Feb 28

I'm often taken by a particular colour combination I encounter in (say) a magazine; I've been stuffing clippings in a manila folder for quite a while. I finally decided to make a dedicated art workbook to house my bits and pieces, so I can easily use them as reference for future graphic designs or paintings. The book is a "re-purposed" old hard cover with the text block replaced by four new signatures. I like it!

Feb 27

Happy birthday, sister-friend. I miss you so much, and can't wait till we can just sit "side by each" again.

Feb 26

Feb 25

Briefly played around with watercolours and water-soluble crayons on Yupo tonight. This is a material I'd like to spend a lot more time with. Luckily I have a bunch of samples from some paper company -- I just re-discovered them on my shelf this afternoon. Cool!

Feb 24

Feb 23

Binding is done. The method used is "Single Sheet Coptic Sewn Across the Spine, Type B Attachment" from Keith Smith's book Sewing Single Sheets: Non-Adhesive Binding Volume IV. It was my first time using this method, and as you can see, the stitching is a little wonky. I had cut 56 sheets to use in the book, but stopped binding at 40, because I was alarmed by how much swell I was getting at the spine.
Anyway I'm really pleased with how it turned out, and can't wait to start using it in about a week, when my current book is full.

Feb 22

Feb 21

New journal in progress. Covers made, pages cut. Ready to drill and bind!

Feb 20

Feb 19

Feb 18

For the uninitiated, a sketchcrawl is like a pubcrawl, but instead of drinking, you draw. Advantages: no-one frowns when you do it at 10 am; it's safe to drive home afterwards; and there's no hangover. Thank you, Karen, for organising our crawl. I really enjoyed myself, and look forward to the next one.

Feb 17

Feb 16

Feb 15

Mixing complimentary colours to make neutrals. And expanding on yesterday's theme.

Feb 14

Feb 13

Feb 12

Feb 11

Does anyone know the missing words to my song?

Update (Sept 9, 2013)
A lovely reader, Donna Drain, just sent me a link to the words and music for "The Graceful Swaying Wattle." Thank you, Donna!

Feb 10

OK, I think I'm ready to move on from these large crayon faces. But I'm going to keep playing with these cool backgrounds -- I love 'em! Some people have asked about my technique. I mix a tiny amount of Golden acrylic paint (liquid or tube) with a little blob of acrylic medium, slap it on the page, and scrape it thin with the side of a credit card. A little goes a long way! And you get all these cool transparent overlays, even if the original paint is opaque.

Feb 9

Happy birthday, Jesse. Those few days spent at Airlie Beach with you last year were some of the happiest of our lives. I miss you, kid.


I've had a gruelling day. I'm glad it's over. Ribbit.

Feb 8

Still working on faces. Tried for a likeness of Josh tonight, but didn't even get close (well, OK, it looks like a guy, if you call that close).

Feb 7

Feb 6

I am trying to figure out what a human face looks like.

Feb 5

Feb 4

Feb 3

More scenes from the Pierce College parking lot.

Feb 2

Blind Contour insect done for Blind Contour First Friday. Next time I'll use a pen that doesn't smudge.

Feb 1