How to Start an Art Journal

Art journaling does not take to be expensive or complicated. Information technology's one of the almost forgiving ways to make art because in an art periodical, everything y'all make is safely contained inside your own personal book. You may cull to never share any of your pages with anyone (or anybody!) so information technology's a infinite where you lot can let loose and explore with colors, shapes, lines, and your words all at once. You may cull to leave your journals more free-class and expressive, or you may want to have more of a "finished" fine art production on each page. Here's some ideas on how to get started.

If you lot'd like to see a video with some live examples of art journaling, you tin check out my video, How Art Journaling Heals for some inspiration and so continue on with the prompts here.

Step i: Gather Some Basic Art Journaling Supplies

• Unlined art periodical, (If you like the tan-paged journal in the photograph above, you can find it here.*)
• Paint – acrylic and/or watercolor are good choices
• Permanent artist pen in black
• Pencil
• My Favorite Fine art Journaling Supplies: There's a lot you could do even with this curt listing of supplies, but if yous are interested in a more than consummate prepare of choices, check out some of my favorite fine art journaling supplies.

Pace 2: Make a Background

A  cute background is always a groovy place to begin. The art periodical tin feel a lot less intimidating when you are not staring at a white folio like this one:

Background #1: "Messy Acrylic Background"

Start with this very easy tutorial for making "messy" simply beautiful background with acrylic paint. Y'all just have to be able to scribble with pigment.

Background #2: "Tissue Newspaper Painting"

I've heard from so many people most how much they love the tissue newspaper painting technique. All information technology requires is tissue newspaper, a brush, and water. Information technology's simple and fun.

Groundwork #three: Watercolor Dots

(If y'all have watercolors, hither's a third option.)

1. Wet the entire page with water, and and so brush on purple watercolor pigment.

ii. Next make "dots" with your watercolor brush of blue and purple all over the circle until information technology's filled with color. You tin let a few of the dots come out of the mandala similar mine did if you wish.

Pace 3: Cull a Theme for Your Page and Create!

Once y'all take a background, you have a great base of operations upon which to layer images and/or text. Here's some art journaling "prompts," both visual and written, to get your creative juices flowing.

• Create aMandala

Mandala is a fancy give-and-take for a circle. In art, they frequently accept patterns, though they don't have to. To make your own, trace a bowl or cup to make a circle in the middle of your page. You tin break up the mandala into pizza slices, concentric circles, or fill it with a series of smaller shapes, like I did with these swirls.

1. Use the watercolor dots background described in a higher place to make yours like mine, or a messy background with acrylics to change it upwards.

2. Once the folio is dry out, employ a pen to make swirl shapes until you fill the circle. I like to use a aureate metallic marker or white gel pen.

3. Brand the mandala your ain! Experiment with different shapes, colors, and sizes. Make a series and run across which mandala yous similar best.

For a different mandala design, cheque out this pace-by-step post on creating a blossom petal mandala.

Y'all might too like to bank check out some of the simple putter patterns in this post: Doodle and De-Stress.

• Trace Your Hand

Like the circle, our hand is a very familiar shape. Our easily are also i of the most expressive parts of our bodies, 2d simply to our faces. Knowing this, y'all might cull to "pose" your mitt in a detail way and trace this shape, rather than the traditional open up palm with spread fingers.Let your imagination have a little fun with the metaphors connected to hands.

Even if you trace your open up mitt, you can get very creative with what yous put inside. Use your hand to limited something nearly your mood today, what you are "holding" emotionally, or what you would like to let go. For example, if I write about things I am property emotionally – I might write words and phrases nearly the things that are weighing on my heart – I had a fight with a friend, I snapped at someone and felt bad, etc. Sometimes letting out my worries helps, and other times it makes me feel worse.

Pay attention to what you need. If I'g feeling downwardly, oftentimes it'due south helpful for me to journal about the positives. In this example, I might write words and phrases in my hands that assist me to focus on what is going well. Inside my traced mitt, I might write about feeling proud of how far I ran this week, that I made a succulent meal, or that I felt good most supporting someone through a tough time.

