wowie wow new art journal

friendship ended with art block, now creativity is my best friend

Feb 14, 2025

hail and well met, traveler. my brother gave me a sweet new sketchbook for christmas which was very nice of him (i gave him a crocheted rat). the paper’s a really interesting texture, idk how to describe it. it’s relatively thin and not smooth, but it immediately shreds when you try to erase on it. it holds watercolor pretty well though, which is great news! also its name is toby

a black, clothbound sketchbook with a patch of the pokemon "Mew" sewed to the front of it

toby originally had a leather cover with a heart but ngl that wasn’t really my vibe so i sewed a new cover for it, complete with patches. i dont think my brother would mind.

a black, clothbound sketchbook with a patch of the pokemon "Mew" sewn to the front, with a flap covering it. the flap has a red and black Green Day patch sewed to it

the back of a black, clothbound sketchbook with several colorful patches sewn to it, including roses, a fish, a rainbow, faces, and a sun and moon

i’m no stranger to weird paper, and imo it’s always fun to let the paper you’re working with add dimension to the piece. i’ve actually done a LOT of spreads so far and i’ve come up with a few goals for this art journal, but i’ll get to that in a second.

an art journal spread with the text "Cheridomingo" and floral motifs

an art journal spread with drawings of food on one page, and a drawing of a guy on the other

i talked in my last issue about how i’ve been dealing with a pretty massive art block since august. it was pretty scary to go from making art with all of my free time to just… nothing. but towards the end of january, i got into watching “a week in my life as an art student” videos and sketchbook tours and short video essays about the importance of sketching from life. these videos really inspired me and, as i knew it was going to, my creativity began to come back.

an art journal spread with a motel 6 parking permit, a taco bell receipt, and a playlist titled "Weighted Blanket"

an art journal spread with a journal entry on one page and a tomato with legs and a face on the other

i took two really important things away from those videos: 1) it doesn’t matter if the drawing looks bad, it doesnt matter what you’re drawing, it just matters THAT you’re drawing, and 2) i’m not going to be happy with my art unless i start pushing myself out of my comfort zone. so my rules for toby are to push myself, to document the everyday, to draw a lot, and most importantly, to follow the joy!

an art journal spread with a sketch of a person sitting down, a list of faveorite happell roan songs, and a list of sketchbook rules

an art journal spread with a journal entry on one page and a drawing of seven people on the other

so anyway, long story short, i’ve been doing a lot of art, and it’s been making me so happy!!! i’ve been having so much fun in toby collaging and painting and drawing and journaling and writing silly to do lists. i’m having a blast :)

speaking of journaling

my journal’s also pretty slick if i do say so myself! this is where i sort out my messy messy thoughts and feelings and collect a lot of my ephemera, by stapling and paperclipping it in the pages :]

a colorfully collaged composition book with pictures of a skull, an illustrated grinning cat, stamps, a lemon, and hello kitty

the back of a colorfully collaged composition book with a picture of a person covering their face, cat stickers, stamps, and a map

it’s almost full, i bought a new one but am yet to embark on collaging the covers. i also still have my old journal from like 2021-2022. it was tarot themed i guess

a dark, painted composition book. it's purple with a drawing of the magician tarot card

the front is the magician and the back was supposed to be the hierophant reversed, but i never got around to finishing it. there was some tape i’d put on it to make a clean border while painting, and katie wrote me a bunch of sweet lil notes on the tape when i left it lying out one day. so i’d rather just leave it as is :p

jam’s jams

today’s music is this heart wrenching live performance from three days grace. i used to LOVE this band back in middle school while i was piggybacking on my brother’s emo phase. they’ve recently released a new song in collaboration with their original vocalist AND the new guy THEY SING TOGETHER AND IT’S INCREDIBLE and you can listen to it here but you can also just enjoy original adam’s sweet sweet voice telling you that it’s freaking not too late!!!!! i love this song it’s so beautiful

brief eyeball pants update plus essential willem photo

if you read my first newsletter you may remember that i’m crocheting a pair of granny square pants. i’m making super slow progress on them because honestly, after doing this granny square pattern many dozens of times, i’m feeling pretty over it. but i thought i’d include a pic of all the ones i have finished, plus all the ones i still have to finish. toothbrush for scale.

three stacks of crocheted granny squares with a small pile of unfinished squares in front of them

hopefully i can get my booty in gear and finish this up because i really wanna wear these pants!!!!! need those pants!!!! love the fit willem need those pants!!!!

a text conversation screenshot where one person sends a picture of Willem Dafoe and says "gimme those pants willem i need those pants"

you should comment your fave willem dafoe movie. mine’s NOSFERATU. i literally will not shut the fuck up about nosferatu. anyway that’s all i’ve got for u today. i think i’m going to start doing these more frequently but idk for sure yet. there will definitely be an end of february post about a very silly and cool art exercise i’m doing with someone special :] i hope u eat some good snacks today and get some rest and generally enjoy life!!!!!

best wishes,
james rice

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