bliss, Happiness and Contentment. I am amazed by what it's already uncovered and am enjoying it no end ... all thanks to you, you wonderful flowering gypsy 🙏
I just found your channel and I could tell from the imagery thumbnail, the title, and overall vibes I have found a wonderful kindred spirit. I look forward to exploring your channel 😊✨
You are adorable. I love your energy. You make me smile🥰. I know the challenge of finding that journal where you can do EVERYTHING in. I don't think it's been invented yet. But if it has, it's probably so dang expensive we couldn't afford it anyway. What I've done, I have purchased different papers: watercolor, mixed media, tinted charcoal and pastel papers (pastels is my go to media), and made my own journal. Probably not the best way, but that's OK. I really didn't know that a composition notebook could be used as an "art journal". Guess I wasn't thinking "outside the box". I need to try that. Especially when it comes to experimenting with supplies you're trying to figure out how to use and what to use them for. That's a wonderful idea. And they are pretty inexpensive and can be found almost anywhere. Thank you Unexpected Gypsy for your videos, the little chat sessions, and creative inspirations. Your presence, on video, in my life, brings sunshine 🌞 to my days. Namaste. 🥰💚🧡
After purchasing many journals of all sorts I have realised the ones I love most are my handmade from old readers digest or other old books of this size from the charity shops. Decorated with my favourite pictures (teddy bears birds tiny buttons) old fabrics on the spine hand sewing and just filled with mix media sketch /water colour paper using the three hole pamphlet stitch. But after watching your dragonfly video I painted old rag paper from a broken book I found ready for my next book. So the next will be sketch watercolour and black paper. Can’t wait ❤
Feeling this struggle!! I've gone through so many books looking for the perfect one for each purpose...finally gave up and made my own. I buy large sheets of each paper type, then tear and bind them to my preferred sizes. It works out to be cheaper too! Good luck. 💙
I think art journals are like handbags…. there’s never just one that exactly meets all your needs. Like you I have quite a few journals and flit between them. I also have a fair few bags. 😬
I am new to art journaling and find this all interesting especially everyone’s comments about what they use too 😍 I love that you and James rescued the plant 🪴 you are lovely people 💗 keep shining bright 🌟
I am a lot less organised and stick the loose leaf art work into any book I have going. Glue them in colour the edges with border design add decorations .. I call them additional material for my altered books.... this includes black paper .. taken from old photograph albums .. I love what you do .. you lift my moods. Thank you.
Hi Wendy, I’m not working on any art journal , but I recognised the way you feel towards old material you created years ago. I have scetchbooks which are not completed, and it gives me a sense of not want to restart again in the same book I have to find my way into new artbooks for the new person i am now. I love your big rescue plantbaby. I think it will become very large🌿🌿🌿 Have a nice week🤗❤️
I'm loving the journal shuffle. Buckled paper doesn't bother me as it's like the torn edges & splats, drips we accept as aesthetically pleasing. Searching for the perfect thing for me is a form of procrastination. I'm having a garage conversion so I can paint again in oils. Think it may turn out to be delay tactic. Love your process. Keep the old stuff Jen x
i felt bad about not "completing" a book before going on to another, after watching this though, it made me realise it's okay to have a couple ongoing at the same time! ahh... it seems so simple now! thank you wendy! and thank you and james for the plant rescue
Ok, so that's it. After following you for a long time, an art journal it is!.... I've never painted anything smaller than a living room wall but I'm taking the plunge. I think I'm going with the old used book idea. It's within my budget lol and I like the reuse of something otherwise would be discarded. I have the patience to prep the journal i.e. glue pages together etc. it's kind of the process I may enjoy. Well, wish me luck. You are my inspiration!! As always, I enjoy your postings and ramblings and thank you for sending joy out into the world.
Awe, these journals were all so lovely! Don`t Feng Shui them, lol! You know, sometimes I think about famous artists from the past and how we have so little left of them to reconstuct their lives. Sometimes I wish, those beautiful soals would`ve kept more of their stuff. Maybe they also thought to get ridd of things they didn`t like anymore or for other reasons. But just imagine, us folks nowadays would discover a "lost" book, painting or some kind of artwork of let`s say Beatrix Potter, Agatha Christie, Charlotte Brontè, Jane Austin, Frieda Kahlo etc. That would be so awesome. See, Wendy, I put you in the same cathegory as these beloved artists, (grin), because just "why not" and maybe in 100 years from now, some history expert will be holding your journal in his hands, the one you wanted to Feng Shui, and praise it as a treasure bejond means. :-D :-D I always tell my sons, when they complain of the "no space" situation in our home, that it is simple really: "We do not have too much stuff, we just need a bigger house." ;-) But of course, I do clean out every now and then. It feels good to make room for the energy to flow, so to speak. A clean space, organized and neat makes me feel great and somehow inspires new projects - yeah, artists can`t help themselves. They must create and create, for it is their essence of life, like breathing, eating and sleeping, an essential part of this human experience. P.S. I ate potatoe chips yesterday as well, and felt awful the whole day. My rheumatoid arthitis flared up badly. I think it is not the potatoes, allthough some folks are sensitive to nightshades, but more so the preservatives and the oil in the chips, that make us sick. It is better to stay away from the junk food alltogether I guess. I also should drop the coffee, but it is so hard to do. I saw, that you are a follower of Tanny Raw. She is so great and a steady inspiration and motivation to me as well. Huggs from Rose Cottage, Schurwald Forest, Germany.
Wendy's success is adequate as it is. She is famous to a lot of people as she is. One of her appeals is of her ability to convey she is adequate at what she does, as she is. When making things, it's good to have a touch-and-go aspect to the process.
Thank you Wendy (and James)! It was fun going to the nursery with you while you were helping the plant baby. Your journals are beautiful and interesting, and I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one with several journals going at a time... and yes, it can be confusing! I really enjoyed the composition of this video with all it's interesting elements!
Hello Wendy, James and the Unexpected Gypsy community 🖐💗. Thank you so much Wendy for sharing your thoughts and ideas on Art journals. Spooky because I was going to ask your advice. Iam new to Art journaling and only have one book. Loving your butterflies and Flower Power projects. Colours are beautiful. My book is lined and isn't mixed media friendly, but I suppose the wrinkles and crinkles give it charm and character. It's a learning curve and wonderful to look back at and reflect. I found you channel Wendy when I was in quite a dark place so THANK YOU🙏 to you and all your followers for sharing . I enjoyed our coffee morning chat. Love to you, James and everyone. Have a peaceful happy week all. 🤗💓🎨🖌🌈
I've tried out several kinds of journals too. The hardbound ones always get too fat, I like to glue things in and I didn't really care for a spiral binding either. So this year I am playing with all kinds of loose papers and even light weight cardboard. I haven't used watercolor paper although you certainly could. I used music paper, old calendars and even recycled mail, sometimes gluing pages together to make them strong enough. The biggest change is that I'm working on the papers flat, unbound and I will bind them together at the end of the year and it's GREAT! I really like the idea of a painting journal though, separate from the art journal. Thanks for a great video as always.
i LOVE using composition books. The size is just perfect. BUT I do hate that they are usually bound in one signature. So, what I do is I carefully cut out the binding thread they come with and then I rebind it with lots of more signatures! Makes all the pages lay flat and it is lovely. Makes it easier to add lots of stuff to the journal too. I love your videos wendy! Watching them was probably what really threw me into the world of art journaling in the first place.
