Above is my journal spread with my illustrated Wordles and in today’s dreams, some naughty teens and federal crimes. Below are close-ups of each page with the dream stories.
Category: Ink and watercolor wash
Here are my Wordles and dreams for January 1-3. Above is the two-day spread for January 2-3 and below are the individual pages for all three days with some comments.
Black Crowned Night Heron I saw at the park today
Continuing from the previous post, here are the rest of December’s Wordles and Pictures and dream sketches.
When I started my blog, JanasJournal.com in 2006, it was an illustrated daily journal where I shared my world and my creative journeys through many different media. Now I’ve returned to my journaling roots and I’ve found inspiration from a surprising source: the daily Wordle puzzle, which I solve and then illustrate each day.
While my journeys may have become more interior thanks to the pandemic, illustrating where my imagination and dreams take me keeps me entertained. But I’m also including sketches from places I go in real life, like Point Isabel above, a huge park along the SF Bay where dogs can run free, roll in the grass, splash in mud puddles and rinse off in the bay.
I’m using a page-a-day Hobonichi “Cousin” journal with weird, very thin, lightly-gridded paper along with fountain pens, drawing pens, watercolors and Tombow markers.
I will share more about the materials as I get the backlog of 3 months of journaling, dreams, Wordles and pictures posted.
I went through quite a process making little birthday paintings for my granddaughters whose birthdays are two years and one week apart. I think of Madeleine as a little butterfly, always happy and amused. Strong but delicate.
First I looked at reference photos of the different critters and flowers, then sketched them as if I was doing scientific illustration. I transferred my sketch to watercolor paper and painted it. Then I realized it was a terrible composition.
So I started over, deciding that they didn’t need to be scientifically correct. I let my whimsical side come out, recomposed and redrew and painted it again. This time I was happy. I hope she will like it!
Categories
Undersea Birthday
My granddaughter Sadie can swim like a fish, so for her birthday I painted a little undersea scene for her. I’ve always been intrigued by seahorses so it was fun researching, drawing and then painting one.
Growing up in Southern California, I’ve always felt at home in the water, whether just spending the day in the sun and surf or scuba diving.
If I were ever to marry again (unlikely) I want a scuba wedding. I wonder if guests would be willing to come to a “destination” wedding when the destination was underwater.
I was honored when the East Bay SPCA asked to license my sketch of Jack London Square (in the poster below) for their annual Adopt-A-Thon fund-raiser publicity materials. They kindly offered to pay for the use of the image but I was very happy to donate it for their use. As an animal lover I am grateful for the wonderful work the SPCA does to care for and find homes for animals.
You can click the image to get more information about the event. It will be a lot of fun and if you’re looking for a new family member of the furry variety, be sure to visit the Adopt-A-Thon! My original sketch is and info about it is at the bottom of this post.
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I sketched the scene below at Jack London Square of London’s old cabin and the wolf statue out front on a gorgeous sunny day and the shadows were in just the right place. It was one of those sketches where everything just worked. In the background are the high-rise office buildings of Downtown Oakland.
Jana Bouc, Artist 