Noteworthy...Or Not

All the way back in May, whilst buying comic books with my husband, I bought a little 4 x 6 notebook from Books-A-Million...because what I needed was one more new art journal... *averts eyes due to lie*  The reason I remember it was all the way back in May is because I did a bunch of sketches in it the day I got it...and ACTUALLY DATED THEM!  One of my goals is to be more diligent about dating my work...for purposes of noting improvement...plus I just think it looks cool...

Anyway, this little notebook has come to be my travel journal...because I carry it around in my purse and pull it out when I'm away from the house and bored.  So I thought I'd share what's going on in the book:

This is a very quick sketch of Andy, my husband.  He is a lot better looking in real life...however, I have captured the essence of the look he was giving me at the time.  He makes this face a lot...I call it his "disapproving father" look...we don't have kids, so I get to be the sole recipient of this face...all the time...

The first five pictures were all done on the same day...

...where we went on an impromptu road trip...

...on accident, just like always.  I blindly get into the car, expecting to go to Books-a-Million for comic books and end up driving to South Carolina and back home by way of Knoxville...

...proving that 'every day IS a winding road',  the days I end up in the car with Andy are at least.  

I also use this book for remembering important things, like the phone number for Bluff City Diner, which makes the most delicious from-scratch desserts.  I call them almost every weekend to see if they've made Buckeye Brownie Cake...I will make a special trip for Buckeye Brownie Cake...it's heaven in chocolate and peanut butter form.

There's also some lettering practice going on in the book...especially if I think of a really good phrase (like above) or if I hear some kind of awesome song lyrics that I want to remember.

Sometimes I draw people I work with when I'm on my lunch break.  This guy is a hipster cutie I work with...I accidentally made him have a weird look on his face, and I think he totally looks like he's thinking "Well, that's interesting..."

I also sketch ideas I have for at home art, like this picture.  I thought it would be really neat to have a picture where the wind was blowing leaves and one was really close to you, blocking things in the background...I really like the idea, I just need to figure out how to make it happen!

Having this book in my purse is a nice distraction from my day job...when I'm in a stinky mood, I can hit my car when I'm on my lunch or breaks and do a quick sketch to get me in a better state of mind...it really works most of the time!  ...but maybe not on this particular day...I still wanted to go home...

Can you tell I did this girl after watching Jane Davenport's Whimsical Faces video?  See those eyes?  Those are Jane eyes for sure...  

I like this girl and the song lyrics that she has beside her...I'm going to make a sit down fancy piece based on those lyrics someday...

I like this girl too...her face makes me super happy...and I like that phrase.  I saw it on Pinterest.  For the record, capricious means 'impulsive, unpredictable, changing suddenly for no reason'....I had to pull out the dictionary when I first saw the word...

I'd love to get good at  realistic fast sketches of people and things.  I'm practicing...nothing noteworthy yet.  Mostly the ones of people end up like the sketch of my husband in the first picture...a little menacing...   And the ones of things end up being skewed...  But I know I'll get better if I keep practicing...and I know I'll keep practicing because I'm obsessed.   

I'm also currently loving the thought of keeping an illustrated diary-type journal...one where I do (or attempt to do) realistic daily life drawings (with pen and ink and watercolor) and add diary style journaling to accompany it.  My art journals tend to be more 'whimsical' (egads, I hate that word...I don't know why...) and more broad spectrum emotion-y stuff and are mixed media.  So an illustrated journal would be a nice divergence from my normal journals...  Hmm...yeah, that's gonna happen...really soon...