12th November

This is the closest I've come to missing the deadline. I actually had to run to the post box - see how dedicated I am to this project! Of course, if I'd been a bit more dedicated I wouldn't have left it so late before sorting out that day's envelope but I'd been writing a blog post for Up All Night Again and time got away from me.

Posted: 11.59pm on 12.11.07
Returned: 14.11.07

11th November

This is one of my favourite envelopes: I love the way the ink looks more like charcoal. I achieved this effect by wetting my finger and lightly smudging the waterproof ink while it was still damp enough to smear.

Posted: 11.58pm on 11.11.07
Returned: 13.11.07

10th November

I was trying out something a little unusual here - this is a metalpoint drawing on acrylic gesso. Metalpoint is something I read about in The Drawing Book by Sarah Simblet, which I reviewed very positively over on Up All Night Again. I happened to have a brass tool sitting on the desk in my studio and was excited to accidentally discover that it made a mark on paper and an even better mark on gesso.

Simblet specifically discusses silverpoint in her book and says that it needs to be sealed to stop the marks turning brown. I didn't use any fixative on this drawing, so it will be interesting to see if it changes colour at all. However, since I used brass instead of silver it might be OK since I believe that brass is much less reactive to oxygen than silver.

Posted: 11.56pm on 10.11.07
Returned: 13.11.07

9th November

I find this drawing quite strange and I've no idea where it came from. It looks almost like an enamelled brooch and it makes me think of landscape drawing, which is something that hasn't played much of a part in The Diary Project.

Posted: 9pm on 9.11.07
Returned: 12.11.07

8th November

This drawing makes me think of marzipan. I've never liked marzipan, yet as a child I regularly made marzipan sweets to give as Christmas gifts to relatives. I loved to shape the soft almond dough into very detailed fruit shapes that I would then lovingly paint with food colouring. I wonder if the recipients ever actually ate them?

Posted: 11.53pm on 8.11.07
Returned: 10.11.07

7th November

I've noticed myself becoming much more attracted to white on black as the Diary Project has evolved - there's something about that reversal that is very appealing to me. Perhaps I'll do a series of drawings using white ink on black paper next year.

Posted: 11.53pm on 7.11.07
Returned:

6th November

I love this drawing because it makes me think of brains. I am a Zombie Queen!

Posted: 11.53pm on 6.11.07
Returned: Again, I haven't taken a note of the date it returned but it was probably 9.11.07

5th November

Oops, I forgot to note when this envelope returned. My record keeping has generally been excellent on this project - I even have a data base of the contents so that I don't accidentally repeat myself - but occasionally, I mess up and forget to write something down.

Posted: 11.50pm on 5.11.07
Returned: ? Possibly 9.11.07

4th November

I discovered that the Pental ink brushes respond much better if you work very quickly, lightly and intuitively, which seemed to naturally result in this psuedo-Chinese style. I guess that's apt since the pen brush is made in China.

Posted: 11.50pm on 4.11.07
Returned: 6.11.07

3rd November

This plant study was drawn from life but severely abstracted.

Posted: 11.45pm on 3.11.07
Returned: 6.11.07

2nd November

This very 'hairy' drawing was unusual because it was the first envelope drawn in a club (we were out at a friend's birthday party).

Posted: 11.20pm on 2.11.07
Returned: 5.11.07

1st November

I love the pale watery quality to these 'little lollipops'.

Posted: 11.53pm on 1.11.07
Returned: 3.11.07

31st October

This envelope marks the first time that I used ordinary pencil in The Diary Project. I'd been wary of it because I was worried about smudging but I needn't have worried; using an HB pencil worked just fine. In real life, this drawing has that lovely shiny graphite quality to it.

Posted: 11.52pm on 31.10.07
Returned: 2.11.07

30th October

This is a favourite image, I love the softness of the wash and the slight strangeness of the shapes.

Posted: 11.51pm on 30.10.07
Returned: 2.11.07

29th October

My partner said "I like your mushrooms" but actually this drawing was inspired by an image of some ceramics on someone's blog but then I thought, 'oh well, maybe the ceramicist got their original inspiration from mushrooms'.

Posted: 9.44pm on 29.10.07
Returned: 31.10.07

28th October

Abstracted from a photograph of barnacles - Google Images has been my firm friend throughout The Diary Project!

Posted: 11.50pm on 28.10.07
Returned: 30.10.07

27th October

I had to go back through the scanned envelopes over on Flickr for this one because I thought I'd done one that was very similar. It turned out there was one but I decided they were different enough and far enough away to let this one through.

This drawing is also notable for being on the 300th envelope!

Posted: 10.47pm on 27.10.07
Returned: 30.10.07

26th October

11.53pm seems to be one of my most popular posting times. This translates as "damn, there's only ten minutes to the deadline, I'd better go out and do it" - apparently there are exactly 3 minutes from putting my shoes on to reaching the post box. Often my envelope will have been completed for a while and I'm just putting off going out to post it, on other occasions I'll have been frantically drawing at the last minute.


Posted: 11.53pm on 26.10.07
Returned: 29.10.07

25th October

Before I did my degree, I did a part time sculpture course at a local college where I made several pieces in metal based on both insects and armour. This drawing, with its articulated plating, reminds me of those.

