Paper hungry
Where did our paper go and could we bring it back, please ?
I will not lie to you, I did not grow up in a mainly analog world. I grew up with what was the beggining of computer acessibility world wide to middle class families. This means I would wake up everyday eagered to clock in my favorite blogs when I was 10 years old and became an avid youtube watcher by the time I was 12. Even though my early adolescence was marked by the newcomings of technology, I was lucky enough to still experience a little bit of printed culture during those years.
Teen vogue, “Capricho” (a brazilian magazine for young girls) and other publications were objects of lust for little girls, like me, that loved the fashion and design. I would beg my father to buy me these magazines so I could get home, devour them, make collages with whatever images caught my attention and write notes on top of those moodboards.
Growing up, the magic of paper permeated further into my life with the discovery of my love and inclination for art. My teenage years were marked by my diaries and first sketchbooks. This was my element, creating with my hands and turning my thoughts into physical and palpable things gave me a new sense of self a screen could never allow. I was hungry for paper.
Since I was 19, there hasn’t been a moment that I have not carried a small sketchbook with me. And now I eager everyone I can to have a ~paper~ best friend at the reach of their hands at all time too.
Having a notebook at all moments has allowed me to quit the “conveniences” our phones pretend to offer. Instead of writing my shopping list or directions on my notes app, they are kept in my real notes. Drawings and doodles keep my head busy and help me document memories. When waiting for food or in lines me and my friends can play games together. I glue my old plane tickets into them, keep postcards and stickers safe within their pages. The possibilities are endless and so much fun. When I look back, this is one of the habits I am the proudest of, and will be able to look back on when I am grey and my memory fades.
Recently I have been nostalgic for that feeling only paper can give. Since moving to Paris everything has been very digital (an atempt to keep the amount of lugagge to a minimum). With the rise of my screen time and this feeling of nostalgia, I decided to go the closest muji to my house and buy myself a new binder. A physical place I could keep my loose leaf papers and folder (to keep cutouts and postcards) and carry my moodbord around with me during my travels.
I hope this Substack inspires you to pull that old dusty notebook out of your drawer and make it your own. Write, draw, glue, I beg you, anything. Something magical may come out of it.
I’ll leave you with a couple more inspirations hoping this selection of artists diaries will call your attention as much as they have caught mine.
Thank you for reading and i hope to see you in the next one (planning on publishing a little Paris guide)!
Love,
Luna Lee
This is so very relatable (and feels like a comfort read tbh.)
Beyond paper, do you have a preference for sketch or ink?