Y'all can besides fill the mitt by journaling nigh your dreams and desires, or fill information technology with mag photo collage images or drawings that speak to you.

• Use Paper Cutouts

I'm a huge fan of using "failed" art pieces in my journal. In that location's e'er at least some minor part of an art piece that works. I save most art pieces for this reason. I keep a baggie in a drawer with watercolor paintings, drawings, doodles, etc. When I'thousand not sure what to practice in my journal, or I'm doing a collage project either in my journal or on something else, I pull out this bag of tricks!

1. You can either cut or tear bits and pieces out of your art slice. Wait for tiny areas that catch your eye. Using a hole punch is some other fun way to create smaller art pieces out of a larger piece.

2. Adjacent, place the mini art pieces on your periodical page, playing with what feels correct.

three. Paste your collage bits in place.

4. I've left this page more than minimalistic, just you could doodle, paint, or write around these pieces to pull it all together.

• Paint a Quote

Quotes are a great way to express what you're feeling, merely without the work of coming upwards with merely the right words. The quote I used for this piece is such a nifty reminder of how much ability we have over our feelings and perceptions.  I love this quote, I find information technology then empowering.

• Create a Gratitude List

Make a list of at to the lowest degree v things you feel grateful for this calendar week.

• Create a Dictionary of Your Feelings

Call up about the word that describes the fashion you are feeling, or the fashion yous want to feel, and look up the definition. Write this definition on your page and decorate around information technology. If you accept an old dictionary, yous might even cut and paste the definition onto your folio. I detect this exercise sometimes solidifies my feelings, and sometimes makes me re-evaluate them. Yous might even do ane page per feeling in a particular journal such that you lot cease upward with a "dictionary" of your feelings. You can only write or use a combination of words and images on each page.

• Record Something Meaningful Nigh Your Day

Rather than telling yourself that you demand to write downwards everything that happened on a particular day, why not employ the space to think almost something pocket-size, merely of import? For example, you might ask yourself one of the post-obit questions:

*What's 1 moment that I felt content today?

*What do I wish for near right now in the world?

*In 10 years, I hope that I look back and think, "I'm so glad that I…"

*Ane thing I actually appreciated well-nigh this week was…

*What makes me feel actually happy/broken-hearted/angry/sad/excited right at present is…

Give yourself permission to mix writing and drawing freely. Don't worry about the quality of your drawings, let the journal be a space for experimentation.

Y'all might write about seeing a horse on your drive to piece of work and how it was cute and that the colors of the sunrise inspired you to periodical today. Perhaps y'all write, and so paint orangish and yellow watercolors over the background. You might then draw a picayune equus caballus caput next to your writing. Let information technology exist costless and imaginative, like a kid would do. Trust me, when it comes to art, the younger they are, the more than they know almost creative freedom and play.

• Free Write

In one case y'all have a beautiful background, you lot may want to create some interesting lines on your page and utilise them as a space to write down your thoughts and feelings. I sometimes try to boil it down and write the "betoken" of what I'm thinking and feeling in big CAPS similar this.

Step four: Want to Acquire More than Nearly Art Journaling?

Bank check out my eastward-book, Starting Your Fine art Periodical, it'southward a treasure trove of art journaling ideas and techniques to help you say all yous'd like to through art and writing in your art journal.

As well, be sure to sign up for the mailing list to get the latest on fine art journaling tutorials, ways to use art to relieve stress, and inspiring creative person interviews.

Comments:

How practise you creatively express yourself or allow go? Have you tried art journaling before? Try ane of the launder techniques and a quote, and let us know how it turns out!

*Many of the production links in this mail are affiliate links. This means that if you choose to click and purchase something, at no actress price to you, you volition be supporting the piece of work of Mindful Art Studio to empower artists everywhere. Thanks!

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