Posted: 9.47pm on 25.10.07
Returned: 27.10.07

24th October

I was vaguely thinking of shells when I drew this, although it doesn't particularly look like it.

Posted: 11.28pm on 24.10.07
Returned: 26.10.07

23rd October

I like the minimalism of this envelope. I seem to be getting better at 'leaving it be' and accepting very sparse drawings.

Posted: 11.50pm on 23.10.07
Returned: 26.10.07

22nd October

This makes me think of intestines, fish eggs or seaweed.

Posted: 11.27pm on 22.10.07
Returned: 25.10.07

21st October

I like the way this works on the page. Although I haven't used it all that often, I'm very fond of this sort of upside down composition.

Posted: 10.37pm on 21.10.07
Returned: 23.10.07

20th October

I've realised that I'm slightly uncomfortable with work that is too 'flowery'. That said, I do quite like this one.

Posted: 11.53pm on 20.10.07
Returned: 23.10.07

19th October

This one reminds me of smocking, a technique I've always been fascinated by - I suppose that makes sense since it's a very sculptural way of using fabric.

Posted: 11.13pm on 19.10.07
Returned: 22.10.07

18th October

Weeks after drawing it, I'm still surprised by the intensity of the yellow on this drawing.

Posted: 10.33pm on 18.10.07
Returned: 22.10.07

17th October

One of the things The Diary Project has taught me is how much I enjoy doing washes with ink. I've been experimenting with using washes on cartridge paper lately but it still tends to buckle; I think I need to try watercolour paper instead.

Posted: 10.57pm on 17.10.07
Returned: 20.10.07

16th October

I must be hungry, I'm looking at these and thinking of biscuits!

Posted: 11.36pm on 16.10.07
Returned: 19.10.07

15th October

This is probably as close as I'll ever get to actually making patchwork!

Posted: 10.34pm on 15.10.07
Returned: 18.10.07

14th October

Wow, yet more thread imagery, I hadn't realised quite how strong a theme it was that week until I uploaded this particular chunk of images. Sometime images carry over for several days like this without me realising at the time.

Posted: 10.30pm on 14.10.07
Returned: 17.10.07

13th October

I like the looseness of this drawing.

Posted: 10.21pm on 13.10.07
Returned: 17.10.07

12th October

I described these in my project journal as 'little green cup shapes' but looking at them now, they remind me more of ivy.

Posted: 11.20pm on 12.10.07
Returned: 16.10.07

11th October

I'm currently planning a series of sculptures based on thread so the image of looped and twisted threads keeps unconsciously coming up.

Posted: 11.50pm on 11.10.07
Returned: 15.10.07

10th October

The first appearance of purple in the Diary Project! I indulged in some new Inktense pencils because the set of 12 that I bought earlier in the year just didn't have enough colours for me. I now have all the colours except one, I'm still waiting for the art shop to get some more white pencils in. I didn't think the white would be useful but I've since discovered that you can use it to blend the colours together. New art materials are one of my favourite things in the world!

Posted: 8.55pm on 10.10.07
Returned: 13.10.07

9th October

A deliberate choice to 'do something messy' - sometimes I just need to cut loose. Drawn with the Pental ink brush and then softened with water.

Posted: 11.54pm on 9.10.07
Returned: 16.10.07

8th October

I wish I'd made this drawing simpler and more spread out - it reads as too cluttered and fussy to me now. Doing this project has been a great lesson in acceptance for me. I'm one of those artists who will fiddle with things forever if you let me, so doing a project where I have to make a decision and then stand by it has been quite a challenge on occasion.

Posted: 10.10pm on 8.10.07
Returned: 16.10.07

7th October

This drawing makes me think of embroidery. When I first started the project someone said they wanted to make embroideries inspired by some of my work, I wonder if they ever did?

I'm usually fine with people making work inspired by mine because all artists see things differently and what you end up with is rarely an exact copy of your starting point. Plus I get my inspiration from the things I see around me, including other people's art so it would be churlish to mind if other people are inspired by what I do. Anything that adds more art and creativity to the world is a good thing, in my view.

Posted: 9.30pm on 7.10.07
Returned: 16.10.07

6th October

I like the simplicity of this little circle caught in an almost square. Although I'm apparently incapable of drawing parallel lines, I'm never tempted to use a ruler to make geometrical shapes because I prefer these more organic shapes.

Posted: 11.53pm on 6.10.07
Returned: 16.10.07

5th October

Most of my drawings float in space, this one is unusual in being very firmly anchored to a drawn horizontal surface.

Posted: 11.23pm on 5.10.07
Returned: 16.10.07

4th October

Oh dear, I seem to be a month behind on these entries - how did that happen? Well, getting a stinking cold for several weeks certainly didn't help but it's mostly been because I've been blocked on what to say about the drawings. When I started out, I thought the drawings would be the hardest part but they've mostly been fairly straightforward. To my great surprise I've found writing the entries on this blog has consistently been the most difficult part of the project.

Posted: 11.533pm on 4.11.07
Returned: 16.10.07