my journal

I have kept a journal for over 30 years. When I was young I wrote in an old ledger. It was huge. 17" x 12" tall and heavy. It had lined, numbered pages and I wrote long narratives in pen. I had that journal for several years. I finally got tired of it and moved to an 8" x 12" bound blank-page sketch book. I began writing in different colored inks, script sometimes, print other times. I began gluing in movie tickets and photos and doing collages. I have filled many, many of those sketch books. I would use one book a year. Some years I had to use more than one book. Whether I had completed the book or not I would start a new book each and every January 1st. Occassionally, I would off road to another smaller art book for special trips or themes.

About 8 years ago I began keeping my journal in a 5 1/2" x 8" unlined book that I bought from Levenger's. Levenger's sells this wonderful book called the Stanley Journal. It has a nice leather sleeve and replaceable journal incerts. I used this journal for about 6 years. As I began to paint more frequently in my journals the thinness of the paper became an issue. While the paper is lovely, it didn't handle fountain pen or markers without bleeding through.

About 2 years ago I began using a moleskine sketchbook as a journal. I've used the 5" x 8 1/4" sketchbook, plain notebook, and the squared notebook. While I love the design and feel of the book itself, none of them take water color paint well. The thinner paper of the plain notebook buckles easily and certain inks bleed through. The heavy sketchbook paper seems to have some kind of coating that causes water color paint to bead on it. However, liking the book itself, I persevered and have adjusted to this quirkiness in the moleskine sketchbook.

My most recent change in journals has been to the 3 1/2" x 5 1/2" moleskine sketchbook. The size forces me to write smaller and to journal alongside drawings and doodles. I've been using the smaller sketchbooks for about 3 years to do small drawings and paintings but haven't used them as a journal. I've filled 1/2 a dozen of these little books and carried them along with my larger journal. Too much stuff. So I'm downsizing.

With money from my mom for xmas I've purchased a cover for my moleskine sketchbook from Renaissance-Art. It fits the small book like a glove. The leather is high quality, durable and attactive. The stitching is strong and should wear well. The cover doesn't hinder the ease and comfort of the moleskine at all. Renaissance Art also makes covers for the larger sized moleskine as well. I'm pleased with this new variation of my journal. I highly recommend this product to other moleskine lovers.