IFJM 2017

"Details Matter" -- IFJM 2017 A.D.

Today is the first day of the International Fake Journal Month for 2017 A.D.
You can read all about it here.

This will be the third year I have participated in the IFJM and, as in the previous years, I am very excited about the possibilities that this month may bring: not only what new skills I may develop, but also what I may learn about myself in the process. 

A friend's aunt passed away this summer and she gave me one of her old engineering notebooks. I have been eagerly awaiting the opportunity to use it for a journal, and I thought this month would be perfect.   I love the way the blue and red lines intersect on the page and thought it would be a great background for art.  While my natural inclination would be to make some type of opaque picture over the lines (be it with gesso, collage, gouache, or some other opaque type medium), I have decided to fight this inclination and see how my fake author would handle the situation.  

Thinking about this year's theme "Details Matter" and reflecting upon the things that tend to hinder me in my own journaling, I realize that I am always prone to being fussy and spend far too much time trying to make "pretty pictures" in order to be satisfied with the final outcome.  I am always impressed to read one of Roz's blog posts and discover that she made an amazing picture in about 15 minutes!  This is something I aspire to, and I realized the IFJM theme for the month may actually help me to become LESS fussy and over-focused in my work --- while, at the same time, teaching me to focus on details in a different and simpler way.

How was I going to focus on details, yet at the same time become more simple?   After pondering this, I remembered a fun "exercise" that I learned when taking one of Roz's classes: Drawing Live Subjects in Public (a new class begins April 30, 2017).  This exercise was called Blind Contour and I felt that it would be absolutely perfect for me as a way to help me accomplish my goals.

"Blind contour drawing is a drawing exercise, where an artist draws the contour of a subject without looking at the paper."  "pure contour drawing creates a shift from left mode to right mode thinking. The left mode of the brain rejects meticulous, complex perception of spatial and relational information, consequently permitting the right brain to take over. Blind contour drawing may not produce a good drawing; however, it helps students to draw more realistically, rather than relying on their memorized drawing symbols.^[2][4] Blind contour drawing trains the eye and hand to work as a team, and it helps students to see all of the details of the object.^[4]"  --- source, Wikipedia.

I love blind contour drawings-- there is something fun and quirky about them! It is also an exercise that anyone can do, no matter what their skill level.  I look forward to seeing my fake author's completed journal at the end of the month and, as I have done previously, I will post the work here