Introduction new.pub

Introduction
Field Notes:
Mixed Media
Sketching
829.0
Coles, Juliana
A Book of
Reminders
Intro/
Booklet 1
With Juliana
Coles
Notice of Copyright:
All rights reserved. Once these educational materials, herein
described as “workshop” have been downloaded/printed for
your private use in adherence to terms of contract for use,
please do not distribute these materials in any way through
reproduction or by email. This curriculum is available for
nonnon-commercial use only.
No part of this “workshop” may be used or reproduced in
any manner inconsistent with use in a course of study without written permission from Juliana Coles. No part of this
“workshop” may be used to teach or facilitate others. Any
artwork you create using my methods is your own. While
you may incorporate my methods into your teaching, practice, or therapies, please do not use this “workshop” or these
materials as your curriculum. And at least if you do use
them, against any authors /artists “moral rights” please at
least credit me. Do not use my soul child as your own or
claim it as your own.
My terms and terminology are created and copyrighted by
Juliana Coles and relate soley to the process of Extreme
Journaling®
Journaling® and should not be used in conjunction with any
other methodology.
All “workshop” content, unless otherwise noted, is copyrighted by Me and Pete Productions. Unauthorized use of any
content constitutes unlawful, unkind, and unethical use of
my soul child, as well as serious copyright infringement.
This will be extremely damaging to your Karma and will constitute grounds for expulsion from the Institute, ridicule in
the tribal council forum, and serious retribution from the universe.
Every reasonable attempt has been made to identify owners
of copyright. Errors or omissions will be corrected in
subsequent editions.
-1-1-
Thank You
-CONTENTSField Notes
Booklet 1 Contains the
Introduction to “Field Notes”
Introduction
Technical info pg. 4-7
What is an Extreme Visual Journal? pg.7
Class Description pg. 7-10
What is an Artist Sketchbook? pg.11-12
Choosing a book pg.14–17
Resource and Reference Library pg.14
Introduction: Summary
of Tasks pg.15
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Field Notes
Introduction
Welcome to Field Notes: Mixed media sketching! By now you
will have received 2 invites for the workshop– one from Ning
and one from Shutterfly! I know using both and having to go
back and forth seems complicated and like a pain in the ass,
and it is at first, but once you get used to it, it will be easy.
Ning.com will have all the links for the lesson plans and audio
files, as well as our discussion forum groups ( more on that in a
minute), and shutterfly.com will have all the video. It’s important that you have both to get the most out of this workshop, so
make sure you have your account, membership, or profile
pages set up. This is your Introductory Chapter booklet.
There’s a lot to read through to get started and a general outline of how this class works, so pull up a chair and grab a cup
of tea…
Getting to know you
Mixed
MEdia
And please, I know some of you don’t like to, but please please
post some of kind of picture for a profile pic, at least on ning– it
can be anything. That way, when you post, I can connect your
picture to your postings and feel like I am getting to know you.
It’s harder to relate to a blank square or my logo showing up.
You will also be able to connect with other members as we go
along or share things privately with new friends, so I encourage
you to set up your profile page with your pic right now if you
haven’t done it. Go ahead, I’ll wait….(at the very very top of
the workshop page, above the banner, you will see your name
and a sign in/sign out tab. Make sure you are signed in. Then
click on your name and your profile page will come up, then
click on settings - this is in a gold box on the top right...).
Finding this class
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(a little like finding Nemo…) You will be able to access the
Field Notes main
workshop page, or group,
as it is called on ning,
by going to the
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extremejournalism.ning.com home page, sign in at the very top,
and then your groups should show up on your profile page. Or
you can click on the “groups” icon on the tool bar ( don’t click
on “workshops,” that will take you to the workshop descriptions). Click on your Field Notes Group icon there. There will
always be links on Shutterfly to get back to ning and vice versa.
I know, I know, a lot of running around, but trust me, this is
the best way I’ve found to set this up to get the most out of
your online workshop experience, as well as keep it organized
for me...
If you are having any technical trouble, you can always email
me at [email protected], or you can post a “comment” at
our Field Notes ning page. Someone else in the workshop will
be using a mac or their i-phone and can talk you through it.