I'm not what I would call an artist (at least not at your level / living from my art) but I, too, tried to find the perfect journal and never did. So I just got a random notebook of a good size, and I do my art / journaling on random pages following the texture that inspires me and glue them in the notebook afterward. If the page I did is smaller than the notebook I first put a coat of black paint on the page before glueing my art. It's what works the best for me as of now, but I still wish I'll find THE PERFECT notebook one day!
This video really hit home with me! I am a retired first grade teacher. I love all things art( markers, crayons, paint, papers, stickers, stamps and glue) though I do not feel I have talent beyond the age of a 6 year old. Since retiring I have been looking for a new hobby. I stumbled upon the art community on TH-cam where I was introduced to so many things but most importantly art journaling. In the process I was introduced to comp.book art journals and best of all make your own art journal. I recently completed a soft spine art journal with 4 signatures of assorted papers. I absolutely love it! Your videos are my inspiration and I look forward to a new one each week. Thank you for bringing your talent and wisdom to us. Happy New Year!
I can feel a fresh breath of hope in my mind when i see your beautiful artwork, containing your wonderful, stunning paintings and your video making and talking, music, all the vibes. Thank you so so much for sharing 🙏🍀🌈💜☀️
It's too easy to forget my finished journals and journals in progress- then your video shows up of you celebrating your year's finished journals. It reminds me I did do something great. Sincerely, Theresa Zhong
Fellow Raynaudser here and can, Literally, feel your pain, it can be so debilitating at this time of year, super impressed you had a functioning van life - I could never, not between September and May! My mom can't eat potatoes either but she finds sweet potatoes don't trigger her allergic response, plus they make very tasty chips, maybe that could work as an option for you? Thanks for sharing your journal updates. Hope you feel toastier next week. 👍🍁
Love how you rescued that plant - seeing something that needs fixing, and just fixing it. I presume it is in the common area of the studio building? Enjoyed the trip to the garden centre and the random other people's shoes popping in and out! I also find cheap notebooks and sketchbooks are less inhibiting, and I also have some I have been using for literally decades - i can always find a way to squeeze more space out of them, by adding pages or covering up less loved ones. My ideal would have a mixture of all sorts of different papers and be infinitely expandable, so that definitely doesn't exist!
I love Khadi papers... their texture and "naturalness" ( great for watercolour!) but I find them a little pricey. As I make my own books, I take the individual papers then Japanese bind them into wonderful little journals in a size that I want. They're so fun to hold and feel...a work of art on its own!
I have a couple of art journals and I also like to use just an odd sheet of A5 paper that I place in an A5 file. Another great vlog Wendy, I always look forward to seeing you at the end of the week. You brighten up my day and give me inspiration 💛
Thank you. Wendy for another lovely video. I was feeling down and lazy but your sweet ruminations and sharing always lift me up. I also have 5 or 6 different journals. One is mostly writing, though I often glue little doodle sketches I've done into it. The others are art journals. Some more painting, some more sketch book. I just use a journal until its full. Some have 2 years or more in them. Have a blessed day.❤
When I also get several journals to figure out which one to use next: I tend to feel concern for the expressive indecisiveness factor and sum it up as reflective of my own inadequacies. Then you as an advanced artist show here about yourself also getting more than one journal to figure out which one to use next- it makes me not feel as inadequate. Also, your description of some of the journal types you have tried is similar to my own experiences of those journal types. Composition book style has its initial charms and then when I really get into using it- there is a challenge to let the journaling continue flowing. So, what I ended up doing as result of the stuff you covered in this video is: Keep the composition book style as my use in between and I can do stuff to it as things show-up and ideas come to mind about how to journal in the composition book. Thanks for the help Wendy. Sincerely, Theresa Zhong
So glad to see your using Josephine wall journal book she is a fantastic artist. Also the strathmore 500 series soft cover is is what you want it it comes in a larger size and I have used it for many projects and you can do anything you like and it holds up I love the paper.
I really enjoyed this vlog, Wendy! It was fun rummaging through your journals with you! I use the Strathmore Mixed Media and have done for years, although I think the one I use is bit bigger than the one you showed here and mine is soft cover. I love it for both dry and wet media; it takes watercolor reasonably well and does very well with gouache and acrylics. I have used it a lot for pencil but it can get quite smudgy. I ended up putting deli paper between the pages to stop the smudging and prevent transferring images. I’m pretty sure the perfect journal doesn’t exist but that doesn’t stop me from looking (and buying new ones!). 💝 Lots of love from Oregon! - Tara Kate
I love painting gesso with a old credit card, or dry wall tool on my paper journal pages… and then my paints, inks, do so well. Love your journal pages!
Good afternoon Wendy, it was lovely seeing all your art journals and listening to your talk about about them as I was wondering which way to go with with books for my painting? Always a pleasure to be able to send time with you , sending warm soft hugs 🤗. Love Teresa xx
Yeah! Congrats for your new home-studio!!! So filled with memories and original things… I love to see how different and still similar we are! Keep living the artist life, girl! You rule 🤟🤟🤟
Ooh yes. Thank you for half an hour of journal love! I use various journals for different tasks or reasons. I have on-going project journal which is blank so I can write or draw my ideas (usually for building) and I have my morning pages one which is just lined and can be composition type. Then I have my list making notebooks... etc.
I really like the format of your square ones and it seems to me that you warm up with square the best as well. I like the Leuchtturm Art Notebooks, but the paper wrinkles too when wet. I oftentimes start notebooks through the year with quite a few pages left. But for writing and planning I like to not finish them or keep them if a new year begins. Feels like a lot of pages go to waste though. I have found that a travelers journal works best for me and the ones from paper republic have thick pages, easy to draw with pencil on. Kinda the best of both worlds. I like to keep a separate too for trying techniques and stuff. So me too, I also have a lot journals at once ;)
Hi Wendy, my current obsession is with concertina sketchbooks, not for writing but great for painting, drawing in ink, collage etc. I consider myself a 'newbie' to instagram but so pleased I found the courage to post because I can see this as a type of journal - I can see where I've been and think about what might come next ! Thank you for your words X
Loved seeing you this week and you discussing your art journals! I would send the new ones back too! They just aren't right for what you need!! It can be very frustrating knowing what you need and not finding it!! Maybe you should create your own!!! And sell it to the world!! Love the idea of having black paper ones too!!! Thank you for another great video!! Love having my coffee with you in the morning!!!❤❤❤ Hope James and you stay warm and happy this week!!! Sending lots of love!!❤❤❤
What about buying large sheets of your favourite paper, cutting to your favourite size, and binding your own journal? Or having them loose-leaf, hole punching, and adding to a ring-binder?
I second this surgestion. Maybe you could do it in colab with Khadi - The Khandy journal...! 👍🏻🙂 I am inspired by France Papillon and her selfmade Journal on monday. It flips open as you need it - to lay flat. You choose the paper quality and the format.
Thank you for going over your journals! Having multiple ones is a recent concept for me - actually I think I’ve started working in 3 different ones since I started watching your videos! Personally the moleskin unlined works for me (for two of my journals) but they are the next size larger than yours - so a wider and a little taller I think. You are a wonderful woman Wendy!
