Carnet de gratitude : January 2026 sketchbook

2026 ! A new year begins at Maison Legrand and one thing is sure : I keep drawing a page a day in my Carnet de gratitude sketchbook ;-)
How would you feel if drawing became such an essential part of your day that you couldn't imagine skipping it without skipping a breath ?
Sketchbooks projects have this power, and it is for good. The key is to fine-tune your drawing sessions to fit comfortably in your schedule, and let them unfold long enough to fill your heart with peace.

If you want to know more about my Gratitude sketchbook practice, I answered an interview for Domestika's blog at the end of 2024. https://www.domestika.org/en/blog/13539-stig-legrand-s-journey-turning-daily-gratitude-into-illustrated-masterpieces

This project is published monthly and you can access the archives beginning in November 2021 from the Projects section on my Profile.

I still have a nice stack of mint blue sketchbooks to go on for a few years :D
I remember how I felt when I began the 10th Carnet de gratitude : a little awed. I didn't know I had so many pages to share inside of me !

Sketchbook : Talens, Art Creation, 9x14cm, colour Fresh Mint
Fineliners : UniPin in Dark Grey, Light Grey, Black, size range from 0.03 to 0.5 - Colour Fineliners : Sakura Pigment
Brush Pens : Water-based Tombows AB1, Kuretake Art & Graphic Twin, Koi by Sakura, Pentel Brush Sign Pens, Faber-Castell Pitt Artist

Pencils are getting older, electrical rubber needs changing... Hinata the cat is here to take note of these things for a good drawing session.

Happy New Year to everyone <3
The Potichats and their mother are lounging around The Cat-Lady, like they do every January 1st.

I began 2026 by sleeping in fresh sheets <3 Then I opened my new BUJO and created the title page. Then while Wabisabi was taking a kitty nap, I baked a banana bread that saved the last old bananas. All day long, I nibbled on kimchi spiced sesame seeds.

January 3rd was for multiple coffee breaks, a few episodes of Deadloch, play time with the Potichats, they love chasing the fishing rods !
Then I chanced upon Morioka Shoten, this very unique bookstore in Tokyo that displays a single book at a time, making it feel all the more precious.

If they could, the Potichats would spend a few hours playing with us everyday. That's so good for their health, their mood and it's so funny <3
Then later, I baked a pie from a nashi fruit, layered on pistachio cream, it's ChatGPT who gave me this idea from what I had in the pantry.
All the while, I listened to stories after stories from the podcast Nocturne.

Oh ! What a treat to find SNOW in our garden ! It had been years since any snow to speak of had lasted more than a few minutes at our place.

Corean style marinated eggs is a delicious way to start the day. Then we let Hinata out for her daily walk and it was so cute to watch her negotiate the snow. I think she never ventured in snow this deep, she's just four years old after all.
Then later that day, we had the special cake for Epiphany and I found the hidden trinket and was crowned queen for the day.

These days, I'm always listening to podcasts, and I'm glad I have found this one, it is called "Go on, you are interesting" and it's a talk show with a guest at a time, segueing into what really interest him/her from beginning to end. It's great !
And for the Potichats, it was a very impressive day as snow had blown all over the floor in the catio and they walked in it for the first time ! Precious moments of cold paws and bewildered kitties.
And late at night, after an argument with husband, we went for a walk to the end of the street in the snow, it was lovely, calm and we made foot prints side by side.

Foodwise, iJanuary 8 was interesting for me as I tasted red kiwi fruit for the first time : sweeter than the green or the gold kiwis. Then for diner, we ordered some beautiful sushi and soba tempura from Sushi Shop, the best sushi stores in France. In between, I saw ceramic sculptures by Elizabeth Price, and they were so delicate, strong, and full of emotion... Also, I saw a photo of this little bearie from my Saint-Ours, that I created and gave to a friend some twenty years ago. So I was glad to dray her.

On that day, Wabisabi looked at me with trust in her eyes <3 I received a postcard from my friend Deer Bartok, it makes me so happy.
I published the month of December of Carnet de gratitude on Domestika <3
And I sent a message to Zig Zag Claybourne, author of the Khumalo trilogy that I am reading actually, with a page of my sketchbook, and as he is open and fun, it turned out wonderful.

I played a long time with the Potichats and Kurumi had a lot of fun with his favorite toy <3
I added some ink stamps in my 2026 BUJO.

On that day, 11th anniversary of the terrible day when the journalists of Charlie Hebdo were murdered by terrorists, I found an old photo from the march and drew myself from that time.
In 2026, I baked a yoghurt cake and played with Kurumi again.

On that day, I saw the beautiful tattoo of Fenrir the wolf that my friend Nina got on her arm <3
I received a book of short novels that I had been lucky to win and drew Miruku sitting on the table.

Spent another day listening to this very interesting podcasts, drew Miruku sitting on the table again, in the same spot, drank a coffee that I like and finished the left over king cake piece that had the trinket again ;-)

First thing in the morning, I sang my head off with the Red Hot Chili Peppers "One big mob ! Aw Yeah Aw Yeah !"
Then I went on to cut up a pineapple and when I went to throw away some peel, I had the idea to try to balance the big fruit on the blade of the parring knife until I came back. I took a calm breath and balanced and it worked ! This kind of thing gives you a good feeling !
Later, I saw a photo of Pixel, the Cornish Rex cat, and his sweet smile.
Then I read about mathematicians : Sabrina Gonzalez Pasterski first and her bright new ideas for the future of thinking, then Grigori Perelman who solved the Poincaré conjecture, then rejected the prize.

