Just like my island Vlieland is lovingly called Vlie, Schiermonnikoog is called Schier mostly by those who visit it. So when I decided to make a travel journal while I was there I of course had to call it the Schierboek (Schierbook).
I chose a Hahnemühle watercolorbook which I afterwards decorated with a beautiful postcard and a keychain that was a little gift with the appartment I rented. The book has 60 pages, but I already knew beforehand that would be a bit too much to fill in two weeks. Still, I'm quite proud I still managed to fill 40!
I brought very little with me, a gouache set and a Flow Book for Paper Lovers, which is a book full of different papers, stickers, labels, etc. The only other thing I used was an information paper from the tourist agency of the island, so that's where a lot of images come from.
My intention was simply to play and not really have any plans. So the book has a bit of everything, but I am most proud of doing ten landscape paintings! Not because they are so great, although I do like them, but because when it comes to drawing and painting, landscapes are the hardest thing for me. I ask myself questions like "how does grass even work?" or "how can I represent all these different greens?". In the end I have no answer to these questions, and all I can say is that I was just winging it all the way!
Here is the first half of my Schierbook for your viewing pleasure:
It did take a bit of discipline to keep working on this book, but I'm glad I did. The second half will come in my next post.
Hope you are doing something fun and a little challenging and wishing you all a wonderful and artsy day.