Haha. Sounds so much like my talk of finding the perfect purse. (Do they exist!) I loved this vlog. Your various types of journals/sketchbooks/altered books perfectly match my own collection. I’m thinking to pick my current favourite, use it, FILL IT, accept its flaws, resist the strong desire to start another new journal (with yet another focus). Two or three at a time should be enough; one for sketching only and one for writing important thoughts with visual expression (those are my favourite of yours Wendy). Maybe one for dreaming & planning. When they begin to feel stale, or you don’t like opening them any longer then it’s time to shelve them. It is the unfilled ones that bother me the most! So my new goal is to FILL them even with glued in drawings or spontaneous collage. I loved this vlog...did I say that already! Thank you for sharing. Just being you, you are a beacon of light. Sharon in Newfoundland, Canada.
I'm glad to know I'm not the only one that goes through this!! 😊 I love different journals and art books for a variety of things as well, I probably have more than I will ever use, LOL!!! Don't have any just one I'm really excited about just yet. ❤
Yes, me too. Your journals are just beautiful! You have inspired to me to make the step of starting my own, I think. I'm not sure what the difference between an art journal & using a sketchbook etc to create art in, which is what I'm doing. Thank you for your wonderful work!! You are a delight. Francesca, do you do art as well?
Hey there, Wendy & James! (hugs) Bee (brand) makes recycled black artist paper, too, as spiral and maybe even glue bound pads. I'm finding myself aligned with where you're at re needing new journals, considering creating my own (lovely ideas in my head need to become reality), being in a different lifestyle than a few yrs ago. Just asked a friend to join me on my journaling journey, maybe incl swaps for a pen pal element. Missing a dear bff who passed this spring, so I'm trying to re-tool my self care program to make sure I have all the self and other support I need to get through her favorite holiday, Christmas, my first without her. Your videos are a key element in my personal program. Thank you both for all the passion and work that go into them. Bright blessings, all.
Wendy I think that you have been into square artwork at the moment your flower power is a change for you and ofcourse you will go back to your fairies and your journals maybe different sizes depending on the subject matter you may be doing you may want to look up other artist on sketchbooks and it will inspire you to decide i love B6 I know B6 is longish not what you much care for the longer sketchbooks I love. I don't get on with moleskin but I love their notebooks for writing journaling you are evolving with your artwork and energy is shifting... Growth process I guess. It will be interesting to see what you decide on thanks for sharing my lovely💜
In the states quite a few of us keep our rice bags close for heat, like a hot water bottle. Just fill a sock or sew a square of cloth and fill with long grain rice and seam it up,then heat in the microwave for a minute. It will stay warm on your lap and keep you warm🤗
Love your vids. Have you looked at Ranger Dylusions journals. I still have a couple I'm using so haven't looked recently but they had different sizes, some with some page starters, black paper, etc. They have fairly heavy paper that seems to do pretty well with wet medium.
I have a bitter cold pottery studio. Its costs me over €10 a day with the electric plug in heaters. I borrowed a gas cylinder heater and bought the gas bottles and I have never looked back. It really takes the cold cold out of the room for those who have no other options! Worth the money, they heat better than those gas radiators and halogen heaters. Heat is priceless just spend what you can on it, worth its weight in gold, we are more productive so worth every cent. Happy warm creating
A great video. I have a block of the khadi paper but really don’t enjoy it. It’s too textured for me but I’ll keep trying it as it was quite expensive. Maybe I’ll try it with pastels
Had to giggle at the WAFFLE sign, My Brother had a small Cafe years ago, added at the bottom of the menu was "WAFFLE >>ALL YOU CAN LISTEN TOO FOR A HUNDRED DOLLARS" ...oh and on the Subject of Journals ... I have quite a large selection /collection of Journals , but I have a weird block about using them ..weird fear??? so I am the last person to give any advice on that hahahaha ..Maybe need some Hypnosis to help me with that ... or just DIVE IN ...xxx BIG LOVES to You and the Lovely James xxx
Hi Wendy. I make my journals now. My art journals I use a mixture of kardhi, watercolour, and alcohol ink pen paper which I use for coloured pencil work. It is very smooth and light but strong. The ones for writing, collage and mixed media in I use all sorts of scrap paper, hand dyed, book pages which I gesso black or off white paper for. Usually I make them with 50 to 100 pages. Some like "The Hags Book of Days" are smallish and have a mixture of hand made paper, and scraps. What you call a cheese plant we call a fruit salad plant. I love them. I do hope the heating improves. What a pain not being able to work in your lovely studio. It's of love from Aotearoa New Zealand. Xxx
Hi beautiful, yours sound wonderful.I know I would love those!. I’m definitely going to try making my own again too. Fruit salad plant! 🤣🤣🤭🤭 the heating is back, for now…. Much love dear friend xxx♥️♥️😚
I've managed to pick up some really good sketchbooks and notebooks in local charity shops for very little money sadly I can't tell you the brands but worth a look. My current favourite is a seawhite of Brighton recycled a4 sketchbook made using rescued coffee cups and was not expensive but is really good with lots of wet and dry media. Have fun 😊💕
I am going to create a handmade journal so that I can put in mixed media paper, watercolour paper and lined writing paper into it the way I want. I've taken a few of Nik the Booksmith's classes and have created a few of journals in the past and it is really fun.
Try: hand-book journal co., illo, and Talens Art Creations sketchbooks. All have yummy paper and much less expensive than Moleskine or Stillman & Birn but of similar quality. My 8x8 Illo is especially yummy. All take water well.
I so appreciate you Wendy. I love how you are real. All that you spoke about goes through my head too! I do that with my daily Travelers notebooks too. Do I prefer an A5, a B6, a standard 🤔 ugh! How do you bind separate pages to create a finished art journal?
Really interesting to hear you talk about different journals! I’ve wasted money in the past buying the wrong sort! Not anymore though as they are so expensive now and I choose much carefully. Great to see yours and see some beautiful work! Well done for rescuing the cheese plant 💕
I so enjoyed this video , I am at the same dilemma on all the journals ..I started them with different ideas and now I have too many , needing to combine some , tearing out pages and placing them in the ones I want to spend more time in ..I paint in one , create new things in another , doodle in another , write in others also adding drawings and photos ..its exhausting ....I think we have way too much creativity and not enough areas to put them .lol...but will get there ...already made my vision board , to manifest my wishes ...good luck with yours Wendy . :D
I'd like to say to you...honor your changeability. I saw how you like side-by-side portrait books. Wider pages allow you to write and create on the same pages. I think you like the portability of smaller journals (in your mind) but in practice it seems they are confining to your process. You love textures and the variety of papers; craft, black, mixed media, watercolor, and smoothe types which allow for easy writing. Perhaps buying the papers and then using whichever type inspires you on that day would be the way to go. Then creating the journal from your work when you feel "it's ending".
A great idea to ponder for sure. I have so many journals as well, but I think due to our ideas and Art changing constantly, the perfect journal cannot exist IMHO. Lots of times I just prefer to work on a single sheet and choose accordingly to my medium. Maybe eventually I ll have piles and piles of sheets completed and bind them together, and call it a journal🤣🤣🤣!
This suggestion makes the most sense. You will be working on the texture and size of paper that you prefer. Book binding would be such a a practical and functional solution !
Omgosh. What a great idea. I'm going to try this too. Just leave a margin that can be folded over to aid in the book binding process. Awesome sauce!! 🥰
I have a sketch book you could try. Stillman & Birn Beta Series. Mine is navey blue with soft cover in front and a stiffer cover at the back. It’s portrait, nice think paper that’s lies flat. When book is closed it measures 8.5 inches by 5.5 inches. Unless you’ve tried it already 😊😀
Hi Wendy I feel your pain re journals I really got frustrated that I couldnt find the right one so I handmake all my own journals now using Fabriano Artistico paper you can buy sheets for a good price and they can be halved then halved (torn) again to make journals there is an art to binding them too but mine is pretty simple. I have also turned old books into journals and feel that I can do anything in them sometimes my best art has been in my old book journals and handmade journals its so much fun to do it. I can send you some pics if you need ideas.
