Journal Play: July Fashion,Word Art, Illustration

Journal Play: July 2025
​Illustration Fun

Hello and welcome back to A Time to Play! This is a place where I share what I've been doing to Play in my daily experience with the delight of your being inspired toward your own playtime, which, in my opinion, based on the benefits, is a non-negotiable! 

In this post, I starting a New Series here at A Time to Play blog called Journal Play. This is my way of showing you how a journaling practice can actually be fun rather than another "to do" for your list. Journaling is all about what is relevant to you, and it happens to be a place for my creativity which is what makes it so fun to come back to every day. 

There are several categories of art I will share in this post. The first will be Fashion sketching of the four winning looks in my July Fashion Look book that you can read about and see here. 

I love me some fashion as far as creative ensembles and styling goes but I also like to sketch what I wear each day! I have so much FUN creating those ensembles in my journal. 
Now, to note here, what I draw of what I wear is clearly from memory only. I do not reference an image to draw from. So sometimes I use the basic shape and create my own design if I don't recall the exact placement of motifs or design elements. 

So, the first winning look fashion sketch from the first week of July 2025 is below. The design on the ruffled tank was so much fun to render. I also appreciated the weave in the scarf in addition to the tassels. When I do the accessories, I try to capture the shine of the gold jewelry by not filling in the beading solidly. 

1st week winning look for July 2025 fashion sketch by Dawn Herring

Ok, so below you will see some abstract word art that accompanied the above fashion sketch. I don't recall what the exact word was, possibly create. I now record the word on the page so I can reference it later, since once it's abstracted, it can be hard to decipher! I used a combo of color pencil and pastel crayons in multi color: red, purple and orange red. 

Below is my fashion sketch for the winning look for the second week of July 2025. This was my Wild look with some animal print on the dynamic cut sleeveless tunic. I loved illustrating the texture of the wrap with tassel. I make an effort to put lines on the beading which can be difficult to read on the scan with the larger necklace. I either use colored pencil or pastel crayon. 

Below is my abstract word art I created same day as the 2nd week of the winning look for July 2025. It's a bit more readable with the word, Plans. I love using darker hues to accent the letters to give them more depth. Combo of colored pencil and pastel crayon. 

Below is my fashion sketch for the Winning Look for the 3rd week of July 2025 and this is the WINNING LOOK for the whole month! Yay! I really enjoyed rendering this ensemble with all black: from the pleating on the pants to the shine on the beaded necklaces. So much fun to work with black while having variation of tone and texture. 

Here is another example of abstract word art and the word for that day was JACKPOT!  I don't recall what the exact reason was (unless I go back to read the entry) but it must have been a good day! I love commemorating my WINS in my journal is this is a fun way to do it! (sorry that it's a bit blurry) Loved using colored pencil and pastel crayon with lines and polka dots. So FUN. 

Here is my fashion sketch for the 4th week of July 2025. I really loved wearing this ensemble and illustrating it. It can be a challenge to capture the sparkle with the accessories and especially the jacket that had a diamond motif in silver that glitters! (You can see it a bit more clearly in the image from the previous post-see link above). Drawing multi motifs on a small drawing can be a challenge but I still have fun with it! The tie dye effect on the scarf really works for me with colored pencil and pastel crayon. 

Below I'm sharing a bit of an example of how I illustrate tasks I do in my day. Yes, even vacuuming qualifies! In this example I'm also mentioning notes I took for office work as well as a watercolor session I had that day, with easel, paintbrush, palette and water cup. These are easy shapes to reference; it doesn't have to be complicated and full of a ton of detail. 

I do enjoy drawing the letters in my own font which I created here. I don't try to imitate other fonts I see. I just draw lines and edges to indicate volume. Sometimes I use stripes, polka dots or solid color inside some of the letters for fun visual interest. I often use gray for work tasks, and fun color for creative engagement. 

Below is my last example of abstract word art. The word is CONNECT. Most likely it was family related after having some great FaceTime with loved ones! For this abstraction, I used a combo of colored pencil and pastel. I love shading the negative space to make the letters really pop. I will often use the same colors as what I wore that day but not always. 

So there you have it! A taste of the Journal Play I have in the evenings as I sketch my wardrobe, create some abstract art on a mini scale and illustrate my day to show what mattered and how accomplished I felt! 

Do you keep a journal? If not, would getting creative increase the possibility of getting started? 
It's all about what you want to remember or commemorate or being able to look back on with fondness or courage, depending on the context. 

I found when I started using a larger sized blank sketchbook to journal vs a smaller lined one, that it was a huge game changer for the better for me as an artist and journal keeper. It can all land in the same place and be deeply satisfying to acknowledge my life's experience in a meaningful way. 

Perhaps you can find that way for yourself too! 

Thanks for joining me on this fun Journal Play Journey, the first of this new series! 

​Remember to have FUN with Your Fashion and to Play in whatever way makes your day! 

Dawn Herring, Artist, Journal keeper and Fashion Stylist