Testing the Clairefontaine Watercolor Sketchbook

Posted on January 3, 2020 by Dana Burrell

Back in May 2019 I was asked by Roz Stendahl to be one of a few artists to help her test an A5, landscape format, Clairefontaine Goldline Watercolor Sketchbook provided by the Clairefontaine representative. Roz started out the testing before sending the book along for each us to fill a few spreads using various techniques and media.

I decided to fill a signature by testing assorted techniques: watercolor, water-soluble inks, gouache and watercolor pencils.

I was the fifth to work in the book and unfortunately by the time I received it the stitching was coming undone and the book pages and signatures were separating. I really enjoyed working in it but even the best watercolor paper can’t overcome poor construction. This can be seen in the video Roz posted in conjunction with her comprehensive review of the book. You can also see Roz’s testing and the testing from the other artists at the same link. Their work is exquisite and their comments enlightening.

This was a great opportunity for me to clarify what I look for in a visual journal. I know I’ll continue to experiment with commercially bound books because it’s just too much fun not to… but I also won’t give up binding my own books with my favorite papers in my favorite formats either!

Thanks Roz!

Inktober 2018 Revisited… a Video!

Posted on January 19, 2019 by Dana Burrell

I’ve meant to do this for months… nothing better than a deadline to prompt a procrastinator to “get the lead out”!

A friend in a mutual Facebook group put out the challenge to sketch daily… “organic shapes from observation”… and Daily Potato was born. It was October, it was time for Inktober, and it was destiny… I chose to do a mashup of Inktober, #dailypotato, and finally filling the Strathmore 500 Mixed Media Journal with pre-painted spreads I created in Roz Stendahl’s online class “Textures”.

When doing these month-long projects I like to have the framework of a theme, however loosely defined, to help me focus. I tend to follow that plan the first week or so but as the month progresses boredom sets in. In order to keep it interesting and fun I find it’s important to start reaching and experimenting. Raiding my stash of multicolored FW Acrylic Inks was definitely the best part of this project!

Enjoy the short video, it’s less than 4 minutes long. I hope you like seeing how my pages progressed through the month.

(All pages: Sailor Fude pen with water-soluble black ink and assorted colors (including white) FW Acrylic Ink in a Strathmore 500 Mixed Media Journal with pre-painted page spreads.)

IFJM and a Little Blog Housekeeping

Posted on March 29, 2017 by Dana Burrell

I started blogging here near the end of 2013 and haven’t changed a thing on this site since then.

Well it’s about time!

If you’re a newish reader then you might not know I actually have a second blog where I keep all the “fake” journals I’ve created the last few years… well, they’re real journals, but each one has been kept by a persona I take on for the month of April.

April is International Fake Journal Month… IFJM for short. Roz Stendahl is the brains behind this activity and I wholeheartedly join in by adopting a character and journaling as this person, all the while posting images of this work daily, or nearly so.

I make references to this blog… Skylark Karma… when I lead up to April but ’till now I’ve never had a sidebar widget of my own. When you’re on the home page you can see the image of a crow on the right; it’s done in gouache and marked up with my blog address. Just a simple click of the image and you’ll be whisked off to browse my current and former fake journals.

I had a great time creating this image. First, I drew a rough outline on a prepainted acrylic background in my Pentalic Aqua Journal before going in with gouache. There are passages where the line drawing shows through and others where the gouache is applied thick enough to hide and correct the misdrawn lines.

I love this full spread but a closeup of one of those faces would make a great image link. But which one? If I used the one on the left, he would be looking away from the body of this text.

… and it’s blurry, especially behind the eye.

But the crow on the right… that’s the one!

I love how the blues, greens and purples all combine to say – black.

I ran it through my photo processing software to add the lettering and… Voilà! … I have a permanent link to my Fake Journal blog.

Please visit and see who “I am” and what “I’ll be creating”. The magic starts this Saturday, April 1st. Join the fun!

OMG!

Posted on June 20, 2016 by Dana Burrell

G! … as in Gouache!

I’m taking another Mary Ann Moss class… OMG!… this time it’s all about gouache, an opaque water media very similar to opaque watercolor only more so.

This first thing I learned was that it’s pronounced g’wash… rhyming with squash.

Fair warning… lots of photos ahead!

I bought a lovely selection of Schmincke gouache selected by artist, Roz Stendahl and to that I added a few tubes of M. Graham gouache. I squirted it into pans and arranged my palette.

When closed the palette latch is a little loose so I made a band out of 1.5 inch elastic. I love the turquoise!

I started playing first by adding white to get tints and then seeing if my pens would write over the matte surface.

Hmmm… I wonder what secondary mixes I can get with my selected primaries?

Ah… nice! But what do I mix to get the brightest hues?

I’m still finding it hard to judge how much water… or rather, how little water to use. My gouache blocks on this spread have lots of streaks. I wonder once I conquer the water issue if I’ll also get rid of the streaks, but for now I rather like the wabi-sabi look.

Great practice but now what? Well. I decided to draw my Friday. My black Uni-ball Vision wrote like a dream but my white Signo? Not so much. After a few issues with hard starts and skipping I learned to use a light hand. It’s a nice arrow to have in my art quiver.

