For a couple of years, I’ve noticed bullet journal spread upon bullet journal spread popping up on my Pinterest feed. It’s hard not to be intrigued by the concept: basically, a bullet journal helps to keep you organized. Like, to a ridiculous but wonderful degree! You can keep track of books you want to read, movies you want to watch, water intake, meals, anything.
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Every year, Hernán and I go on a trip to explore somewhere new. This year’s trip was to Naples, Barcelona, and Paris — and we wanted to pack extra light. We only took “under the seat” bags so there wouldn’t be any luggage to check (and no extra fees on budget airlines like Ryanair and Easyjet). Of course, taking a small-ish bag meant traveling with only the bare necessities; the only “creative supply” I took was a Pilot G2 pen! When I found myself wanting to make some art and calligraphy while in Paris, the idea for this blog post was born. In it, you’ll learn seven tips for making calligraphy and art on the go with minimal supplies!
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I recently stumbled across Days of the Year, which is a website that tells you about little-known holidays and observations. Through Days of the Year, I discovered that May is “Get Caught Reading” month. That was the excuse I needed to provide you with a list of my eight favorite artistic books and magazines! Each of these written works will inspire you to get creative and try something new.
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2017 was a fun and artistic year for this website (and, in effect, for me)! Creative calligraphy drills came on the scene, we explored calligraphy medallions, and children’s broad-tipped markers found a new use. Don’t remember some of those posts? No worries! A vast amount of articles live here on the TPK blog, and it’s inevitable that you may have missed a few. If that’s the case, I’ve got a summary of the top 10 blog posts of 2017 for you. Let’s start at 10 and work our way down!
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The holiday season is a bit of a conflicting time. On the one hand, you’ve got the sort of Hallmark version of this time of year. I feel the joy that comes with that when I smell pine boughs, see holiday decorations from my childhood, and eat tasty treats. The flip side of that is the frantic race to get everything done before you take time off! There are also stressful gift lists to contend with and, for many people, the prospect of dealing with family members who aren’t exactly our favorites. When the stress starts to get to you, hit the pause button and get out some art supplies.
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I believe that every person with any degree of interest in creating art or lettering should have a sketchbook journal! I have kept one since 2004, and I still derive so much enjoyment out of creating new pages. It’s an activity that allows me to relax, think, and experiment with new mediums!
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Yesterday, I was scouring my imagination {and my Pinterest} for blog post ideas, when suddenly a topic fell into my lap. A gracious reader, Martha, sent an email requesting a blog post comparing different types of paper. I found this to be a brilliant suggestion because the world of paper can be scary to navigate, especially if you’re a beginning artist, designer, or calligrapher! It can be difficult to know which type of paper to use for what, and even to understand the difference between certain papers.
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A week or so ago, someone emailed me requesting a blog post for true beginners: people who have recently developed an interest in creating. For a while, I wondered where to start — then I had a “duh” moment: art essentials. While I am a bonafide hoarder when it comes to art tools/supplies, I tried to imagine that I was going to be marooned on a desert island and could only bring ten art essentials {and unlimited food} with me. {In case you’re wondering, why, yes, I have watched Pirates of the Caribbean recently.} So: here are the ten essentials that I would recommend in the marooned-on-an-island-scenario, which also happen to be the ten supplies that beginners can consider procuring to begin their creative journey.
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{Don’t have time to read this blog post? Download my sketchbook for free here.}
Yesterday, I was filling out an interview for a feature in heART Journal Magazine. All was going swimmingly until I reached the last question, which read: “Do you keep an art journal? If so, do you post anywhere that the readers can go take a peek?” That was when I realized — wow, I don’t have my art journal {which I refer to as a sketchbook} posted anywhere. It’s about time that changed!
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Once upon a time in Europe, I met Jessica {of Greenleaf & Blueberry}. As roommates on our study abroad program, we immediately hit it off, successfully bringing out strange quirks in each other that rendered our fellow study abroad participants squeamish and confused. Jess’s affectionate nickname for me was “Pooky Bella” — “Pooky” because it’s the sort of name you just don’t call me due to my type-A, serious personality; and “Bella” because we heard it all over the streets of Italy from amorous Italian stallions. Once, we tried to survive on just leek broth for an entire day, that should have been three days, that actually only ended up being a morning. For several wonderful weeks, we shared custody of a small, plastic-bodied cereal box toy that must people would recognize as “The Joker” from Batman, but we christened him Edgar and hauled him around Europe, taking ample photos of him. {Edgar has now passed, but his memory lives on.}
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