Do not give up because you can’t figure it out. I am willing to
call you and talk you through it step by step. I am not a very
technical person and so I know how frustrating it can be– just
email me and we’ll figure it out. Really.
A New Chapter
Each week I’ll be posting a new chapter or
lesson plan in the form of a pdf “booklet.”
You’ll receive email notification when new
booklets, video, comments or posts are
made on ning. I like to make sure my
email notification is on so I can look at
postings as they come. If you wait and do
it all at once, it can be overwhelming.
Each Chapter’s booklet will be accessed
through Field Notes ning page. Near the
top of the page there is an instruction box that will have all the
links. Click on pdf files, and that will take you to a page that
houses all the pdf and audio
files. Then you just
scroll down to the appropriate
chapter. Really, you
can’t get lost, I’ve got links
everywhere so its
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always easy to get back and forth. You can also access shutterfly from this same instruction box to access the video.
Each chapter will consist of tons of text– I know I know I talk
too much, with a few assignments and homework. Each lesson
plan builds on the one before it, so don’t skip a chapter or an
assignment. And don’t worry about keeping up. Work at your
own pace. Most chapters/booklets have way to much for a
busy person to do in just a week, so don’t worry about it. Our
main focus is developing a practice. This is not a workshop,
it’s a way of life. A way of documenting the world around us
that keeps us connected to the beauty of life by truly looking
at something other than our i-phone or laptop screens.
Tribal Council
The heart and soul of this workshop will be our discussion
groups– I refer to these in your chapters as tribal councils. I
encourage you to post. We are not posting to show what great
artists we are or how good we are at sketching, we are posting
to learn. We will learn from each other. It will be scary at
first, but it is important that you do it. You will get supportive
and meaningful feedback from me and genuine insights and
heartfelt responses from your fellow travelers. You will learn
much more from each other than from me. So post, it is where
you will gain your greatest strength and confidence in sketching.
Every assignment and every homework assignment will have
it’s own discussion group. It will be listed in the box
“discussion groups.” At the bottom of that box you will click
on “view all.” You will then scroll through by chapter, find
your assignment, then click on that. There you will see everyone’s sketches, postings and comments for that assignment.
It’s cool!
When you click on “view all” there is a “search” box which
will be helpful, because after a few chapters and tons of assignment it becomes
time consuming to scroll
through everything.
Each assignment in the discussion group will
also list what page number
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the assignment appears on. These page numbers refer to the
page numbers at the bottom of the pdf booklet itself, not the
numbers in the pdf or adobe toolbar.
The pdf files will have the assignments. The video support
the assignment but are not the assignment itself, so please
don’t rush through all the video. Stay with each step of the
process.
Don’t get overwhelmed by all of this, just let your eyes glaze
over. The instructions for the workshop are also listed in the
instruction box on the Field Notes ning page, so don’t worry,
it will all be repeated. Okay, I think that’s it for the technical
stuff. We’ll have a walk through and a practice run to help
figure everything out so you don’t need to worry about it
right now, but I wanted to include all this in the introduction
for easy reference later so you’ll always have access to it. If
you have any questions, please email me at
[email protected], or use the “comment box.”
Expedition
Welcome, finally, to the not-so-secret society of sketchers:
an expedition team of budding as well as seasoned sketchers and Visual Journalists on a Sketching Tour de Force!
Head out on a sketcher’s stake out and learn to combine
notes from the field with sketches to create a book of reminders that begins with your own imagery. This unique
book will become a constant traveling companion: an
enlightened witness to a remarkable journey.
Sketchers, pack your gear and create on site: while traveling, camping, picnicking, with friends at a cafe, alone in a
restaurant, in your own backyard, at a store, a gallery,
anywhere you can go, your journal/sketchbook as testament to the journey, will travel with you. These simple
drawings, collages, mixed
media, writings and
observations will be the
foundation for your
Extreme Visual Journaling
process when you
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return to the studio in Section 2 to deepen the experience,
but let’s not get ahead of ourselves...
The power of this workshop will be enhanced by sharing
with fellow journalists in optional discussion forums to gain
valuable insight into your work from myself as facilitator
and moderator, while also receiving tremendous support
and super cool ideas from your newfound tribe.