First, I made delicious little sandwiches for the brunch, with bacon, egg and cheese in a brioche bun : yummy !
Kurumi was sleeping in his little house on the cat tree and it's his second skin <3
Then, even if I can't make time for anything these days, I decided to give a go to this new Domestika Specialization Course about "Creative Narrative Recipe Books".

The main point of that day is that the new blue dress that I had ordered arrived and turned out as my new very favorite. I wore it again and again since (it even has pockets). Wabisabi settled next to me on the couch, exploring the cushions.

First thing in the morning, I listened to Sault's new album. Then I looked online to try to find grilled sesame seeds spiced with kimchi, to which I have recently become seriously addicted... and... YES ! I found a reliable website, with delicious spices and good communication. Now they provide my "Grilled Sesame seeds with Kimchi". Husband took a picture of Wabisabi and Yuzu, yearning for the same spot of cushion over the TV. Little Wabisabi was indignant and she flattened her ears in a freaky funny way that impressed giant Yuzu. She kept her position.

First, I woke Yuzu and proceeded to comb him and remove a lot of red hair. He felt better afterwards and happy to be looked after.
Mmmh, then I prepared nice little plates for the brunch. And took another look at Elizabeth Price's ceramics.

After an hour of Pilates on the Swiss Ball, I made a brunch of wraps. I saw my friend Christel Morvan's fantastic Matcha Opera Cake she made for her boyfriend's birthday, she is so talented...! Then at night, Tanuki acted a little strange and we were so worried she was sick, but in fact it turned out fine and we were so relieved.

First thing on this morning, I mended one of the Potichats' favorite toys with needle, thread and tiny scissors.
Then I saw a photo of my daughter, dressed up as Hospital Clown, when she visits sick people and make them smile <3 I'm so proud of her.

On that day, I dressed in earthy tones. Then I removed some of Yuzu's matted hair that were so painful whenever I combed him, with an electric clipper.
When I walked by the little frog's terrarium, she was sitting on top of Cthulhu and she looked at me in a way that gripped my heart. She had been unwell for a long time, it would be a year soon since she found herself alone after her mate died of sickness... Poor little frog.

Another nice brunch, then I watched the first episode of the new season of the series "Drops of God" that I like a lot. I caught Hinata's yawn on camera and I love to draw inside her mouth.

On that day, Kurumi was asleep on the chair in front of my bookshelves, relaxed.
I went into my work room for some physical activity : Happy Balance and spent an hour building up a sweat with senior adapted bodywork.
In the evening, we watched a TV movie that was funny, with a cop that begins to hear animals talk after an accident. This pigeon made me laugh out loud.

The day began nicely when I petted, combed and cleaned Yuzu's eyes and ears in the bathroom, cosily installed on the spot he likes to sleep on.
Then the deranged world we live in these days took over when I read and saw what had happened to Alex Pretti, and it brought back what had happened to Renee Nicole Good... These people of Minneapolis are fighting for dignity, humanity and they won't ever be forgotten.

On that day, husband found the little frog dead in her terrarium. It wasn't surprising, due to the fact she had been unwell and refusing to eat.
Poor little Litoria Caerulea, she spent 10 years with us, the last one alone, and I'm sad we couldn't make her life better at the end.
Husband prepared a good tomb in the garden, he opened the special box where the first frog was buried and reunited them. It was a moment of emotion under the stars.

On that day, one of my favourite small bowls fell from the table and crashed on the ground. Husband stopped me when I was picking the pieces to throw them away. He collected them and will perhaps fix it with Kintsugi, giving it golden scars.

And on that day, it was the savoury tarts and quiches dish that jumped out of the cupboard and crashed on the floor ! Husband cried out " stop breaking all the kitchenware !" Wabisabi looked at me quizzically in the bathroom. I watched a documentary on Youtube about a very special artist house in Germany, you can look it up : on Axolot channel, it is called "Je n'oublierai jamais cette maison".

On this day, I took portraits of Nori, he is a discreet Potichat, super kind and a little fearful, except when he gets carried away with a toy, then he growls and look as terrible as he can manage. I tried a new stamping set for the first time : nice !
A new quiche dish arrived to replace the one that had just broke. I had one of these wonderful Pistachio/Vanilla coffees.

I began with my online Happy Stretching, that I practised on the Swiss Ball as I really like this option. Husband had spent all night up to fix the door locking system that needed oil. Then in the day, when he was resting a bit, Wabisabi came to cuddle on his tummy, he was delighted.
Then we drove to my dentist and he had beautiful, strange and colorful models of teeth on his desk.

On January 30, I listened to José Gonzalez & The String Theory, soft guitar. Then I proceeded to download the old websites I created ages ago that weren't on my hard drive. It had been ages since I connected via FTP protocol.
Then I watched some animated reels of the characters from The Strangest Flea Market, many I wanted to draw protraits of.

Then on that day, we met online with a few friends to write together just for fun. We had thought about some writing prompts for short 10 minutes sessions, and I included ChatGPT in the process : it wrote a poem about the way it felt not to be able to taste raspberries, even though it could access so many informations about that fruit. It lacked the umwelt to experience it fully.

Here is the secret ingredient that gives me energy to draw everyday : licorice candy !