The month of November usually conjures up images in my mind of dreary grey days, sodden brown leaves, wind, rain and sleet, but this year was different. As autumn gave way to wintry November, I found myself flying off to California for a 5-day workshop with a great group of painters.
Since I returned home, I’ve been working on finishing up my travel journal. It’s so much fun reliving all the happy memories as I putter with it.
I usually leave the title page until last with my travel journals, so I can tailor it to the content of the sketchbook, but this time I decided to dive right in and get ‘er done!
I used a stencil to create the background design over top of a base wash, lifting paint with a damp sponge and then spattering a bit at the top. The title was added last using gel pens.
Before the workshop in Santa Barbara, I visited my friend Karen for a few days at her beautiful home near San Diego. Later, I put together a watercolor map of all the places we went while I was there.
It was a laid back visit, just what I needed. We talked and painted, went for walks, and had fun sketching around town and in Karen’s little piece of paradise. I soaked up the sunshine and ate way too much chocolate.
In my sketchbook (a spiral-bound 10″ x 7″ Handbook Field Watercolor Journal), I did all of my sketching on the right-hand page and penciled in journaling notes on the facing page. (My student, Rachelle, came up with a better idea: use Post-it notes for temporary journaling! Why didn’t I think of that?)
When I got home, I snapped a photo of my scribbled notes, so I could erase them and rewrite them neatly in ink. I decided to design a bordered box for each text paragraph, just to make things more interesting.
For the one above, I masked off the border using painter’s tape on both the inside and outside of the border then painted an aqua watercolor wash and let it dry. Next, I placed a plastic stencil over the wash and swiped across it using a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser to lift the color and leave a decorative pattern, blotting any excess moisture with a tissue.
This stencil technique give great results, and it’s a nice change from painting everything directly or taking the time to hand-draw a border design. I get my stencils from Cheap Joe’s. They have a large selection with over 40 different patterns to choose from.
More sketches from my CA trip coming up tomorrow!