Typically, as many of you
know, Extreme Visual
Journaling is something
done privately in a studio
setting; at a desk or table
with our myriad supplies
set before us. But summer
is nearly here, and it’s
time to get out of the
house! This Online workshop is going to turn Visual Journaling into a
sketch, and a sketch into
visual journaling. Have
Sketchbook Journal, will
travel. For the purposes
of this workshop ( and my book!) we’re going to call this
process mixed media sketching.
Explore artist as traveler whether you are planning a trip or
staying home. Your assignment as journalist on site, reporter in the field, or sketcher on stake out, will be to capture moments in time by combining sketching ( yes you
can!), easy collages, and mixed media with thoughts, memories and ideas, snippets of conversations overheard, words
from songs, etc., with
creative lettering techniques.
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Oh I know, I really hate to call it sketching or drawing; so many of
us are intimidated by that, so we’ll call it notetaking. That’s really
all it is. You can all draw, though it may not be how you expect it
or how you think it should look. So people are convinced they
can’t do it. Not good at it. Don’t know how. (Don’t want to know
how!) Can’t draw a stick figure. Can’t even draw a straight line.
Well I will show you otherwise, because drawing a straight line has
nothing to do with expression or collecting evidence. The Visual
Journalist uses drawing in order to document the world around hernot to be a great artist or render a perfect image. There’s little life
in that. Drawing is simply note taking. Drawing is research.
Drawing is learning to see and to make comparison‘s between this
and that. A scratch here, a line there, that we carve through our
years and smear across the pages of our Visual Journal. This is not
drawing 101. We will not be learning any boring mechanical drawing exercise taught in art school. I am going to challenge you to
redefine what drawing is and how it should look while you learn to
make marks in your own unique style, in your own strange and
beautiful hand through my pioneering methods of Expressive
Drawing and Mixed Media Sketching. But drawing and sketching is
only part of our explorations out in the field!
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Your task then, as Extreme Journalist become sketcher extraordinaire, will be to take these notes from the field and return
to the studio for further and deeper exploration. Doing our
inner work in public, while on vacation, on the road, or on
location is not so easy, and can be far too intense (as I learned
in Greece), so we begin in the field by taking notes and playing. Then we expand on these notes back at the ranch, or studio, by developing our pages from these random collage items
gathered in the field, incomplete doodles, vague, kooky, fun,
playful, gestural sketches and written notes into a solid
foundation for expressing our personal mythology:
the legendary tales of ourselves.
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Gestural
My drawing and sketching assignments are fun and easy and no
matter what you say about your ability, talent or experience, everyone can do these assignments and feel like a success! It’s time to
get
outside whoever you think you are (or aren’t) and take
notes, watch carefully, and pay attention to the world
around you. Not a day goes by without signs and symbols calling out to you: learn to record and incurporate this synchronicity into your Sketchbook
Journal. You won’t need magazines, rubber stamps
or stock images: the stuff of your life is the real
journey into juicy raw imagery that only you
can create. Take the time to see the sacred in
the everyday. Your life has meaning.
I did this Travel Journal Page
while looking in the bathroom mirror on a ferry ride from Athens to
Mykonos, Greece!
Summer
SKETCHING?
Let’s Clarify: What is an
Extreme Visual Journal?
What is the difference between diaries, art journals, scrapbooking and memory making, sketchbooks, altered books, artist
books, and Visual Journals? Some of these terms are very specific and have their own definitions, while others can be used interchangeably. I have a unique definition for my process, and
use the term Extreme Visual Journals as the container for that
process. A Visual Journal is a blank book, sketchbook, altered
book, scroll, used scrapbook, antique photo album, classical record set, a well traveled atlas, a worn wallet with pages stapled
in, antique handkerchiefs sewn together, or any other form that
might be considered or used as a book. These Visual Journals
come in all shapes and sizes with rice paper, Bristol paper, watercolor paper, old ledger paper, graph paper, notebook paper,
glittery paper, painted paper, whatever anyone can imagine.
