…"fountain pentivity journals"

I really, really, really love pens.  All kinds of pens.  I don't know where this obsession came from, but i have it.  One kind of pen that i love in particular is a fountain pen.  Because i letter, write and draw so much, i am served best by the kind of pen that is refillable. I call my daily pen writing "pentivity journals"…creative efforts with assorted pens and journals.

Here's a peek into one of my lettering, writing, doodling journals.   Mine is a Rhodia journal with pages filled with a varitey of ink colors and musings.  Try this in your own "pentivity journal" using whatever favorite pens or markers you have.  Any journal will do, just have someplace to write and practice every day.

Let's take a tour of my Rhodia book…in my journals i write with all different colors of ink.  Oh, and that's another tiny obsession, trying and using various colors and brands of fountain pen inks. (see the Goulet Pen Company for products)  On these pages, I'll write about the different colors, as a sampler for my own color reference.

 My favorite online store for shopping and learning all things fountain pens is  the Goulet Pen Company.  They are most knowledgeable, with outstanding customer service and have everything you can imagine for "pen people".  They even offer a discount to students in my online lettering classes, are true blue "penablers" and i love them!!  Brian Goulet, the owner also has excellent teaching videos and pen and ink resources in a feature called the "Fountain of Knowledge".  It's brilliant.

 …drawing and doodling with ink, knowing that my favorite pens, the Noodler's Flex pen used here,  are completely refillable with whatever color i want to use!!

 …sometimes i will write my favorite quotes or daydreams in this pentivity journal, trying new letterforms and writing styles.

 …this journal is freeing, and useful for asking questions of myself, reflecting on my artful life journey….

 …i really, really, really like getting lost in my "pentivity journals". You will too!  Join the fun, grab a journal and your favorite pens, whatever they may be, and illustrate your everyday musings.  Write words, thoughts, experiment with your different handwriting, letters, doodles…….get in a pen trance…….stretch your pentivity!

 Thanks for visiting!  What's your most favorite pen in the whole wide world??

Doodle 365: DAY 111

Did you know that today is the 111th day of the year??  

That means i should have 111 doodle artworks posted right???  

Well i do!!!  Hooray!  I am all caught up on posting my 365 Doodles in the tab at the top of this blog.  I made a promise to complete 365 doodles (art, journal pages, illustrations) this year and post them here on my blog.  I am a huge fan of "catch up", so click on this link and see what i've added:

LINK TO THE 111/ 365 DOODLE TAB

The 65 new pieces that i just posted to the page are from all the journals and pages that i have been "doodling" every day, so far this year.  It's now a ritual, to create every day, some days more challenging than others, but i always will pick up a brush, pen or marker and make something.  I'm very happy with the production and progress, just to gather this large collection of artwork has been a great accomplishment for me.  Enjoy these 111 doodles!

Oh, and stay tuned to the blog for the next few days, i have a bunch of very exciting announcements to share with you!  So many artfully good things coming this way.  See you back here soon and thanks for dropping in...

…catching up spring!

I looked at the calendar today and couldn't believe that it was already MID APRIL!!! Not, just April, MID April!  Seems like after a vacation everything speeds up for catch up!

A PEEK INTO MY TRAVEL JOURNALS...

Just returned from a sunny sandy vacation on the Florida gulf coast at Anna Maria Island.  It's my favorite place in the world, a bit of the tropics right in our own backyard.  It sure is a change of pace from sunless, gray and chilly upstate New York!

Driving around the island one day, it was a thrill to see an Easter flag that i designed years ago when i was licensing my artwork.  This house looked pretty fancy, so I was too chicken to go to the door and offer to sign the flag, LOL! I know, i should have.

It was a perfect trip. I came for the sun and sand and was there to paint!  Determined to bring limited art supplies, i made a promise to myself to create 1-2 pieces of art each of the 10 days we were there.  Armed with my journals, watercolor palette and a few brushes it was simple enough, and i did create 20+ journal pages on this trip.

 ...I like to bring a few journals, because i usually have more than one painted page going at once.

 This is my perfect vacation…eat, paint, beach, paint, sleep, REPEAT!  My bliss is morning coffee on the sunny deck with my paints and pages, filling the journals and absorbing the warmth and color around me.

 I love to paint.  There was no real plan to paint anything in particular, i just went with my colorful palette to just paint.  Watercolor doodles as a warm up got the paints and color flowing.

 …these pages can have journaling at another time...

 …brush to paper by the sea…….bliss...

 Capturing things around me with pen and watercolor...

...

 …the word "bliss" was speaking to me...

 …Adding words and journaling takes me back to the moments of tranquility while painting.  The journal pages feel exactly like the moment when it was painted.  Different from a travel photograph, when you paint or draw in a travel journal, you are putting yourself in a moment in time with pen or paints.  You are capturing the feelings of where you are, with your artwork which is drawn from a deeper place.  As you go back to the pages later, the artwork brings you back to those moments.  Maybe because your whole heart and soul goes into your art?

 …go to your bliss!!...

 …these pages hold words that take me back to moments.  Keeping a travel journal is a wonderful way to step back in time and relive a certain bliss and care free moments ...

 ...My heart and soul truly is alive and shines so bright at the sea…….

…until next year...