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Pencil, pen, Pitt artist pens, India henna stencil on pastel paper

IFJM Ends and Summing Up

Here are catch-up spreads in my Fake Journal.

Unlike last year, I got an idea two weeks before April 1 but felt I couldn’t start in it yet. It might have helped if I had, at least gotten some of the design clients decided and some color swatches and magazine samples done ahead of time. Because by the time I started, my enthusiasm began to wane.

However, some good things happened in keeping a Fake Journal this month:

I experimented with a new medium: Inktense pencils with stamp pad backgrounds.
I discovered a way to make a “stamp” with the pencils and had fun playing.
I learned about steampunk, which knew nothing about.
I enjoying using a larger version of the Hand Book (just the second; 2009’s Fake Journal in a smaller green was the first). I liked the way the paper took gel pens, gel brushes, Inktense pencils with water. It’s still too scratchy for Micron pens, though.

With muted enthusiasm, I almost quit early but I still had a few more spreads in Sydney’s book.

More Fake Journal Spreads

Sydney reveals more of herself, her clients, her life in her journal.

More Fake Journaling

Here are more of Sydney's mix of daydreams and client designs, part of the fake journal I'm keeping for International Fake Journal Month.

Fake Journal

In commemoration of this year’s International Fake Journal Month, we peek into the journal of Sydney Greene, a 30-something interior designer living in Santa Fe. In this journal, Sydney keeps track of her many and diverse clients as well as occasionally sketching and trying new art media. It’s her catch-all for ideas, inspirations, designs, elements, thoughts, and daydreams. She doesn’t use this to give presentation for her clients; it’s for her eyes only.

April Fake Journal Ends

The International Fake Journal Month is over and so is Ashling's journal. It has been wonderful thinking about my character's life and sketching in her journal last month.

I will miss hearing about her life in a small town in Ireland, back in 1961.

But, there is some room left unfinished in the little green journal where black pen sketches and longhand written entries graced the slightly-textured buff colored pages. The door is left ajar, in case she has more to share or draw.

More Fake Journal Sketches

As the International Fake Journal Month winds down, I've done more drawing and writing in my book, or Ashling has. It has been tremendous fun doing something I didn't know I'd like to do--sketch--and also to be a bit of a novelist inventing this person, her family, and her life.

Keeping a fake journal can allow you to step into another's shoes and view the world through their eyes, something we rarely think about as we go about our daily lives.

The last few sketches I've relied more on my travel photos from Ireland than from other sources. Probably, Ashling wouldn't have been able to visit the length and breath of the island like I did several years ago but doubtless some of the countryside she'd have recognized.

Starting a fake journal, I did not pre-plan whose life I would live for 30 days. But it has reminded me of the struggles we all face, especially women, as fellow human beings sharing the planet regardless of time period, economic position, or national origin.

Fake Journal

Since April Fool’s evening, I’ve been keeping an International Fake Journal for the month, suggested and encouraged by Roz Stendahl (http://officialinternationalfakejournalblog.blogspot.com/). My best creative work usually arrives from not thinking too much so I decided at the last moment to dive into this. Near the end of the day, I looked on my shelf for a blank journal, and got out a Sakura Pigma Micron black pen, brought up a photo I’d take on an Irish beach, and began—gasp!—sketching.

I don’t sketch! Well, I did play around with drawing when I bought the original Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. But I haven’t done much since, except when I sketch an idea in my Art Idea notebook. I don’t really count that as sketching because I’m not looking at anything as a guide to the drawing.

But, as soon as I did the first sketch, I turned the page and wrote the first entry. Slowly, a story unfolded, written by a married Irishwoman. The next day I discovered she had three children. Using either a photo of mine or one from a book, I would sketch an Irish scene. The next time I opened my book, something new would appear from the pen.

So, who is she? Her name is Ashling McDurmut, which means “dream” in Gaelic (perfect since she’s my made up dream person), she’s in her thirties, married to Ryan; their children are Sean Patrick, Ann, and little Kerry. The year is 1961. Frequently, Ashling doesn’t have time to finish a sketch or journal entry. Her husband wants another child but she does not want a large family, even though three isn’t considered large by any means in her time and place.

Choosing a blank book I haven't worked in before—a small Hand artist’s journal (3½" × 5½", portrait orientation) with a green cover (perfect!)--I find the paper is good for sketching but the Micron pens (05 and 02) are very scratchy for writing.

Last week I tested some Sakura Brush pigment pens, something new to me that I really liked, and was tempted to introducing them into the fake journal by suggesting Ashling received a gift of watercolors. But, I decided to keep this fake journal pure with just the black ink pens, which would be in any case heads and tails above anything available in her era.

Although we have little in common, although we are separated by time, culture, distance, and of course, reality, I think we have a connection.

I like Ashling and I’m enjoying my first fake journal.

Remembering Patrick McGoohan

Last Tuesday, the actor Patrick McGoohan died at age 80. After doing stage work in England, he graduated to “B” movies then switched to television, becoming the highest-paid British actor for roles in Danger Man (1/2 hour version) and Danger Man (hour version; called Secret Agent in the United States). In mid-1960’s, at the peak of his popularity, he quit that last show, turned down the role of James Bond (he thought the character immoral), and helped create, write, direct, and produce the brainy and brilliant 17 episodes of The Prisoner. He went on to create many more memorable roles in television and movies thereafter.

Although I never knew or met Patrick McGoohan, he had a huge influence on me in the 1980’s. I was working at my first full-time job and felt my mind turning to mush. Those enigmatic, puzzling episodes jolted my 9-to-5 insurance office brain, giving me much to ponder.









Seeing only the last few episodes PBS aired of The Prisoner in 1980, I was intrigued to learn more. This was long before the Internet and the Information Age. I was desperate for information about this esoteric show and little could be found. Wanting to see and discuss the complete series, I met fellow fans in person around town and by letter across the sea. From my local Star Trek club, I discovered others not only interested The Prisoner but also possessing the whole set on Beta Max tapes with a large-screen projector to study them on; high technology at the time. A friendly group gathered to watch and discuss the series, as well as Patrick McGoohan’s other works, and to socialize. It was magical.






Flourishing creatively, I wrote analytical articles and short stories based on the series. I bought the book "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" and began sketching seriously and successfully. Contributing both writings and drawings, I was published in many different fan publication dedicated to The Prisoner.












Writing frequently to a dozen pen pals spread over the U.S. and England, we shared not only our interest in the series and the actor, but also articles, photos, and our own lives. When my San Francisco pen pal enthused over her recent trip to Ireland and two other fans living in Brighton, England, invited me to stay with them, I booked my first trip abroad in 1982. The latter couple, who had met and married because of mutual Prisoner interest, very graciously took me out to tour original filming sites in southern coastal England, London, and Portmeirion, Wales, where I met more fans. Taking this trip, when I was 23 years old, helped cement my love and fascination of Ireland and the British Isles and laid the foundation for my later discoveries of ancient Neolithic and Celtic history and culture.

Finding and scanning theses old sketches, I marvel at my first real venture into art. Looking at the various fan magazines I wrote and drew for, I marvel at the output one television show inspired. Remembering all my pen pals and friends at the time, I marvel at how small connections that can bring people together.

Thank you, Patrick McGoohan, for everything. Rest in peace.