Janet Takahashi's Artful Sketchbook Journaling Workshop

Last weekend, I took a "Artful Sketchbook Journaling' workshop from Janet Takahashi  sponsored by the Portland Society for Calligraphy.  I felt like I needed a refresher course to learn some new techniques and ways to incorporate text along side my sketches.

One exercise that helped me to revisit my tools to see which are water soluble or not.  It made me want to use different pens and pencils more and not rely on the same tools all the time- to give my sketches more variety in line, texture and value.

Here's her ideas for adding texture and gradation of values to add interest to drawings.

 Another tip I'll use is to lay down paint (yellow, blue and red) first leaving white ares and sketch on top.

Using this same technique, I painted the apple and lemon first, sketched on top the the lemon with waterproof pen and used a Stabilo water soluble red pencil to add texture to the apple.

Now, I have a new perspective with some different tools and ideas.  With the warmer weather, I'll be outside sketching and enjoying the sunshine.