Journaling Can Include More Than Writing

Colored pencils, thick markers, watercolor pastels...just have fun

I remember it so clearly, and it’s been 41 years. Eighth grade art class, and the assignment was to trace over a Sunday comic strip from the newspaper, which if you’re anywhere near my age, you remember was the “colored” comics—bigger than the weekday black-and-white strips, full color and longer. As a kid, I couldn’t wait for that section to arrive.

Easy enough, I thought. Place the tracing paper over top of the comic, and just follow the outlines with your pencil.

I got a C+. Apparently my tracing skills were not up to snuff. Or maybe my overall grade in that class was a C+? The details are fuzzy. All I know is I came away from that semester-long mandatory art class with the belief that I had no artistic talent and I could not draw, trace, paint or sketch to save my life.