Have you tried the skillman and birne sketchbooks? They come in many different sizes and I love them. Thank you for another lovely video! I'm so glad your heat is on again!
I am having the same problem with finding the perfect art journal and was asking myself critical if it’s maybe just a kind of hidden way of procrastination coming from subconscious… 🤔??? So it’s quite calming that you have to deal with that issue too 🤗. Anyway I always prefer rough, thick and more yellow than white colored paper, no matter if drawing or painting. I don’t like smooth and thin paper at all it always makes me feel slippery 😹. And I would definitely try to make the perfect journal, if it does exist 🙃, on my own because the last time I was looking, I did not found the right one too. Love the thick black paper very much too 🥰! And I will wait patiently until your jewelry is ready, take all the time you need and I still hope so much that I can catch a pair of your lovely creoles then 🥰💖… Wishing you & James a wonderful weekend 💫💖💫💁🏻♀️!
Having tea with you this morning 😊 I honestly think the best journals might be ones with fewer pages because my style changes before I finish the journal and then I end up redoing everything because I don't like the original work as it is not my style any more. Getting the right paper is also a nightmare because I keep changing my mind about mediums! I think I'll end up creating my own bookbinding project to make the 'perfect' art journal for me...if it even exists!
Most of my journals are for watercolor practice. I love landscape style, since that's my main focus. I also have a lot of spiral bound larger mixed media books. I tend to work in multiple at a time since I like a lot of wet on wet work and I'll have one drying as I work on another. I do not do intentional journalling with a lot of writing. I really do not like to write in mine at all, so I guess they are more sketchbooks than journals. I have a written journal, a simple budget spiral notebook, for my thoughts. It has no art in it. My art journals for mixed media are varied. I have a small spiral journal which had a bunch of depressing entries, so I glued pages together and I'm collaging over it. I also hand made a book which has good quality paper in it, and is larger. It has 24 pages and I have done one large mixed media spread in it. So far it's languished. I think I want to use it for watercolor since it has good paper. I also have an altered book that I'm slowly preparing pages in. It is a good A4 size and lies flat. I haven't started journalling in it, but I'll pick it up and prepare a few sheets at a time in it. So I have a LOT of journals going at once. I'm fine with that. I just grab whatever I'm in the mood for at the time.
Oh Wendy, I really hope you won't get rid of your old journals. It's nice to look back and see the progress of your art. If the complete books take too much space, maybe tear the pages out of the journal and bind them together? Just a thought. Always love seeing your journals!
Hmm, I have so many journals that I suppose will go in the trash when I die. Sad to say. So for now they are precious to me. Moleskine: I love for journaling because a nice pen just glides onthe beautiful paper. Art journaling: I usually make my own with a hot press watercolor or Canson mixedmedia which ikind of walks that line of not being too precious but still a heavy good paper. Other journals that have been great : Birn + Stilllman , Fabriano, "Venice"- beautiful paper.
If it’s any use to you Wendy I tried that particular moleskin and I didn’t like it at all, the paper buckles even though they say it’s watercolour paper🥴. I know that paper is a very personal journey, and I too search constantly for the perfect journal for me😜. I’ve just started using the Strathmore watercolour Visual journal, the only down side is that it is spiral bound, but the paper is lovely. Also the Paul Rubens watercolour book from Amazon is a cheap and cheerful option (the paper is lovely) I think it was $20 AU so not really sure what that is for you? But I think you are right we do seem to need different papers and sizes for different needs. I have a tiny little one that goes everywhere in my bag fir sketching and then a larger one and then a big A4 for painting etc. I enjoy your videos always fun. (Although I think there are a lot of ladies around the world with a touch of James envy😂) a big Aussie hello, take care Melita😊g
You'll have to make your own journal to get what you want. 2 pieces of something to protect the pages. Cut everything to your favorite size out of your favorite papers. punch holes through the stack. Stich together with cord, yarn, ribbon, or whatever else is handy. Now you can have whatever you want. Purchased journals are always someone else's vision. They're always a compromise.
I have stopped looking for a journal and use paper I like for what am about to work on case by case.. maybe because I am also in flux and want to explore subject matter and materials... I have a box of drawing paper that I pull out an use sheet by sheet to study and have pads of water color, mix media... I also have a smaller spiral one I write in and draw in.. So.. am alllll over the place hahahaha!
Florida USA WARM Get a personal heater they are wonderful....Love your work and your videos are very peaceful....I am starting to art journal but it is not easy with a baby ....my three and six and seventeen year olds love to paint draw Lots of fun! Thank you for your VIDS
I'm thinking about starting an art journal, I do like the idea of using old books (there's no blank page staring back at you lol) looking forward to seeing what you choose to work on... I forgot to say, I bought a small bottle of the Orange Flower Water, from Star Child, I did mention you when I ordered😍 I'm planning a trip to Glastonbury soon, (only aprox 2 hr from me)
I know I left a comment about a sketchbook I love on your Lens in Patreon and I'm not sure if it would be the right size for you, but I personally love it for mixed media: Hahnemuhle Watercolor Book in the A5 size. The paper is lovely and smooth but also very thick cotton at 200gsm. And it lays FLAAAAAT. The flattest of flat laying! My only beef with it is (and this is so silly) is that I absolutely hate the texture of the cover. It's a hardcover (which I like) but it's got this weird material on it that I hate the feel of. Like a squeaky taffeta. It's strange and I need to just get over myself and my texture issues because it's definitely one of the best sketchbooks I ever worked in. Anyway, best of luck on the perfect Art Journal Sketchbook hunt, Wendy!
@@theunexpectedgypsy Does seem like the obvious fix, I tried painting it but I could glue fabric on it easily enough. I’m going to give the Paul Ruben watercolor book a try soon as well.
I have been inspired, by you, to create a crafters journal and use it as a way to explore Joy, Bliss, Happiness and Contentment. I am amazed by what it's already uncovered and am enjoying it no end ... all thanks to you, you wonderful flowering gypsy 🙏
Wendy you’re the best!! Such a huge inspiration to me!!!!! Thankyou sweet lady!!!!!!
I just found your channel and I could tell from the imagery thumbnail, the title, and overall vibes I have found a wonderful kindred spirit.
I look forward to exploring your channel 😊✨
You are adorable. I love your energy. You make me smile🥰. I know the challenge of finding that journal where you can do EVERYTHING in. I don't think it's been invented yet. But if it has, it's probably so dang expensive we couldn't afford it anyway. What I've done, I have purchased different papers: watercolor, mixed media, tinted charcoal and pastel papers (pastels is my go to media), and made my own journal. Probably not the best way, but that's OK.
