It all starts here:

Oddly enough, this blog starts with an unhappy bullet journal. I came across the concept of the bullet journal about two years ago. I admit that I am attracted to new things that give me an excuse to accumulate lots of shiny objects, so I started a bullet journal in a composition book. It was supposed to be low cost, using already hoarded obtained items, like the composition book, Flair color pens, and my favorite writing instrument, the Pilot G2 0.38 black pen. When it became apparent that keeping a regular bullet journal would continue, the permission was then granted (internally justified) to actually purchase items specifically for journal writing. The search for a good, cheap(ish) hardbound journal began.

The first cheap, lined, paper journals came from Costco (SpiceBox). The paper and bindings were thick and durable, but only available in one size and page format. Since it was fun to add little, quick sketches here and there throughout the journal, the lines on the pages became annoying behind the sketches. Soon the Flair and G2 pens had gone by the wayside in favor of...YES!...Fountain Pens! As well as the necessary inks of all types and colors (accumulating shiny objects, remember?). Then I spotted the Artist's Loft A5 sized, dotted page, journals in Michael's craft store for only $5 each. Score! The paper was also white instead of the beige colored paper in the SpiceBox journal, which better displays the colors of fountain pen ink.

However, the Artist's Loft paper was too thin to handle many fountain pen entries, especially sketches, and I became disenchanted. The 8 inch by 6 inch size format is perfect, the binding secure, and the choice of cover colors is lovely. Also, the beauty of the ink color on white paper and the less intrusive dots behind the sketches appealed to me. Being the frugalist that I am, I have to finish the current Artist's Loft book before I can switch to my next choice, so I've started using up pages by making more full page sketches. I learned to wash the ink with water to create shadows. That definitely messed up the cheap paper in the book! Oh well...

A post by a certain urban sketcher (Fueled by Clouds & Coffee) about sketching One Hundred self portraits as a way to improve in sketching heads inspired me. Heads and hands are supposedly quite difficult to sketch well. I can't yet wrap my psyche around the idea of looking at myself that closely in the mirror and on the page each day (not without cringing), so I decided to sketch 100 hands. My right hand, to be specific, since I am left-handed. Many bloggers and recently written books advocate for publishing our sketches, so here I am! I have toyed with the idea of blogging for some years, but it took a disappointing journal experience to get here.

Hand # 1
Pen and Ink: Platinum Preppie (05 nib), Monteverde Wisdom Purple