What makes these books Extreme Visual Journals is the act
of combining journal writing assignments such as non-dominant
handwriting, letter writing, Declarations of Independence, lists,
dreams, word associations, etc. with art making assignments such
as collage, sketching, drawing and painting, photography, rubber stamping, totem/fetish creating, and various mixed media
techniques to create a unique book of self expression. In a visual
journal, we are after the rich interior. We are concerned with
our own and unique inner, ancient wisdom. We want to find our
voice, our style, our flair for life, by documenting our past, present and future in a book. We are NOT concerned with making
art. We are NOT concerned with a product or pretty picture.
We want to know how to unfold and in that moment, there is remarkable beauty on the page we did not know we possessed.
An artist’s sketchbook, on the other hand, while personal,
is not necessarily private. We see artists out and about sketching
the world around them- they don’t need to hide what they do,
nor do they feel ashamed - it’s just practice, note taking, observation, and not an attempt to be great. Learning to see and hear
and then translating that vision or voice to the paper or journal
involves practice, practice, practice, and that is how we eventually make great art or write that incredible poem. And most often, it is by accident.
Daily Practice
But an Extreme Visual Journal is an altogether different and entirely private affair. It is not meant to share with anyone, let
alone passersby on the street or fellow customers in a café. It is a
witness protection program, a place to go for safe keeping. It is
not for public consumption or viewing. So we extreme journalists
tend to create in isolation because we need to protect our inner
voices. And that’s fine in the Winter, a time of hibernation. But
it’s Summer in the city: it is time to get out! So we will learn various sketching and journaling assignments that we can explore as
reporter in the field. We can go anywhere and do anything and
document it all along the way without fear of our inner most feelings, incomplete ideas and tender memories being exposed. We
will use our extreme visual journal as more of a combination
sketchbook scrapbook notebook as we set up our pages out in the
field.
WELCOME, TO THE REVOLUTION
REVOLUTION
11
o
12
You don’t have to be a world traveler to see the world: it is
right in your own backyard, on your front porch, out your window, down the street, at your favorite cafe, or pressed between
the pages of a sketchbook as extreme visual journal. It’s time to
get out of the studio, workshop, or home office and take a field
trip or road trip with your “Journal Mobile Unit.” You won’t
need a lot of mixed media materials but you will need a basic
Sketching/Journaling kit that will contain your book as well as
a few supplies. Each Journalist’s day tripping kit will be different as it reflects each individual’s unique needs. Become artist
as tourist, as distant traveler, as pilgrim on a summer art tour
and learn to document the world around you. These are fun
and easy projects designed for the beginner as well as the seasoned visual journalist. You can even do it with the whole family! (I hope they’ll all sign up...)
Your lesson plans will include many sketchbook journal dates
in the field as well as road trips to help you develop your travel
kit from choosing your Sketchbook Journal, to gathering supplies, to journal bag or whatever container will be necessary to
become your Journal Mobile Unit. In the studio or at art conventions or workshops, journalists typically bring too much
crap: you will be surprised by what you can do with very little.
You won’t need any fancy or expensive supplies. You will love
how these quick notes and sketches become intricate Extreme
Visual Journal pages as I give you the tools to complete
these gestural images with creative assignments aimed
at guiding you to explore your mythology. Many of
these sketches will be great as is, without further
need for information or embellishment.
Sketchers, it is time to pack your journal bags
for the journey of a lifetime. For all levels of
drawing/writing experience and personal
growth. We are all seekers.
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To get started, you will need to find a
book...Think of some things that could be used
to house your art and words in a book format…Don’t worry, you can always start another,
and another...
Uncover, Discover, Recover
Your book is an extension of YOU. Pick it
up. How does it feel? Put your hands
around it, touch the pages- it must feel
right - like an old friend, or a new one
you instantly fall in love with. Will it
be leather bound-do you imagine your story
to be an Out of Africa or an Indiana Jones
Discovery Book? Should you alter
Grandma’s old cookbook, or even your own
baby book? Should it be brand new, pristine, a clean slate to begin your journey
fresh? Only you can decide.
