watercolor | Skylark Karma

June 23, 2021
by Dana Burrell Leave a comment

2021 IFJM – The Etymologist

April 2021 – International Fake Journal Month – Dana Burrell

The Etymologist

This A4 Daler-Rowney Graduate Sketchbook was not intended for wet media yet it did an admirable job with very wet washes for this years fake journal. The link above takes you to Jackson’s Art Supplies in the UK where you can see, at this time in 2021, this sketchbook sells for the grand price of $2.18 USD through their site.

Most the artwork this year is direct watercolor with a few done as ink and watercolor wash. The etymologist has chosen an interesting word for each day and all 26 letters in the English alphabet are represented along with a few duplicates.

June 18, 2021
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2019 IFJM – Haiku

April 2019 – International Fake Journal Month – Dana Burrell

Haiku

For this journal I ripped the guts out of this green inspirational soft cover journal by XXXXX and replaced it with the guts of a 7.75 in. x 9.75 in. softcover Strathmore 500 Mixed Media Art Journal. You can see remnants of the previous endpapers peeking out from under the new mixed media endpaper. I also realized that I needed to add one more sheet to the book for continuity. I tipped in a sheet of the S500MM and you can see the overlap on the April 1st spread. I used direct watercolor for all the paintings while the journaling and daily current event haiku were added in pencil.

June 16, 2021
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2018 IFJM – The Artist

April 2018 – International Fake Journal Month – Dana Burrell

The Artist

I couldn’t stand the saccharine covers on the 6 in. x 8 in. inexpensive sketchbooks I bought at Michaels so I altered them first with layers of gesso, then acrylic paint and finally a few layers of assorted stamps. I also took out the saddle stitching and replace it with a 5-hole pamphlet stitch using maroon waxed linen thread. The inside covers had lots of maroon splotches so they were muted with a layer of blue acrylic paint.

I can’t say enough about these little sketchbooks. Michaels sells a pack of 2 for 6$ USD. They hold up beautifully to wet media as you can see by my pencil and watercolor sketches.

June 9, 2021
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2015 IFJM – Gratitude

April 2015 – International Fake Journal Month – Dana Burrell

Gratitude

For the second year in a row I made a Double Pamphlet Journal but this time I filled it with inexpensive no-name cold press watercolor paper. All sketches were made with water-soluble ink and watercolor.

Ali Manning of Vintage Page Designs has a great step-by-step tutorial if you’d like to make one of these books for yourself. They’re wonderful books for traveling and to tuck in your handbag.