I really didn't know that a composition notebook could be used as an "art journal". Guess I wasn't thinking "outside the box". I need to try that. Especially when it comes to experimenting with supplies you're trying to figure out how to use and what to use them for. That's a wonderful idea. And they are pretty inexpensive and can be found almost anywhere. Thank you Unexpected Gypsy for your videos, the little chat sessions, and creative inspirations. Your presence, on video, in my life, brings sunshine 🌞 to my days. Namaste. 🥰💚🧡
I usually use sketchbooks from the works, they are cheap and good quality! Also I love love love your handwriting! It’s ✨FLOWY✨ and ✨GORGEOUS✨
After purchasing many journals of all sorts I have realised the ones I love most are my handmade from old readers digest or other old books of this size from the charity shops. Decorated with my favourite pictures (teddy bears birds tiny buttons) old fabrics on the spine hand sewing and just filled with mix media sketch /water colour paper using the three hole pamphlet stitch. But after watching your dragonfly video I painted old rag paper from a broken book I found ready for my next book. So the next will be sketch watercolour and black paper. Can’t wait ❤
Feeling this struggle!! I've gone through so many books looking for the perfect one for each purpose...finally gave up and made my own. I buy large sheets of each paper type, then tear and bind them to my preferred sizes. It works out to be cheaper too! Good luck. 💙
I think art journals are like handbags…. there’s never just one that exactly meets all your needs. Like you I have quite a few journals and flit between them. I also have a fair few bags. 😬
I love this comparison hahah I think my mum would also love it, as she has a *ton* of bags:)
There is a lot of baggage, both emotional and not getting shoved into the mix here!
I am new to art journaling and find this all interesting especially everyone’s comments about what they use too 😍 I love that you and James rescued the plant 🪴 you are lovely people 💗 keep shining bright 🌟
I am a lot less organised and stick the loose leaf art work into any book I have going. Glue them in colour the edges with border design add decorations .. I call them additional material for my altered books.... this includes black paper .. taken from old photograph albums .. I love what you do .. you lift my moods. Thank you.
Hi Wendy,
I’m not working on any art journal , but I recognised the way you feel towards old material you created years ago.
I have scetchbooks which are not completed, and it gives me a sense of not want to restart again in the same book
I have to find my way into new artbooks for the new person i am now.
I love your big rescue plantbaby. I think it will become very large🌿🌿🌿
Have a nice week🤗❤️
I'm loving the journal shuffle. Buckled paper doesn't bother me as it's like the torn edges & splats, drips we accept as aesthetically pleasing. Searching for the perfect thing for me is a form of procrastination. I'm having a garage conversion so I can paint again in oils. Think it may turn out to be delay tactic. Love your process. Keep the old stuff Jen x
i felt bad about not "completing" a book before going on to another, after watching this though, it made me realise it's okay to have a couple ongoing at the same time! ahh... it seems so simple now! thank you wendy! and thank you and james for the plant rescue
I agree!
I would love to see you combine your flowers, faeries and butterflies into one project. ❤️
Glad to know im not the only one searching for the perfect journal. I suppose it just goes with the territory!
Ok, so that's it. After following you for a long time, an art journal it is!.... I've never painted anything smaller than a living room wall but I'm taking the plunge. I think I'm going with the old used book idea. It's within my budget lol and I like the reuse of something otherwise would be discarded. I have the patience to prep the journal i.e. glue pages together etc. it's kind of the process I may enjoy. Well, wish me luck. You are my inspiration!! As always, I enjoy your postings and ramblings and thank you for sending joy out into the world.
Awe, these journals were all so lovely! Don`t Feng Shui them, lol! You know, sometimes I think about famous artists from the past and how we have so little left of them to reconstuct their lives. Sometimes I wish, those beautiful soals would`ve kept more of their stuff. Maybe they also thought to get ridd of things they didn`t like anymore or for other reasons. But just imagine, us folks nowadays would discover a "lost" book, painting or some kind of artwork of let`s say Beatrix Potter, Agatha Christie, Charlotte Brontè, Jane Austin, Frieda Kahlo etc. That would be so awesome. See, Wendy, I put you in the same cathegory as these beloved artists, (grin), because just "why not" and maybe in 100 years from now, some history expert will be holding your journal in his hands, the one you wanted to Feng Shui, and praise it as a treasure bejond means. :-D :-D
I always tell my sons, when they complain of the "no space" situation in our home, that it is simple really: "We do not have too much stuff, we just need a bigger house." ;-)
But of course, I do clean out every now and then. It feels good to make room for the energy to flow, so to speak.
A clean space, organized and neat makes me feel great and somehow inspires new projects -
yeah, artists can`t help themselves. They must create and create, for it is their essence of life, like breathing, eating and sleeping, an essential part of this human experience.
P.S. I ate potatoe chips yesterday as well, and felt awful the whole day. My rheumatoid arthitis flared up badly.
I think it is not the potatoes, allthough some folks are sensitive to nightshades, but more so the preservatives and the oil in the chips, that make us sick. It is better to stay away from the junk food alltogether I guess. I also should drop the coffee, but it is so hard to do.
I saw, that you are a follower of Tanny Raw. She is so great and a steady inspiration and motivation to me as well.
Huggs from Rose Cottage, Schurwald Forest, Germany.
@Luz Magdalena Sanchez Rincon Awe, thank you and all the best to you as well.
Wendy's success is adequate as it is. She is famous to a lot of people as she is. One of her appeals is of her ability to convey she is adequate at what she does, as she is. When making things, it's good to have a touch-and-go aspect to the process.
Good job being honest about your struggles, Christina.
There is a Frida journal book out now
Thank you Wendy (and James)! It was fun going to the nursery with you while you were helping the plant baby. Your journals are beautiful and interesting, and I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one with several journals going at a time... and yes, it can be confusing! I really enjoyed the composition of this video with all it's interesting elements!
Hello Wendy, James and the Unexpected Gypsy community 🖐💗. Thank you so much Wendy for sharing your thoughts and ideas on Art journals. Spooky because I was going to ask your advice. Iam new to Art journaling and only have one book. Loving your butterflies and Flower Power projects. Colours are beautiful. My book is lined and isn't mixed media friendly, but I suppose the wrinkles and crinkles give it charm and character. It's a learning curve and wonderful to look back at and reflect. I found you channel Wendy when I was in quite a dark place so THANK YOU🙏 to you and all your followers for sharing . I enjoyed our coffee morning chat. Love to you, James and everyone. Have a peaceful happy week all. 🤗💓🎨🖌🌈
I've tried out several kinds of journals too. The hardbound ones always get too fat, I like to glue things in and I didn't really care for a spiral binding either. So this year I am playing with all kinds of loose papers and even light weight cardboard. I haven't used watercolor paper although you certainly could. I used music paper, old calendars and even recycled mail, sometimes gluing pages together to make them strong enough. The biggest change is that I'm working on the papers flat, unbound and I will bind them together at the end of the year and it's GREAT!
I really like the idea of a painting journal though, separate from the art journal.
Thanks for a great video as always.
i LOVE using composition books. The size is just perfect. BUT I do hate that they are usually bound in one signature. So, what I do is I carefully cut out the binding thread they come with and then I rebind it with lots of more signatures! Makes all the pages lay flat and it is lovely. Makes it easier to add lots of stuff to the journal too. I love your videos wendy! Watching them was probably what really threw me into the world of art journaling in the first place.
I'm not what I would call an artist (at least not at your level / living from my art) but I, too, tried to find the perfect journal and never did. So I just got a random notebook of a good size, and I do my art / journaling on random pages following the texture that inspires me and glue them in the notebook afterward. If the page I did is smaller than the notebook I first put a coat of black paint on the page before glueing my art. It's what works the best for me as of now, but I still wish I'll find THE PERFECT notebook one day!
I love all your indoor plants. It really makes the space more livable.