Starting a new book is fun, but you can always use a book
you all ready have. Maybe it’s a sketchbook you started
years ago, or a notebook with graph paper from college,
or a journal or a blank book or a book you make
specifically for this purpose. I have some samples
of sketchbooks and journals I would like to share with you
from my Enchanted Studio. It might give you some
ideas to help you choose your book. You
probably have a great idea all ready…
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Choose Me
DOCUMENTATION:
Finding your Extreme Visual Journal for Field Notes, or rather letting it find you, will be easy. You may have a great book, full of potential, lying around the house that someone gave you years ago. Or
one you started, but didn’t get very far in. You can use a blank
book, journal, sketchbook, you can alter a book and use any kind of
book with any kind of paper. It can be good quality paper, it can be
cardstock, it can be water color paper, it can be graph paper, tracing
paper, lined notebook paper, it doesn’t really matter because we can
always change our minds and our paper as we go. Size will be the
greatest consideration as we make decisions regarding our Journal
Mobile Unit. How will you get around conveniently with your journal and supplies, because is if it’s not easy, or if it’s a burden, you are
not going to do it. Think about it: will you need a special journal
bag? Or a box or basket you can carry? Should your book fit neatly
into your purse or in your pocket? Consider what is going to work
for you but keep in mind this will be trial and error, and we will constantly be making alterations along the way, packing and repacking.
I bet you all ready have a million ideas! You may want to journal
about it or discuss it verbally with a trusted friend or supportive
family member to brainstorm, get your ideas out in the open, and
get to know what your needs and desires are.
For me, I like to put my thoughts and ideas down on paper. So I
don’t know if this is really a journal writing exercise, maybe it’s a list
making experiment, but it is definitely our very first assignment.
You don’t need a special
book for this so don’t
worry about having to
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Prepping Pages
No, not quite yet, but whichever book or journal you choose you
will have to test it out first to see if you like it and so you may want
to explore a few different options. And you may need a few different ones anyway for different experiences and various journeys.
Like what you take to a
coffee shop or restaurant
may be completely
different than what you
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Read All About it...
First Assignment Journal Writing to discover
your perfect book :
THE PERFECT BOOK
Finding a Book:
find your book before getting started. Some loose scrap paper
will be fine. I have separate writing journals I maintain, in
addition to my visual journals, as tandem or companion
pieces, so I always have somewhere to do my writing.
You can write free form or you can make a list, but I
want you to brainstorm about what you would like or
what you think you need in terms of a book for this work
shop ( we’ll figure out our supplies and our journal mo
bile unit in the next chapter!). So what do you think?
Big? Small? We’ll figure out the logistics later, like how
to pack it up, but for now, but try to imagine what your perfect
book would look like. What kind of paper? Thick, thin? A book
with various papers and textures? Do you want to work in a
series or one thick book? Do you need it to be light, convenient? Do you think you need it to fit inside something? Do
you want to alter a special themed book? (Whichever book you
choose we will be doing prep work, so don’t let concerns about
how to alter, or how to create thicker paper or texture stop you
from choosing a book.) Go ahead and write it down. You are
not committed to anything. You can always change your mind.
But we start by starting. So sometimes it helps to get your
hand to the page- you could begin by writing... “my perfect
book would be...or looks like... or I wish...or I need or I want,”
or anything that resonates that might help you get at the answers you seek. Because it’s funny, you know, that which we
make tangible soon manifests itself. But we have to make our
desires known. So go ahead, start writing or list making, and
see where that takes you, and see if it helps you find your
book...
will need at a park or on a hike. You can also alter a book for
this process, and I recommend preparing your pages before
you head out into the field.
Library Sales, used book stores, junk and thrift stores - and don’t
forget kids books! These are great resources for finding books to
alter at a good price. But I bet you have a great book lying around
your house!
There are many ways to alter and prep our pages, and we
will discuss this in later chapters. It’s fun to work on different textures and backgrounds, so we will learn many exciting
ways of setting up our pages for future exploration both on
site, and at home, for more in depth explorations in our studio. If your pages are too thin, you can always glue pages
together, build them up with collage, gesso them, etc. So pick
the book that seems to choose you, that calls out to you.
Don’t set it aside saying, no, not this... too thin, too whatever.
If the book seems to say “pick me pick me,” as if raising it’s
tiny hand, then you really have to pick it because it has
something important to teach you. We will practice all kinds
of cool set up later so don’t worry about prepping pages for
now. We’ll go into this more later, but be considering all this
as you begin to contemplate choosing your sketchbook Journal for Field Notes….
