There is a lot of information out on art journals now, but can anyone really do it? An art journal is a journal where you combine art and words to express yourself. My research says that you don’t have to be good at drawing to create your own art journal. There are so many ways to be creative. Art journals are supposed to be a great place to practice your skills as well as get thoughts out of your head and onto paper. In addition to the emotional care aspect, being creative and learning new things is great for your intellectual self care. All this sounds fantastic, but can I really create my own art journal? I decided to give it a try this week.
My drawing skills are really nonexistent, so let’s try to be creative in other ways. I got some watercolor pencils thinking that maybe a little water will make my drawing look more artistic.
Then because it really didn’t look like much I decided it needed more, perhaps to cover up the fact that I really can’t draw that well! I’ve seen pictures where people add quotes, poems, and other words to theirs, so thought I can write ok. I found some short positive affirmations. Wrote them on a fancy looking memo pad. Lucky for me the memo pad colors matched my watercolor picture! Then I cut them apart using fancy scissors, because why use normal scissors when you have fancy ones? The final stage was to rearrange them on the paper and glue them into position.
Experiment 1 done. Lesson: When you don’t like your drawing in an art journal, you can cover it up with words! Now it is a much more positive page that I kind of like.
Next experiment is taken from my research that says you can use regular household items. I’ve had kids around for many years and keep stickers around to entertain or reward good home school work. I also have ribbon around. I like animals and who doesn’t love stickers telling you how great you are? I stuck stickers all over the next page in my art journal! I’m a Mom and I deserve lots of Great reward stickers, so now I have them! Stickers alone looked to much like a preschool page, so next level was the ribbon. I cut a bunch of ribbon of 4 different colors into strips about 1 inch long. Then I took some glue and proceeded to glue them over the stickers in such a way as to create some random shiny ribbon path through the stickers. Ribbons and praise go well together.
Experiment 2 done! Not to bad and I have to say it makes me happy and proud of all I’ve accomplished to look at so many reward stickers. Lesson: I have to say if a preschooler can make art with stickers, then anyone can make an art journal!
So what’s next? I’m not sure. Perhaps I’ll experiment with the finger paint I have. One of my daughters suggests that I try to experiment with the watercolor pencils some more after watching some tutorials. What ever is next the art journal will be a place I can experiment to see what I’m good at and improve other skills. You can experiment too. I’ld love to see your art journals on instagram using the hashtag #moments_for_me
This is awesome! Love the idea of a creative journal! Creating helps with so many things!
Thank you. It was fun to experiment. With my kids ages 15-21, we don’t do crafts like that as much.
What a fun way to step outside your comfort zone. I have a bullet journal that I doodle in, and at first I wasn’t too confident, but with consistency, I feel like I’m getting better. I think you did a lovely job!
Thank you. I’ve been trying to use a bullet journal as well. I studied Engineering in college, so I really like the grid design in bullet journals.
Thank you. I’ve been trying to use a bullet journal as well. I studied Engineering in college, so I really like the grid design in bullet journals.