Friday 30 March 2012

A is for Albatross

I've been thinking about using one of my sketchbooks to do an illustrated alphabet, and last Sunday, I finally got started on the first page. I've made a list in my notebook with ideas for each letter. It's fun to think of things, and I've already filled in a lot of the letters. But there are some letters I just can't think of anything at all at the moment. Well, was easy to choose. A stands for Albatross.


This one is a black-footed albatross. Black-footed albatrosses aren't really blue at all. They are dark grey/black, with black feet, obviously. But the photo I decided to use as a reference had a blue tinge, and I thought it just went well with my blue winter page and palette I used this week, so he turned into a blue albatross.


It's probably going to take me ages until I reach Z, with all the other things and projects I want to work on. And there are even more letters after Z to fill the remaining pages of the sketchbook. I'm not going to restrict myself to one language, but am just going to use whatever fits best. And it doesn't really matter how long it  is going to take anyway.


I took out my good old "Wahrig" dictionary to add words beginning with the letter A, which gave me a bit of a headache. Might think of something else for B. I cut out the letters from book paper and pasted them onto the page. Apparently, although acrylic ink is made from acrylic paints, it is not as water-resistant as the paint itself (or maybe, I just didn't wait long enough for it to dry properly). Some ink blobs covered up most of the mess. Must remember to mix my own liquid acrylics again for writing. It's not a big deal to do. You just add enough water, really.


Why an albatross? It's not that I have a special thing for albatrosses, let alone ever seen one. But I've recently discovered the books by Swedish author Majgull Axelsson, and I've become addicted. They are not cheerful books, often rather depressing, really, and sometimes even disturbing. They're mainly about women and their relationships as mothers, daughters, sisters, wives, and no matter what their circumstances in life are, no one is ever really happy. I've read four of her books, am reading the fifths one and have one more waiting in my bookshelf. Somehow, her books totally speak to me right now. It's their bits of wisdom I seem in need to hear at the moment. Suche as the sentence from her latest book "Moderpassion": Livet skulle ha kunnat vara mycket annorlunda. On än inte nödvändigtvis bättre. (Life could have been very different, although not necessarily better). Yes, a different life would not necessarily have been so much better. At the end, it's all about what you make of it.

My favourite book of her so far is "Den jag aldrig var". It's about MaryMarie, who's leading a sort of double life. One of her personalities is Mary, the successful minister, who, when life becomes just too much, is struck by a form of aphasia where, whenever she tries to speak, the only word that comes out is "albatross".

Anyway, it's Friday, it's almost weekend, and time for party now! 

24 comments:

  1. I love this idea because I'm new to using a sketchbook and want it to become a habit.
    Love the albatross!
    rinda

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  2. I love how this turned out. :) This sketchbook is gonna look fantastic! :)

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  3. ACH ich sag Dir was: Ich liebe Deinen Stil! Das geht mir zu Herzen - sowas macht mich glücklich und hellt mir den Tag auf!
    Danke dafür!

    auch die Blaue Stunde find ich superklasse!

    Ich freu mich auch, wenn Du wieder bei der Art Journal Journey mitmachst im nächsten Monat!

    PSSST nichts verraten.. das Thema wird für April - Handschrift -
    sein!

    lg und ein schönes Wochenende

    Susi

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  4. wow your albatros is superb. Love it. Happy PPF and have a great weekend, Annette x

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  5. Excellent sketchbook page and love the albatross ~ and your author you like ~thanks, namaste, ~ Happy Weekend ^_^

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  6. This is absolutely brilliant! Beautiful sketch and a great idea for a book :) x

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  7. What a brilliant idea. Your a pages are glorious. Love that albatros.

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  8. this is a brilliant idea and I absolutely love how you did this - the drawing of the albatross is beautiful and i love that you painted it blue. the background is fantastic - the book pages, the script and all the dots and blobs of ink and paint come together to make a really beautiful illustration. i'm looking forward to seeing the rest of the alphabet and how lucky that you are multi-lingual so have even more words to choose from!

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  9. This is a wonderful page. Wow! I love everything about it, even the ink spots. :) Your blue is gorgeous. I hadn't heard of Majgull Axelsson before, but I will look for her books.

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  10. Wonderful composition and layers of images and paint!
    I especially love your blue against the buff color!
    ♥♥♥
    Happy PPF!!
    Mary
    Mixed-Media Map Art

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  11. This is SO much fun, and such a wonderful idea... your blues are brilliant too... LOVE this.
    Happy PPF! xoxo

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  12. What a COOL idea! I could see this kind of thing being a neat art exchange! Anyway, I love your blue Albatross and the way you included all the "A" words- beautiful work!
    Happy PPF,
    Stephanie

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  13. I really like this, I spent ages looking at it. I'm glad you painted him blue. It suits him.

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  14. Absolutely fantastic! Love everything about it ♥

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  15. OMG this is so great! I love the idea of working with the alfabet and your first page is so gorgeous! Indigo colors are one of my faves. :) I can't wait to see more!

    Have a wonderful weekend xxx

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  16. I love this idea, and this first beautiful spread. Can't wait to see more.

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  17. This is beautiful--and I love the concept! Can't wait to see the other letters.

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  18. A great project and it is off to a superb start with these pages. i love your albatross - all of the details come together so well and he himself is gorgeous.

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  19. Love the blue albatross. Looks fantastic as does your journal book. Great work.

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  20. Wonderful project and a great start! Happy PPF!l

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  21. Well I don't know much about blue albatrosses but I do like this style. This is all I know about albatrosses - http://youtu.be/Z_u7VGiMO0U

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  22. Beautiful work! I bought a used dictionary from a charity shop with the intent to make an alphabet themed art book.

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