When you get a chance, go to shutterfly to Check out the
video where I share with you some of my Sketchbooks to
give you some ideas for possible book forms and help you
choose the book that’s right for you!! The videos will all be
listed by name, assignment, and chapter!
And while you are considering all of this in terms of searching for the perfect book for your process and practice of
notetaking on the go, start looking around for containers for
your Journal Mobile Unit.
A journal bag? A
basket? A plastic tub or
carrying case? How
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will you fit in your book/supplies? Everything will
work in tandem: the book, the container and supplies.
We’ll need to limit our supplies- this is not our studio, nor
do we want it to be. I will give a list of necessary supplies in the
next chapter, and then you will be able to add to my list what you
like to work with. It all needs to be easy: easy to pack, easy to
carry, easy to get around. So start looking around your house
and get a feel for what may work. Collect it all with a few different options so that we can begin to put into practice our Extreme
Visual Journaling on the go...
Resource and Reference Library:
Artist’s Sketchbooks
My favorite books are facsimiles of artists’ sketchbooks. I am more interested in
how artists work and how they feel as humans. Typically artists’ sketchbooks
are more raw and energetic than their detailed artworks. Sketchbooks are the
stuff of real life vibrating with dynamic energy. I especially love those that incorporate text/ collage! Here are some of my favorites and many of them verge
on becoming... or merge with Visual Journaling:
Dan Eldon’s, “The Journey is the Destination”
Candy Jernigan’s, “Evidence”
Frida Kahlo’s, “The Diary of Frida Kahlo”
William Burrough’s, “Ports of Entry”
Orson Welles, “Les Bravados” (this man was so
incredibly multitalented!)
Sabrina Ward Harrison, “Spilling Open”
Merce Cunningham’s “Other Animals” (very sweet!)
Christian Schellewald’s “LA><SF: A Sketchbook
from California” (Simply Great!)
Kim Donaldson’s “Africa” (Incredible!)
Danny Gregory’s “Everyday Matters”
Jennifer New’s, “Drawing from Life”
Drawing
from Life -18-
All Chapters will have a summary of tasks on the very last page of
the Booklet so you can easily go through and find your assignments. Typically you will have a main assignment with some
homework assignments. If you are following along on a weekly
program with me, I recommend doing the main assignment(s),
and then picking 1 or 2 homework assignments if you time. You
can always come back to it.
Most of the chapters have an audio file you can download and
copy to a cd or i-tunes and listen while you work. Try to develop a
system for yourself that works and that will keep you motivated to
commit to this workshop. Set up definite studio/stake out time.
Create a weekly practice for yourself and stick to it. We will continue to work on this and refine it as we go along. We don't expect
to have it perfect right off the bat.
-SUMMARY- INTRODUCTION
Tasks:
Brainstorm “Perfect” book for Extreme Visual
Journal through journal writing or listmaking!
Check out video: “My SketchBooks”
Download Audio: Field Notes: Introduction
The Chosen One
When you’ve chosen your book or books, even if you aren't sure,
you’re just thinking about it, assessing your possibilities, I want
you to post your book to the “Choosing a Book” discussion
forum so we can practice posting images (you can change your
mind at any time! The instructions for posting images are also in
the instruction box on the Field Notes ning page).
First, click on the discussion group ( if there are a lot of assignments posted, you will need to click on “view all” at the bottom of
the discussion box. That will open a new page. There will be a
white box where you can reply to discussion. At the top of that
white box is a toolbar. On the toolbar, click the second icon which
is a picture. That will ask you to browse your computer. In the
pixels box, you may have to change the size of your image if it is
too big/too small. Then click on add reply! DO NOT ADD PCITURES AS AN ATTACHMENT. Please use the method described
above. You can add a written description such as what size, what
kind of paper, etc., why you chose your book, or post your
pic &say nothing...
19
Tribal Council
1.)Show /describe/ discuss the book you are
thinking of working in and why under “Choosing
a Book.” (This does not have to be definite,
this is just our introduction, we are simply
brainstorming here)
2.) Please share with each other in the “All
Chapter’s Resource and Reference Library” discussion group your favorite artist sketchbooks!
We’ll be adding to our library as we go along…
End of Introduction Chapter!
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