Since I’ve moved, I’ve been in a different mind set, where I’m focusing more on creating art journals and altered books and small mixed media pieces. I’m nervous about these changes going on, because people get used to seeing you do one thing and that’s what they continuously expect.
I can’t stay in the same place forever, people grow and change and that’s what my art is doing. I will still do paintings, but I will also be connecting through art journaling, which is personal and therapeutic. Since it’s been so healing for me, I want to begin to share this process with others
I started art journaling years ago,it’s just that I didn’t know it was called that. It was my sketchbook filled with imagery and writings (ideas, dreams, changes and disappointments). As I child, I wrote more, and had many line drawings. I never thought about sharing them, actually it was my main goal to hide them from so many little brothers and sisters!
Yes, I still hide many of my pages, it’s just that I hide it in the open! More about that at a later date. The following is some of my basics, you gotta start from somewhere.
NEW TO ART JOURNALING
Here are some basics if you are just getting started!
Basic Art Journal Kit
- A journal (I’ll write a post next week on some of mine)
- Watercolor
- Crayons/oil pastels
- Scissors (or ruler)
- Glue stick
- White acrylic paint
- Markers/gel pens
- Pencils (colored and regular)
- Papers (lots of textures)
- Ephemera bag
{An ephemera bag is a bag of stuff. Papers, images, and miscellaneous (anything you want to use in your art journal.)
If you’re shy about writing you can:
- Make lists.
- Use a thought-provoking title for your page.
- Use poems, quotes, lyrics.
- Look at your art and write down words that come to mind. Write a poem using those words.
- this is not a place to worry about grammar or spelling.
If you’re shy about creating art:
- Use color washes.
- Use ephemera scraps from your day/week (leaves from a walk, a menu from your local cafe, a grocery list, etc.).
- Collaging.
- Don’t worry about making it pretty.
The key is to go with your flow, no one else’s. You can share your journal or not; either way is perfectly fine.
So get moving, you have your thoughts, moods, life’s up and downs, everything’s journal fodder!
