Windows to the Inside
Introducing my Illustrated Journal
I feel much of the anxiety that is hovering across the world these days.
We are facing climate catastrophes like the L.A. fires and increasingly powerful hurricanes.
A felon will soon be inaugurated as president here in the U.S. on MLK Jr.'s birthday later this month and who knows what kinds of greed and madness he will unleash.
The supreme court and fact-checking on social media are no longer the mechanisms we have relied on to keep our ideologies more fair and balanced.
Even beyond Palestine and Gaza, Israel is wreaking havoc across much of the Middle East.
With all of this weighing heavily on my mind, I find small wins and delightful joys every day to help keep me calm, hopeful, and energized.
Some years back, something very cool caught my eye Instagram. I made a mental note to try one out someday. Ever since, I have seen them out grazing in the wild every once in a while. Each one is different and vibrant. Some are created in only black ink, while others are drenched in watercolor or colored pencils. They tell stories and record thoughts through pictures rather than words. They are blissfully whimsical, which is right up my alley!
I am referring to illustrated journals.
Last month, I bought a new sketchbook and a set of Micron ink pens and started one of my own. And HOLY CANNOLI (!) I've been enjoying the heck out of it! I wish I had started this sooner. I have tried traditional written journals and diaries, but they never seem to work for me.
The next windows post will feature all of my other recent art, but this week, I wanted to showcase the first few buttery entries of my weekly illustrated journal!
Here are some of the basic guidelines I follow for this new undertaking:
Each entry is a two page spread.
I will draw at least one new entry every week (with a Sunday/Monday deadline to finish each one).
All drawings are outlined in pencil first and then in black ink.
Most entries will have two colors (other than the black ink). Yellow will be the constant one while the second color will be different each time.
I will be using a combination of ink pens, color markers, and brush pens, for now.
Some entries may focus on one event or emotion while others will show highlights from the week.
I allot a slow and relaxing one to two hours over a couple of days to complete an entry.
The intention is to not overthink what I draw and to have fun.
By December 31 of 2025, I will have a colorful, visual record of the past year.
Have a look at the very first journal entry last month. It documents the second week of December.
That week, I celebrated my 5-year anniversary of being married to my Dear Husband. (We had a festive dinner with home-baked pizza.) I attended my niece Sofia's winter symphony concert at her school. (She plays viola.) I decorated holiday gingerbread cookies at my bestie Laurel's house. (There were quite a few of them that were shaped like penises for some unknown reason. They are not pictured.) I started my winter deep cleaning of my house in the woods. (So far so good.) My younger sister and I began decorating my mom's house with lots of lights for her big birthday party on New Year's Eve. I started this journal that week, and I played lots of piano, obviously.
I think you get the picture. Here is the journal entry for the week leading up to Christmas day.
This entry showcases all of the gifts I received during this holiday season:
You get the picture. Now that I am almost a month into this practice, I am thinking about making each entry look completely different and to have fun experimenting with the layout. The design/composition geek in me is very pleased so far.
This journal has got me thinking more about how I spend my time and what is truly worthwhile. I keep a running list of what I will be drawing for the next entry and find myself doing stuff that would be fun to illustrate. My time spent drawing is very relaxing, and much like any other journal, I create a private space to express myself and be alone with my thoughts.
I will post more of these journal pages as the year progresses (but not all of them). Flipping through the completed entries of this journal makes me smile.
It's already a win for me.
I used to draw/sketch/collage daily years ago... as I moved into more physical mediums, I left that practice. I think maybe I need to get back into it.