I better get working on the next lesson or I’ll be behind my amazing classmates.

Thanks MAM… It’s my summer of gouache!

If you want to see more of Mary Ann Moss please check out her blog: Dispatch From LA.

My April IFJM Is Complete!

Posted on May 5, 2015 by Dana Burrell

You’ve heard me talk about International Fake Journal Month before so I won’t bore you again with the details but April’s gone and my project is complete!

skylarkkarma.wordpress.com

If you start here you can forward through the entire month and follow along.

or… you can jump directly to my wrap up.

It’s been a great April… May? Bring it on!

L is for Lettering (Blogging A to Z)

Posted on April 14, 2015 by Dana Burrell

This quote has resonated with me ever since I first saw it on Roz Stendahl’s blog. Please see her take on her mentor’s quote and be sure to read the last paragraph… you won’t regret it!

Lettering quotes in my journal is meditative. It takes time, time to reflect on how the words are a part of me. Time to reflect on the soul of art.

Crazy, Crazy April

Posted on March 30, 2015 by Dana Burrell

As I have the last 3 years, I will be participating again in IFJM – International Fake Journal Month… Roz Stendhal‘s creation. If you’re new here and haven’t heard about this wonderful April project please follow the links above. Just be prepared to lose yourself in the interwebs as you learn.

Roz has chosen “[considered] TRUTHS” as this year’s… slogan? motto?

How will I handle this? To find out please consider visiting my dedicated IFJM blog: SkylarkKarma.wordpress.com. I hope to post my character’s journal pages daily… come, follow my progress!

And, as if I didn’t have enough to do, I’ve also decided to participate in Blogging A to Z. Oh no… it runs in April too! Basically, on April 1st we’re to blog about something beginning with the letter A, the 2nd is the letter B, etc. Sundays are our day of rest… no posting. That way, on April 30th, we’ll all be posting about zebras… or zithers, or zzzzzs! There’s a big sign-up process but I’m not sure I’ll jump through that hoop but I may reconsider

Now don’t be expecting too much. I figure a photo and a bit of text will be as much as I can manage. This is an opportunity to look back, share a few pages from the archives along with some recent work. I’ll be doing that here on danaburrellart.com so stay tuned.

Lots going on… I hope I didn’t bite off too much. Wish me luck!

Five Day Art Challenge – Day Five

Posted on February 5, 2015 by Dana Burrell

Day 5… and final day… of my Five Day Art Challenge.

Today, as an homage to Roz Stendahl, and her creation, IFJM – International Fake Journal Month I’m sharing an image from each of my previous fake journals.

What is a fake journal? Well, it’s a chance for you to be someone else and keep a journal as that person. It doesn’t have to be a visual journal although that’s what I did for the last three years. Each year I’ve chosen an art goal and made a commitment to have an entry for each day in the month of April to coincide with other fake journalers.

In 2012 I had 2 goals – to sketch a person each day in ink and watercolor and create a narrative for my journal keeper. If you’d like to see my entire 2012 IFJM journal from the beginning start with my April 1st post and forward through the “next” posts.

2013’s goal was to work in gouache over pre-painted acrylic backgrounds and of course, have that all-important, at least to me, back story of the artist. Here’s the link to see how I selected my physical journal as well as the link for the first post of my 2013 Fake Journal.

In 2014 I used a small set of watercolor pencils in my journal and again my character had her own life lurking behind those pages. See my journal selection and the April 1st journal entry if you’d like to see it all from the beginning.

If you’d like to know more about International Fake Journal Month please visit officialinternationalfakejournalblog.blogspot.com to see Roz’s journals and get a feel for the whole experience.

And yes, I’ll be participating again this year… don’t have a goal or a character yet but it’s early… I have nearly two months to figure it out. Be sure to visit “me” or whomever I “am” at skylarkkarma.wordpress.com.

I hope to see you in April!

Recess at Sketchbook Skool

Posted on December 30, 2014 by Dana Burrell

I had great plans for the winter holiday hiatus from Sketchbook Skool. I thought I’d take the opportunity to sketch a portrait of every teacher. There were only 14 instructors… 3 terms, 6 teachers each… and each term 2 of them were returning teachers, the founders, Danny Gregory and Koosje Koene. No sweat… plenty of time.

HA! …. it’s amazing how time just evaporates.

I did manage to sketch all 6 instructors in the SBS – Beginnings class: Danny Gregory, Koosje Koene, Prashant Miranda, Jane LaFazio, Roz Stendahl and Tommy Kane.

Have you been wondering what Sketchbook Skool is like? You can find out by taking a free klass. Get a taste of creativity, it may be just what you need to get you through the winter. Beginnings starts again January 2, Seeing starts January 23 and Storytelling starts on February 13.

Don’t be too kool for skool!

IFJM wrap-up

Posted on May 6, 2014 by Dana Burrell

I’ve just posted my wrap-up of my 2014 experience with International Fake Journal Month on my other blog… SkylarkKarma.wordpress.com. Real blog… Fake Journal.

In a year of “No Explanations”, explanations are forthcoming.

Dana Burrell… Art

… adventures in creativity.

Tag Archives: Roz Stendahl