Introducing the Morning Book

A few  posts ago I looked back on my year of painting every morning before breakfast from January 2015 to January 2016. You can read that post here.

Doing art every morning right after getting up has become quite addictive and I wanted to keep it up, but in a bit of an adapted format. So in February of this year I started with what I call the Morning Book.

The Morning Book is an art journal / sketchbook that I work in every morning for no more than half an hour. That's the only 'rule' I have. I can do whatever I want, use whatever materials I  want, work on a page as many days as I want. Just do a little something every morning.

For my first book (yes, I'm that optimistic, I think there will be more) I chose this art journal:

It's a Dylusions square journal that measures about 20x20 cm (8x8 inches) and has a lovely smooth cardstock in it. The paper is perfect for markers and mixed media, but I must also say it is not perfect for very wet media like watercolour. Using a lot of water will cause the paper to pillage a little. But less wet paints like acrylic or gouache should be fine. And wetting things like watersoluble markers or pencils goes splendidly too. It's just the more wet in wet stuff that the paper isn't suitable for.

I have worked in this book now for over a 100 days and I have to adapt from my previous morning practice. The biggest change being the fact that I often cannot finish a page in a day. So whereas last year in a 100 days I would have a 100 paintings, now I have about 40 pages done.
The more intricate pages can sometimes take up to a week to finish. So even more than my morning paintings this book is teaching me patience and how a little bit a day can add up to something in the long run.

Anyway, here are the first few spreads from the Morning Book!

On the left the inside pocked that came with the book. I do still intend to decorate that pocket. On the right the front page - a mandala drawn with a glaze pen and coloured in with regular gelpens.  

This is the only two page drawing I've done in the book so far. It's what I call 'system work'. Doodling within lines drawn at different distances from each other. This was done in Faber Castell Pittpens. 

On the left some abstract nonsense in watercolour. On the right a drawing done in Faber Castell Pittpens and then on top of that I added more definition in coloured pencil (Polychromos). 

On the left a pattern in Pittpens. On the right a mandala that was started in Pittpens, then decorated in  UniPoscapens (paintmarkers) and the outside was coloured with Pan Pastel. 

On the left a flower pattern in gouache and drawing pen, very reminiscent of patterns I did in my morning painting sketchbooks. On the right a mosaic done in Pittpens (love love love my pitts) and decorated with gelpens.

On the left a portrait done in washed Tombow Dual Brushpens. On the right a collage composition on top of a background in washed Tombows and further decorated with a permanent marker and gelpen. The Tombows seem absolutely made for the paper in this journal!

Two abstracts in washed Tombow Dual Brushpens. This is a good way to try out colour combinations. 

On the left a drawn garden in Pittpens. On the right the same colour Pittpens made a triangle pattern.

So far in this sketchbook I have been mostly drawn to markers. I think it's the smooth paper that makes them so attractive. I'm sure that if I had chosen watercolour paper I would have used more paint. It's fun to experiment with different media on this paper though.

I hope you enjoyed this first peek in my Morning Book. I'm sure there will be many more to come!

Wishing you all a wonderful and artsy day.