This video really hit home with me! I am a retired first grade teacher. I love all things art( markers, crayons, paint, papers, stickers, stamps and glue) though I do not feel I have talent beyond the age of a 6 year old. Since retiring I have been looking for a new hobby. I stumbled upon the art community on TH-cam where I was introduced to so many things but most importantly art journaling. In the process I was introduced to comp.book art journals and best of all make your own art journal. I recently completed a soft spine art journal with 4 signatures of assorted papers. I absolutely love it! Your videos are my inspiration and I look forward to a new one each week. Thank you for bringing your talent and wisdom to us.
Happy New Year!
I can feel a fresh breath of hope in my mind when i see your beautiful artwork, containing your wonderful, stunning paintings and your video making and talking, music, all the vibes. Thank you so so much for sharing 🙏🍀🌈💜☀️
I’ve been away for awhile, and I’m glad to be back! I have 5 crates of journals. I can sympathize!
It's too easy to forget my finished journals and journals in progress- then your video shows up of you celebrating your year's finished journals. It reminds me I did do something great. Sincerely, Theresa Zhong
I have to say I really enjoy the realistic view of your studio, the bit organized clutter, its lovely and it reminds me of my own space.
Beautiful work!!! Love love love it!
Fellow Raynaudser here and can, Literally, feel your pain, it can be so debilitating at this time of year, super impressed you had a functioning van life - I could never, not between September and May! My mom can't eat potatoes either but she finds sweet potatoes don't trigger her allergic response, plus they make very tasty chips, maybe that could work as an option for you? Thanks for sharing your journal updates. Hope you feel toastier next week. 👍🍁
I can relate to this! I want to do the same in preparation for a new year. I’m feeling so scattered!
So many of us feeling scattered too
I love journal talk
Love how you rescued that plant - seeing something that needs fixing, and just fixing it. I presume it is in the common area of the studio building? Enjoyed the trip to the garden centre and the random other people's shoes popping in and out!
I also find cheap notebooks and sketchbooks are less inhibiting, and I also have some I have been using for literally decades - i can always find a way to squeeze more space out of them, by adding pages or covering up less loved ones.
My ideal would have a mixture of all sorts of different papers and be infinitely expandable, so that definitely doesn't exist!
I love Khadi papers... their texture and "naturalness" ( great for watercolour!) but I find them a little pricey. As I make my own books, I take the individual papers then Japanese bind them into wonderful little journals in a size that I want. They're so fun to hold and feel...a work of art on its own!
Love your journals. Can't wait to see your end of year video on reflection of the year and what you will be dipping into in the new year. ❤
I have a couple of art journals and I also like to use just an odd sheet of A5 paper that I place in an A5 file.
Another great vlog Wendy, I always look forward to seeing you at the end of the week. You brighten up my day and give me inspiration 💛
Thank you. Wendy for another lovely video. I was feeling down and lazy but your sweet ruminations and sharing always lift me up.
I also have 5 or 6 different journals. One is mostly writing, though I often glue little doodle sketches I've done into it. The others are art journals. Some more painting, some more sketch book.
I just use a journal until its full. Some have 2 years or more in them.
Have a blessed day.❤
Fabriano is a favorite and check out Handbook journals. I like the square ones.
I do really enjoy you. You always make me think outside the box!
When I also get several journals to figure out which one to use next: I tend to feel concern for the expressive indecisiveness factor and sum it up as reflective of my own inadequacies. Then you as an advanced artist show here about yourself also getting more than one journal to figure out which one to use next- it makes me not feel as inadequate. Also, your description of some of the journal types you have tried is similar to my own experiences of those journal types. Composition book style has its initial charms and then when I really get into using it- there is a challenge to let the journaling continue flowing. So, what I ended up doing as result of the stuff you covered in this video is: Keep the composition book style as my use in between and I can do stuff to it as things show-up and ideas come to mind about how to journal in the composition book. Thanks for the help Wendy. Sincerely, Theresa Zhong
So glad to see your using Josephine wall journal book she is a fantastic artist. Also the strathmore 500 series soft cover is is what you want it it comes in a larger size and I have used it for many projects and you can do anything you like and it holds up I love the paper.
I really enjoyed this vlog, Wendy! It was fun rummaging through your journals with you! I use the Strathmore Mixed Media and have done for years, although I think the one I use is bit bigger than the one you showed here and mine is soft cover. I love it for both dry and wet media; it takes watercolor reasonably well and does very well with gouache and acrylics. I have used it a lot for pencil but it can get quite smudgy. I ended up putting deli paper between the pages to stop the smudging and prevent transferring images. I’m pretty sure the perfect journal doesn’t exist but that doesn’t stop me from looking (and buying new ones!). 💝 Lots of love from Oregon! - Tara Kate
I love painting gesso with a old credit card, or dry wall tool on my paper journal pages… and then my paints, inks, do so well. Love your journal pages!
You are a breath of fresh air x
Good afternoon Wendy, it was lovely seeing all your art journals and listening to your talk about about them as I was wondering which way to go with with books for my painting? Always a pleasure to be able to send time with you , sending warm soft hugs 🤗. Love Teresa xx
Your bright shining light inspires me. Thankyou! 🙏💖
Yeah! Congrats for your new home-studio!!! So filled with memories and original things… I love to see how different and still similar we are! Keep living the artist life, girl! You rule 🤟🤟🤟
Look forward to doing a year in review with you, and visioning for next year.
Love to see all the journals and the art. So lovely. TYFS ❤️❤️
Ooh yes. Thank you for half an hour of journal love! I use various journals for different tasks or reasons. I have on-going project journal which is blank so I can write or draw my ideas (usually for building) and I have my morning pages one which is just lined and can be composition type. Then I have my list making notebooks... etc.
I really like the format of your square ones and it seems to me that you warm up with square the best as well. I like the Leuchtturm Art Notebooks, but the paper wrinkles too when wet. I oftentimes start notebooks through the year with quite a few pages left. But for writing and planning I like to not finish them or keep them if a new year begins. Feels like a lot of pages go to waste though. I have found that a travelers journal works best for me and the ones from paper republic have thick pages, easy to draw with pencil on. Kinda the best of both worlds. I like to keep a separate too for trying techniques and stuff. So me too, I also have a lot journals at once ;)
Hi Wendy, my current obsession is with concertina sketchbooks, not for writing but great for painting, drawing in ink, collage etc. I consider myself a 'newbie' to instagram but so pleased I found the courage to post because I can see this as a type of journal - I can see where I've been and think about what might come next ! Thank you for your words X
Loved seeing you this week and you discussing your art journals! I would send the new ones back too! They just aren't right for what you need!! It can be very frustrating knowing what you need and not finding it!! Maybe you should create your own!!! And sell it to the world!! Love the idea of having black paper ones too!!! Thank you for another great video!! Love having my coffee with you in the morning!!!❤❤❤ Hope James and you stay warm and happy this week!!! Sending lots of love!!❤❤❤
What about buying large sheets of your favourite paper, cutting to your favourite size, and binding your own journal? Or having them loose-leaf, hole punching, and adding to a ring-binder?
I second this surgestion. Maybe you could do it in colab with Khadi - The Khandy journal...! 👍🏻🙂
I am inspired by France Papillon and her selfmade Journal on monday. It flips open as you need it - to lay flat. You choose the paper quality and the format.
Thank you for going over your journals! Having multiple ones is a recent concept for me - actually I think I’ve started working in 3 different ones since I started watching your videos! Personally the moleskin unlined works for me (for two of my journals) but they are the next size larger than yours - so a wider and a little taller I think. You are a wonderful woman Wendy!
