Strathmore Visual Journal Page - Snow Birds

Detail from journal page

We had quite a snow storm earlier this week. I had filled all the bird feeders in anticipation of the bad weather on Sunday. I was rewarded with the sight of juncos, aka "snowbirds" feeding in my back yard.

Inspired by all the activity, I pulled out my new Strathmore Visual Journal with watercolor paper and jotted down some thoughts with a Sharpie pen.  Then I put a wash over gesso over the page. I sketched the birds with a soft charcoal pencil.  Then I worked the page altering between the gesso and charcoal.  A light spray of walnut ink that was mostly blotted off added some warmth to the page.  A bit of Prussian Blue oil pastel was added to the birds and a bit of the background which was followed up with more gesso wash.
Graphite details sketched back in.  A colored pencil gave the page a title.  I used Souffle matte ink pen to outline "snowbirds" and write over the journaling that was done in graphite.
A few details were added with Sharpie poster markers. The snowflakes were stamped on using Lagoon-colored Chalk Ink.


Strathmore Visual Journal with Watercolor Paper

 The colors are very somber in comparison to my usual project, but they reflect what I have been seeing out my window most of the week.  We had some sunshine for a while today.  Now the colors are returning to what you see on this page.

I am very pleased with the quality of the new Strathmore Visual Journal.  It has stood up well to the wet layers I put down with minimal distortion of the page.  Most media that I've drawn with have gone on easily.  I have only been able to get the smaller sized (5.5 x 8 inch) journals at the local Hobby Lobby.  I think I may put together my own journal with their tablet paper that is available.  It's easy to fill the smaller format, but sometimes my ideas are bigger than that.