A Looney Tunes inspired design theme.
May is typically a "looney" month for me, so I thought it was only fitting to have a Looney Tunes design theme in my journal.
The Design Theme
My "Looney" Hand Painted Face Masks inspired me to do a cartoon design theme in my journal, but I didn't want to do more Tiny Toon Adventures in case the repetition bored or irritated anyone reading this blog post or watching the YouTube video.
Then I remembered why I do the things I do and share my experiences publicly: I'm selfishly doing what I want for the fun of it with hopes that someone, somewhere finds its mildly entertaining.
I decided to do a Looney Tunes theme in my journal. I referenced my old high school planner for character ideas. The planner had many popular characters modeled in different positions that fit my journal page layouts.
Title
For the title page, I sketched Bugs Bunny, my all-time favorite Looney Tunes character, exactly as he appears in my old high school planner.
I outlined the artwork with an archival pen. I don't recall what the tip size is, but it was too thick for parts of this and other designs on the next few pages.
I used a mix of Crayola brand and unlabeled colored pencils to color the design. The unlabeled pencils went onto the page smoothly and blended well. If I knew what brand they were, I'd buy more colors.
To continue practicing my shadowing skills, I used a blending stump to lightly add shadows to the lighter parts of the artwork. It worked well and erased easily when I smudged areas I didn't intend to smudge.
I wrote the words "What's Up, May 2021?" with an alcohol ink brush marker. I wanted to practice my brush lettering on this page.
Calendar Overview
The calendar overview is where I note important dates I want to document in my journal.
The larger calendar fills much of both pages. I note events such as birthdays, appointments, and holidays within the appropriate block that represents a day in the month. During the month, I'll make a short note of something that happened. For example, in April I noted the day when my senior dog's legs gave out and he couldn't move for several minutes. It was a sad moment that reminded me how much he's aged.
On the left, I have a mini calendar for next month and another box where I'll note next month's events coming soon. I like being able to visually see ahead to things I may need to be aware of before those days come.
If you've seen past journal designs, you may recall I used to have another box where I listed the month's tasks. Tasks and to-do lists are now going into My 1st Actual Bullet Journal where I'll try Ryder Carroll's bullet journal method for a few months. This gave me more room to add an extra Looney Tunes character on the left.
I added Tweety Bird, Foghorn Leghorn, and Spike to some blank areas of the pages. I struggled pre-sketching Foghorn Leghorn and Spike because I've never attempted to draw them before. There were many erases and re-sketches before I got them to look OK.
Highlights and Trackers
Every night, I write a line of text highlighting one good thing about that day on my highlights page. Usually, I write about a simple thing that made me happy. Even on the worst days, I try to think about a highlight of that day to write down. This page is intentionally left blank since I'll fill it in throughout the month.
On the trackers page, I note when I complete my favorite hobbies. While many journal enthusiasts track multiple habits, tracking my favorite hobbies reminds me to not forget to dedicate time for myself and happiness. The hobbies I track are:
arts + crafts,
writing,
gaming, and
workout.
My dogs' care and happiness are equally important. I track the following for my dogs:
when they go for a joy ride,
when they received teeth care with brush chews or tooth brushing,
when I've cared for their coat with a brush, leave-in shampoo, or bath,
when they participated in extended or extra playtime, and
when something unusual happens with my senior dog.
The column titled "OH OH" is new this month. Shadow, my senior dog, is starting to show his older age. He's had a couple accidents in the car during a short drive to the grocery store or drive-thru restaurant. His back legs failed him a few times, causing him to fall in place and not move for several minutes.
I don't know if it's important to track when these things happen since they're commonly a part of growing old, but I thought I'd start documenting them just in case.
I added Silvester and Henery Hawk to these pages. I wish I remembered Junior before writing this post. I probably would've added him above the dogs' trackers in place of Henery Hawk.
Mood and Bingo
I treat my mood tracker page as a coloring page of sorts. Each night, I'll color-in something that represents my overall mood for that day: awesome, meh, bad/sad, or sick.
Figuring out what shape to use for this page that related to Looney Tunes was challenging. I wanted something I could draw with ease.
An image of Pepe le Pew and Penelope, his feline love interest, was in my old high school planner. I saw that image and thought hearts floating above them could be filled in with different colors and not look strange. Drawing these characters were the most challenging of all because they had the least number of details in my old high school planner. I think I did an OK job at representing them the best I could.
I used to setup a websites & stuff page adjacent to the mood tracker, but I've moved that into My 1st Actual Bullet Journal. Since I'm used to setting up one additional page in my journal, I decided to make myself a bingo for fun.
I previously made a bingo page in my November 2020 Journal Design, but I couldn't achieve a bingo. I have hopes that I'll be able to at least get a straight line and convince myself to buy a new video game I don't need. If I somehow get a full cover all, I'll convince myself to buy a bicycle that I also don't need.
Taz the Tasmanian Devil is one of my favorite Looney Tunes' characters. I added him pointing up to this page because I couldn't imagine a design without him.
My Thoughts
This was a fun design theme to create. It reminded me of my love of the Looney Tunes characters when I was younger.
There are many other characters I love but didn't include in this design. I may need to setup another Looney Tunes design theme another month.
What's Next?
I've been crafting a lot lately, so I'll share my thoughts and experiences on some crafts with you soon.
Have you setup your May journal design? Login and Sign up to share what theme you went with and what materials you used to create it.
Don't forget to subscribe below to be notified by email when I post something new.
Thanks, and have a great day!
Simply Jelly Jam
Comments