Haha. Sounds so much like my talk of finding the perfect purse. (Do they exist!) I loved this vlog. Your various types of journals/sketchbooks/altered books perfectly match my own collection. I’m thinking to pick my current favourite, use it, FILL IT, accept its flaws, resist the strong desire to start another new journal (with yet another focus). Two or three at a time should be enough; one for sketching only and one for writing important thoughts with visual expression (those are my favourite of yours Wendy). Maybe one for dreaming & planning. When they begin to feel stale, or you don’t like opening them any longer then it’s time to shelve them. It is the unfilled ones that bother me the most! So my new goal is to FILL them even with glued in drawings or spontaneous collage. I loved this vlog...did I say that already! Thank you for sharing. Just being you, you are a beacon of light. Sharon in Newfoundland, Canada.
Stillman and Birn Wendy! Not too expensive love them
I'm glad to know I'm not the only one that goes through this!! 😊 I love different journals and art books for a variety of things as well, I probably have more than I will ever use, LOL!!! Don't have any just one I'm really excited about just yet. ❤
I now look forward to Fridays so that I can see your videos!🥰🥰
Thank you for keeping me company 😊
It makes me feel less alone 💕💕
Yes, me too. Your journals are just beautiful! You have inspired to me to make the step of starting my own, I think. I'm not sure what the difference between an art journal & using a sketchbook etc to create art in, which is what I'm doing. Thank you for your wonderful work!! You are a delight.
Francesca, do you do art as well?
Love the floral fronted journals :)
Hey there, Wendy & James! (hugs) Bee (brand) makes recycled black artist paper, too, as spiral and maybe even glue bound pads. I'm finding myself aligned with where you're at re needing new journals, considering creating my own (lovely ideas in my head need to become reality), being in a different lifestyle than a few yrs ago. Just asked a friend to join me on my journaling journey, maybe incl swaps for a pen pal element. Missing a dear bff who passed this spring, so I'm trying to re-tool my self care program to make sure I have all the self and other support I need to get through her favorite holiday, Christmas, my first without her. Your videos are a key element in my personal program. Thank you both for all the passion and work that go into them. Bright blessings, all.
Wendy I think that you have been into square artwork at the moment your flower power is a change for you and ofcourse you will go back to your fairies and your journals maybe different sizes depending on the subject matter you may be doing you may want to look up other artist on sketchbooks and it will inspire you to decide i love B6 I know B6 is longish not what you much care for the longer sketchbooks I love. I don't get on with moleskin but I love their notebooks for writing journaling you are evolving with your artwork and energy is shifting... Growth process I guess. It will be interesting to see what you decide on thanks for sharing my lovely💜
In the states quite a few of us keep our rice bags close for heat, like a hot water bottle. Just fill a sock or sew a square of cloth and fill with long grain rice and seam it up,then heat in the microwave for a minute. It will stay warm on your lap and keep you warm🤗
Love your vids. Have you looked at Ranger Dylusions journals. I still have a couple I'm using so haven't looked recently but they had different sizes, some with some page starters, black paper, etc. They have fairly heavy paper that seems to do pretty well with wet medium.
I have a bitter cold pottery studio. Its costs me over €10 a day with the electric plug in heaters. I borrowed a gas cylinder heater and bought the gas bottles and I have never looked back. It really takes the cold cold out of the room for those who have no other options! Worth the money, they heat better than those gas radiators and halogen heaters. Heat is priceless just spend what you can on it, worth its weight in gold, we are more productive so worth every cent. Happy warm creating
A great video. I have a block of the khadi paper but really don’t enjoy it. It’s too textured for me but I’ll keep trying it as it was quite expensive. Maybe I’ll try it with pastels
Thank you for sharing ❤👍
Had to giggle at the WAFFLE sign, My Brother had a small Cafe years ago, added at the bottom of the menu was "WAFFLE >>ALL YOU CAN LISTEN TOO FOR A HUNDRED DOLLARS" ...oh and on the Subject of Journals ... I have quite a large selection /collection of Journals , but I have a weird block about using them ..weird fear??? so I am the last person to give any advice on that hahahaha ..Maybe need some Hypnosis to help me with that ... or just DIVE IN ...xxx BIG LOVES to You and the Lovely James xxx
Hi Wendy. I make my journals now. My art journals I use a mixture of kardhi, watercolour, and alcohol ink pen paper which I use for coloured pencil work. It is very smooth and light but strong. The ones for writing, collage and mixed media in I use all sorts of scrap paper, hand dyed, book pages which I gesso black or off white paper for. Usually I make them with 50 to 100 pages. Some like "The Hags Book of Days" are smallish and have a mixture of hand made paper, and scraps.
What you call a cheese plant we call a fruit salad plant. I love them.
I do hope the heating improves. What a pain not being able to work in your lovely studio.
It's of love from Aotearoa New Zealand. Xxx
Hi beautiful, yours sound wonderful.I know I would love those!. I’m definitely going to try making my own again too. Fruit salad plant! 🤣🤣🤭🤭 the heating is back, for now…. Much love dear friend xxx♥️♥️😚
I've managed to pick up some really good sketchbooks and notebooks in local charity shops for very little money sadly I can't tell you the brands but worth a look. My current favourite is a seawhite of Brighton recycled a4 sketchbook made using rescued coffee cups and was not expensive but is really good with lots of wet and dry media. Have fun 😊💕
I am going to create a handmade journal so that I can put in mixed media paper, watercolour paper and lined writing paper into it the way I want. I've taken a few of Nik the Booksmith's classes and have created a few of journals in the past and it is really fun.
Great video… I too could talk journals all day long
Try: hand-book journal co., illo, and Talens Art Creations sketchbooks. All have yummy paper and much less expensive than Moleskine or Stillman & Birn but of similar quality. My 8x8 Illo is especially yummy. All take water well.
my first introduction to you! such sweet fairy energy ✨
I so appreciate you Wendy. I love how you are real. All that you spoke about goes through my head too! I do that with my daily Travelers notebooks too. Do I prefer an A5, a B6, a standard 🤔 ugh! How do you bind separate pages to create a finished art journal?
You are such a cute couple! I enjoyed seeing your artwork and especially your sketchbooks. Your florals are gorgeous!
Really interesting to hear you talk about different journals! I’ve wasted money in the past buying the wrong sort! Not anymore though as they are so expensive now and I choose much carefully. Great to see yours and see some beautiful work! Well done for rescuing the cheese plant 💕
Really interesting ideas and definitely need to think this through. Thank you, stay safe love and hugs xx
I so enjoyed this video , I am at the same dilemma on all the journals ..I started them with different ideas and now I have too many , needing to combine some , tearing out pages and placing them in the ones I want to spend more time in ..I paint in one , create new things in another , doodle in another , write in others also adding drawings and photos ..its exhausting ....I think we have way too much creativity and not enough areas to put them .lol...but will get there ...already made my vision board , to manifest my wishes ...good luck with yours Wendy . :D
I'd like to say to you...honor your changeability. I saw how you like side-by-side portrait books. Wider pages allow you to write and create on the same pages. I think you like the portability of smaller journals (in your mind) but in practice it seems they are confining to your process. You love textures and the variety of papers; craft, black, mixed media, watercolor, and smoothe types which allow for easy writing. Perhaps buying the papers and then using whichever type inspires you on that day would be the way to go. Then creating the journal from your work when you feel "it's ending".
