Day 17/365

I draw a lot of inspiration from colour, real time and in photos.  This post is dedicated to a small slice of my life where colour was my everything.  It couldn’t be helped, I was surrounded by it.  I’m talking about my time overseas, in Italy.

I used to be a painter, colour was one of the most important parts of that process for me. Now that I’m a bookbinder I find different ways of using colour: fancy paper, reclaimed materials, cover adornments, etc.  And when I use my own journals: pens.  Oh how I love a good spectrum of pens.  I have multiple sets of rainbow-hued markers, ballpoint pens, prismacolour, copic, sharpies, staedtler fineliners.  It’s like Christmas every time I use them, so I use them a lot!  (When I had a day job, I was the person who took one of every colour of highlighter and pen from the supply room in an attempt to brighten up an otherwise dreary cubicle).  These photos are kind of like my pen sets; inspirational, bright, they put a smile on my face and make my colour-loving self sing.

I don’t remember where all these photos were taken, I think some in Venice and some in Tuscany.  You can tell by the colour palettes of the buildings.  How amazing is that?  To know where you are by the colours of the walls lining the streets.  I do remember that green shutters were the common denominator no matter where I went.

The richness of these last two places in Florence are so intense.  A different feel from the top two bright and sunny Venice towns.  The monochromatic-like palette is a lovely collection of ochre, amber, oranges and browns.

Have you ever thought about the colours you use when journalling?  Sometimes I like to put a background wash of a light/pale colour (using the broad-tipped, sheer marker sets) on the page before writing with a matching colour on top (with a fineliner, of course).  And yes, I enjoy using more than one kind of pen/marker in a single journal entry, you should try it!  I’d love to hear about it if you do.  What are your favourite colours to journal with?