Art Journaling 101

Have you ever wanted to try art journaling?  Or thought about keeping any kind of a journal regularly?  It can be overwhelming to think about sitting down and carving out any amount of time to write.  Especially if you are not fond of writing.  

I began looking into Art Journaling in the beginning of 2010.  At the time I was a wreck, and needed to change. I was seriously depressed and couldn't figure out where to start making so many changes.   It all looked like a lot of work ahead of me.  Hard work.  Emotional work.  Inner Child work.  Therapy.  The only thing I was sure of at that time was that I longed for a creative outlet.  Music, art, childs play, these were what I knew somewhere deep inside that I needed.  

Enter Art Journaling.  I have always been a journaler in the traditional sense, but with the addition of each child into our family my time was growing shorter and shorter;  and honestly at the end of a long day I was too tired to want to write about anything.  But I did long to draw, to paint, to express myself in some way regularly, honestly and beautifully.






When I first discovered art journaling I did what I do- looked to every resource I could think of to figure this out.  What was it?  Could I do it??  How much time was required??  What did I need to get started?  Some of my favorite resources are the internet, especially Youtube, and the library.  I love the public library.  They have a wealth of resources I can borrow, for free and I don't have to find the space for yet another book.  It will be there when I need it again.  I love that!  Less is more you know?

This was done in my collage class while I was
 taking notes

What I discovered was a form of journaling that I could actually fit into my lifestyle, with whatever materials I have on hand, and a little creativity.  So here it is in a nutshell.  I will blog more about this later, and include pictures of pages I'm working on to give you some inspiration.



The pictures included here are from my first art journal, so you can see what I'm talking about.

The first thing needed is some sort of journal.  Depending on what you are going to do in it, this could be just about anything.  I prefer the Canson Mixed Media XL sketchbooks.  They are spiral bound which I like since I like to work on a flat surface.   Another plus is that the pages hold up to any kind of medium and I tend to use a lot of paint, and watercolors.  However I have seen art journals done on everything  from beautiful handmade books to simple composition books, the kind kids use in school.  Some are small, and some are very large. 

When I first started I just grabbed an old sketchbook I had on hand for some time and started there, because it was what I had.  As I went on I discovered that I would like more space on the page, so I switched to a larger book.  

Add caption

Some days were good days

some were not

A blank page can be a little unnerving to most of us, so I recommend beginning by putting down something quickly, without too much thinking about it is usually best.







Try gluing in some pretty paper scraps and making a collage, or a bit of paint or watercolor, a page from an old book, anything can be a jumping off point.  Then the sky is really the limit.





Paint a picture, draw a face, sketch something from your day, create a line drawing, graffiti, anything goes.  Write some poetry across the page and add some bits and pieces of daily life- receipts, pieces of candy wrapper, the handwritten note your child gave you today.  Anything.  It's really that easy.

Some I just recorded concepts or things I was
 thinking about or feeling.

I carry a sketchbook with me wherever I go- but it is my art journal.  Some people choose to use theirs only for art journaling.  Some record their whole lives in them.

sometimes a simple image represented what I
wanted to say

Keep it simple, or make it amazingly intricate, it is completely up to you.  And know that this is yours.  For you and your enjoyment only (unless you want to share what you've done).

There were days I had ideas to begin with

and days I just doodled

these are leaves from a tree I found while walking

Of course this is not all of the pages in that first Art Journal- only the ones I was willing to share.  Some had some of my deepest darkest thoughts recorded on them...

Looking back now I am so glad I started.  There are many memories and lessons learned in there that I probably would have forgotten.

I kept lists

That's what I found appealing at first.  I could paint, draw, and make ugly pages to my hearts content and no one had to know.  My book was for me.  For my enjoyment only. This was what came straight from my heart.

I took notes in class

I even occasionally did assignments in there. 

As you can see there are many, many different ways of doing this.  Check out some of my favorite Youtube teachers for more inspiration.  They are Suzi Blu and The One Minute Muse.  The One Minute Muse has some really simple ideas that can be accomplished quickly, without a lot of prep.  There are also many images on flickr that people have uploaded of their art journals.


I hope this has been helpful and encouragement to start your own Art Journal.  Art heals.  It is good for the soul.  Give it a try and let me know how it goes.