Hello Copic readers! In our previous blog, we began this mini-project series on how to create your own travel journal by sketching and outlining two cover designs. Today, we will move inside our journals, where we will sketch and outline two different weekly inserts. And with that, let’s pick up our pencils, erasers, Multiliner pens and get started!

The above templates are two different formats you can use to plan your week ahead. One follows a left-right format, similar to how the stamp cover design was drawn in our previous blog here, while the other shows the week ahead seamlessly across both pages. Depending on the type of drawing you’ll be sketching and how much space you’ll want to write in per day of the week, the square space in the left-right format might be a better choice for you compared to the long, horizontal space in the seamless option. Whichever insert you choose, we’ll show you how both of these can be used in the following step!

Pressing lightly to the paper, the artist sketched a typical canal scene of the city of Venice, Italy for the first template option. Using an HB pencil, the artist worked quickly to capture the energy of the vibrant city, not concerned with lines going outside of the designated area; this can be erased later! For the second template option, the artist sketched the city of Venice from outside the city, highlighting the Adriatic Sea more than the amazing city architecture. 

Whatever it is that you choose to draw, just be sure that the illustration fits with the format of the space you’re working with. Showing off the beautiful horizon of a city is a lot easier to do with a panoramic format; while capturing a good meal, a busy street, or shopping excursion can be done in a square or vertical format.  

The next step in creating our week-ahead inserts is to outline our pencil sketches with a Multiliner pen(s). The artist used Black 0.3 and 0.5 pens for both templates, capturing the smaller details in the backgrounds with the narrower 0.3 and the thicker lines in the foreground with 0.5. Using two nib sizes can be an easy way to create line variation without needing to apply multiple layers of lines.

Notice too how the artist includes little doodles around the days of the week for both templates. These little “memories-on-site” create a contrast between the larger detailed illustrations and function like one-of-a-kind stickers! The artist didn’t trace over all of the original doodles either - in fact, they added many more doodles all over the place! In the next step, the reason why the artist did this will become apparent.

The next step is probably obvious – erasing your pencil marks. This step helps to see clearly the quality of your line work and if there are any areas that you missed or need to go over again with another layer. This step also is a great time to take a step back and see how your composition looks: is it too busy? Are there lines you can take away (digitally)? Am I going to be able to write in the week-ahead spaces while there are also small sticker-doodles in each area? Considering each of these steps will help in wrapping up your design!

This final step involves scanning the inserts/drawings into software like Photoshop, which both archives and digitizes them in case you want to print multiples (this is great for multiple trips and printing extras to share with friends!). Then, while you’re still in the editing software, you can shrink and move the day-of-the-week doodles so that there’s more space available to write on each day of the week. 

The side-by-side template shows these doodles crossing outside the designated day of the week rectangles, while the panoramic template shows them tucked neatly in a corner of all 8 spaces. Play around with sizing and formatting until you've reached a design that you like the most and save the file for printing as many sheets as you need to fill your travel journal! 

And with that, we wrap up today’s blog! To give this lesson a try yourself, download any of the above blank templates here from our line art gallery and print them on sheets of smooth cardstock suitable for pencils and Multiliner pens. We recommend Neenah Bright White Premium Cardstock 65 lb. paper, which was used in this blog. Then, using your pencils and pens, sketch and outline your own travel journal week-ahead inserts using the examples from this blog as a guide. 

In our next blog, we’ll be showing a destination feature to include inside your travel journal! Until then, don’t forget to follow us across our social media channels @copic_official_us, and sign up for exclusive discounts and prizes by joining the Copic Club! One last thing - use #copicwithus or tag us @copic_official_us for a chance to have your drawings or workspace featured on our Copic US social media channels.

Thank you so much for reading and enjoying Copic markers as much as we do! 😀