A great idea to ponder for sure. I have so many journals as well, but I think due to our ideas and Art changing constantly, the perfect journal cannot exist IMHO. Lots of times I just prefer to work on a single sheet and choose accordingly to my medium. Maybe eventually I ll have piles and piles of sheets completed and bind them together, and call it a journal🤣🤣🤣!
This suggestion makes the most sense. You will be working on the texture and size of paper that you prefer. Book binding would be such a a practical and functional solution !
Omgosh. What a great idea. I'm going to try this too. Just leave a margin that can be folded over to aid in the book binding process. Awesome sauce!! 🥰
I have a sketch book you could try. Stillman & Birn Beta Series. Mine is navey blue with soft cover in front and a stiffer cover at the back. It’s portrait, nice think paper that’s lies flat. When book is closed it measures 8.5 inches by 5.5 inches. Unless you’ve tried it already 😊😀
Hi Wendy I feel your pain re journals I really got frustrated that I couldnt find the right one so I handmake all my own journals now using Fabriano Artistico paper you can buy sheets for a good price and they can be halved then halved (torn) again to make journals there is an art to binding them too but mine is pretty simple. I have also turned old books into journals and feel that I can do anything in them sometimes my best art has been in my old book journals and handmade journals its so much fun to do it. I can send you some pics if you need ideas.
Love seeing all your beautiful journals- I personally use a wide variety of journals❤️
Have you tried the skillman and birne sketchbooks? They come in many different sizes and I love them.
Thank you for another lovely video! I'm so glad your heat is on again!
I am having the same problem with finding the perfect art journal and was asking myself critical if it’s maybe just a kind of hidden way of procrastination coming from subconscious… 🤔??? So it’s quite calming that you have to deal with that issue too 🤗. Anyway I always prefer rough, thick and more yellow than white colored paper, no matter if drawing or painting. I don’t like smooth and thin paper at all it always makes me feel slippery 😹.
And I would definitely try to make the perfect journal, if it does exist 🙃, on my own because the last time I was looking, I did not found the right one too. Love the thick black paper very much too 🥰!
And I will wait patiently until your jewelry is ready, take all the time you need and I still hope so much that I can catch a pair of your lovely creoles then 🥰💖…
Wishing you & James a wonderful weekend 💫💖💫💁🏻♀️!
Having tea with you this morning 😊 I honestly think the best journals might be ones with fewer pages because my style changes before I finish the journal and then I end up redoing everything because I don't like the original work as it is not my style any more. Getting the right paper is also a nightmare because I keep changing my mind about mediums! I think I'll end up creating my own bookbinding project to make the 'perfect' art journal for me...if it even exists!
Most of my journals are for watercolor practice. I love landscape style, since that's my main focus. I also have a lot of spiral bound larger mixed media books. I tend to work in multiple at a time since I like a lot of wet on wet work and I'll have one drying as I work on another. I do not do intentional journalling with a lot of writing. I really do not like to write in mine at all, so I guess they are more sketchbooks than journals. I have a written journal, a simple budget spiral notebook, for my thoughts. It has no art in it.
My art journals for mixed media are varied. I have a small spiral journal which had a bunch of depressing entries, so I glued pages together and I'm collaging over it. I also hand made a book which has good quality paper in it, and is larger. It has 24 pages and I have done one large mixed media spread in it. So far it's languished. I think I want to use it for watercolor since it has good paper. I also have an altered book that I'm slowly preparing pages in. It is a good A4 size and lies flat. I haven't started journalling in it, but I'll pick it up and prepare a few sheets at a time in it.
So I have a LOT of journals going at once. I'm fine with that. I just grab whatever I'm in the mood for at the time.
I loveee strathmore 9x7 softcover, you should try that one instead of the little hardcover !!
I’ve thought of making my own journal mixing signatures one of drawing paper the next with mixed media, using page types as needed.
Oh Wendy, I really hope you won't get rid of your old journals. It's nice to look back and see the progress of your art. If the complete books take too much space, maybe tear the pages out of the journal and bind them together? Just a thought. Always love seeing your journals!
Hmm, I have so many journals that I suppose will go in the trash when I die. Sad to say. So for now they are precious to me. Moleskine: I love for journaling because a nice pen just glides onthe beautiful paper. Art journaling: I usually make my own with a hot press watercolor or Canson mixedmedia which ikind of walks that line of not being too precious but still a heavy good paper. Other journals that have been great : Birn + Stilllman , Fabriano, "Venice"- beautiful paper.
If it’s any use to you Wendy I tried that particular moleskin and I didn’t like it at all, the paper buckles even though they say it’s watercolour paper🥴. I know that paper is a very personal journey, and I too search constantly for the perfect journal for me😜. I’ve just started using the Strathmore watercolour Visual journal, the only down side is that it is spiral bound, but the paper is lovely. Also the Paul Rubens watercolour book from Amazon is a cheap and cheerful option (the paper is lovely) I think it was $20 AU so not really sure what that is for you? But I think you are right we do seem to need different papers and sizes for different needs. I have a tiny little one that goes everywhere in my bag fir sketching and then a larger one and then a big A4 for painting etc. I enjoy your videos always fun. (Although I think there are a lot of ladies around the world with a touch of James envy😂) a big Aussie hello, take care Melita😊g
You'll have to make your own journal to get what you want. 2 pieces of something to protect the pages. Cut everything to your favorite size out of your favorite papers. punch holes through the stack. Stich together with cord, yarn, ribbon, or whatever else is handy. Now you can have whatever you want. Purchased journals are always someone else's vision. They're always a compromise.
I have stopped looking for a journal and use paper I like for what am about to work on case by case.. maybe because I am also in flux and want to explore subject matter and materials... I have a box of drawing paper that I pull out an use sheet by sheet to study and have pads of water color, mix media... I also have a smaller spiral one I write in and draw in.. So.. am alllll over the place hahahaha!
Hi Valeria
What do you do with the loose sheets afterworts? Do you bind them together or keep them in a box or a portefolio?
Florida USA WARM Get a personal heater they are wonderful....Love your work and your videos are very peaceful....I am starting to art journal but it is not easy with a baby ....my three and six and seventeen year olds love to paint draw Lots of fun! Thank you for your VIDS
I could talk journals all day too
I'm thinking about starting an art journal, I do like the idea of using old books (there's no blank page staring back at you lol) looking forward to seeing what you choose to work on... I forgot to say, I bought a small bottle of the Orange Flower Water, from Star Child, I did mention you when I ordered😍 I'm planning a trip to Glastonbury soon, (only aprox 2 hr from me)
I know I left a comment about a sketchbook I love on your Lens in Patreon and I'm not sure if it would be the right size for you, but I personally love it for mixed media: Hahnemuhle Watercolor Book in the A5 size. The paper is lovely and smooth but also very thick cotton at 200gsm. And it lays FLAAAAAT. The flattest of flat laying! My only beef with it is (and this is so silly) is that I absolutely hate the texture of the cover. It's a hardcover (which I like) but it's got this weird material on it that I hate the feel of. Like a squeaky taffeta. It's strange and I need to just get over myself and my texture issues because it's definitely one of the best sketchbooks I ever worked in. Anyway, best of luck on the perfect Art Journal Sketchbook hunt, Wendy!
Cover it sweetie 👀👀♥️😚😚
@@theunexpectedgypsy Does seem like the obvious fix, I tried painting it but I could glue fabric on it easily enough. I’m going to give the Paul Ruben watercolor book a try soon as well.
Thank you 🙏🏼 from the cheese plant 🪴