Art Journal: accessories, instructions and ideas

An art journal is a creative diary. The idea behind it: Instead of a classic diary text, you express yourself by painting, drawing and collaging. There are no guidelines – it’s all about you and what you like.

That’s why an art journal might be something for you

If you like, in this form creative That’s reason enough to get involved. The Art Journal also gives you the opportunity to let off steam without being judged from outside. This is especially relevant if you don’t consider yourself a creative person and are afraid to start. You will also be able to convince your inner critic over time. It’s a wonderful way not only to live out one’s own creativity, but to train it at the same time. As with the morning pages, there is no right or wrong! You can do your clear your head and relax. For some, art journaling is even downright meditative!

Time capsule, gift & Co: You can use it for that

In your art journal you collect thoughts, experiences and feelings – like a classic diary, just with a different way of expression. You create a physical one treasure of memories. If you are more concerned with artistic skills, you can constantly develop yourself with an art journal and keep yours progress fixed at the same time.

A self-made and designed journal is also a nice alternative gift idea for a loved one in your life. Another method is to keep your creative journal under a motto deliver. This can be the color gold that runs through the journal or maybe you are a coastal kid and design it entirely in a nautical look?! Experiment and find out what’s right for you.

Which paper for the creative book?

You can make your own art journal or buy a notebook or pad. The advantage of the DIY Art Journal: You determine the number of pages and the format and you can – like with the Junk Journal – include existing ones, be they pages you designed or old maps, etc. The advantage of the purchased journal: As Beginners have cleared the first hurdle and can get started right away without worrying about binding an art journal.

Whichever variant you choose, pay special attention to the paper. If this is too thin, it will probably start to ripple very quickly with the various creative techniques or materials. The grammage of the paper will help you with the selection. It indicates the basis weight in grams per square meter and thus the thickness or density. A good foundation for an art journal is one Grammage of at least 180 g/m². Mixed media blocks are also commercially available, which can easily handle multiple layers and different materials.

Tip: If you are using pages that are actually too thin but you still want them in the art journal, glue two sheets together for more stability! Alternatively, gesso can be used as a primer in this case, as it makes paper more stable and ensures that colors adhere better. The primer has a chalk base (Italian Gesso = chalk) and is also used to prepare canvases for painting. It is available in black, white and transparent.

Art journaling supplies

You don’t need a lot of accessories to get started, you’ll probably already have most of them at home. You can start with an ordinary notebook as described in the instructions below and experiment.

basics

Additional material

If you like art journaling and soon it becomes part of your everyday life, you will certainly gradually buy more things. You can choose from a wide range of materials for your artistic work, such as:

First steps: Instructions for your Art Journal

You don’t really know how to start? For example, you can look to other art journals on blogs and social media for inspiration. Even if you want to imitate their artwork for now, you’ll most likely find that your pages still look different. And that’s just as well! Experiment around and let your artistic side run wild.

An art journal is an individual project, for which there are ultimately no real instructions. But sometimes a few impulses from outside help to get started yourself. We present you the following a small guide.

Step 1: Background

A good start is to design the background. Grab it Color (e.g. watercolor) and choose one that speaks to you right now and start applying it to the side. This can be criss-cross and does not have to fill the entire page. Now you can fill in the gaps with one (or two) more colors or you can leave it at one.

An alternative to color is a motif paper, e.g. B. from a magazine. You tear this into several pieces and stick it distributed on the page, just as it fits together for you. Or you cut the motif paper to size and stick it over the entire sheet – do what you like.

Step 2: Focus

Now you set a focus, for example with a drawing, a photo or large lettering.

Step 3: Refinement

Now you can give your Art Journal pages the finishing touches: stamp, draw doodles, glue in dried flowers, various tags, scraps of paper, etc. And there you have your first journaling page.

Inspiration for design

If you delve a little into art journaling, you will very soon stumble across the term mixed media. This describes the technique of creating a work of art with different materials and styles. If you design a collage and use additional colors and fabrics, this is a mixed media page, for example.

Experiment with the many different materials and use different techniques. Maybe there is something for you among these ideas:

Do you like art journaling? Then scrapbooking and the bullet journal and these other bullet journal ideas could also be something for you.

Bridget