The Journal Diaries- Jose's Moleskine

The Journal Diaries is a blog segment where we get a sneak peek into the journals, notebooks, organizers, and diaries from people all over the world. (Click here for past posts.) My special guest today is José from Spain.

- Tell us a little more about yourself. When did you start drawing/sketching and how long have you been doing it for? 

My name is José, 35 years old, born in Spain and now living in Germany. I've been always interested on making a good letter and some drawings here and there. However I don't consider myself a calligrapher or a painter but a notebook maker. I try to collect and improve skills in order to make the whole notebook better. I guess I started to take it seriously with my first Moleskine, in 2005. It was a big milestone.

- When do you find yourself journaling? (When you're sad, happy, emotional, nostalgic?)- What inspires your artwork?
All the time! That's good because I always find thousands of ideas to write down, and it's also a little bit negative because it could become stressful. My inspiration is the life, specially the things full of sensitivity, creativity and in connection with reality.

- What are your favorite  journals to use, and what do you like most about them?
I love Moleskine pocket format. Its style is excellent and I chose it as the container for all my notes, dreams, experiences, collages, sketching, etc., if possible. Unfortunately the paper is useless so I was forced to replace it for a good quality paper. Starting to use verge paper was a huge improvement and now I enjoy writing even more.

-Do you carry your journals around, or do you store them someplace?
I carry only the current notebook, the rest are stored and (I hope) well archived as treasures. A dragon is watching them in the top of a mountain, located in the middle of a lake, etc, you know.

- What are your favorite stationery tools at the moment?
I used to write with a 0,10€ pen bought in China and some pencils. Lately I started to test a few stationery tools, discovering a new and fascinating world. Apart from the mentioned paper, now I use some fountain pens and inks. I found in TWSBI 580 a very versatile tool and I keep Pilot G-3 as my favorite and main pen.

- Do you have any favorite stationery stores, shops, or brands?

Not favorite but I enjoy visiting stationery shops. Germany has plenty of famous brands but there is a lack of others, for example japanese brands.

- Do you have any tips or suggestions for anyone looking to start using fountain pens (especially for drawing and journaling)?

I think everybody should take care of the tools used. Fortunately there are only three things to take care about and all are easy to get, full of quality and cheap. But fountain pen is the less important. First are the paper and ink. Lamy produces great tools for less than 20 euros and Diamine ink can be got for 3 euros. Both will last a lot. Not expensive tools are needed.

- Other than journaling, what are some of your other hobbies and interests?

I love photography and travel. Why not take photos and fill a notebook while traveling? I can't imagine a better scenario for inspiration!

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Thank you so much for sharing your journal pages with us, José! And for all you wonderful readers looking to connect, you can keep up with José through his Instagram gallery, @jose_naranja, or through his blog here. 

*Update*- José recently put together a video of some more of his journaling pages here. And if you're curious to know just exactly how he adds the verge paper within his Moleskine notebook, see that post here. 

If you're interested in purchasing a copy of José art journal, feel free to contact him directly for more details as availability is very limited.

My other hangout spots:

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PATREON