I have discovered the art journaling. It’s probably old as the world itself, but it’s new to me, so I am enjoying it as much as all my other artsy-craftsy stuff. I am only going to explore it for as long as it suits me, but will share my pages, so maybe someone will get inspired, just like I have been inspired by others to start this form of expressing myself. It’s fun! But it’s not necessarily easy to start.
I have heard so many times that art journaling is a form of art therapy. It’s looks like that! You let something inspire you, let your expectations aside, and focus on the journey, not the destination.
For my first day, I felt like writing a few thoughts on creativity, and was experiencing a little bit of “deer in the headlights” feeling. A blank page is a road block for many creative people, yet we have to find a way to get past that feeling and search for some meaning in what we are trying to express.
I started the spread with a small square of watercolor paper where I did some loose shapes, added some color, and then wrote some thoughts on it. Then I took that square and divided it in 4 little squares, and glued then on my sketchbook, with the writing turned sideways, or upside down. At this point, I stopped as I had no idea where to go from there. I decided to have a cup of tea, and wait for the creativity to hit me in the head from somewhere….and it did. Haha! While sipping tea, I was looking at the label from my honey jar aside, and noticed the honeycomb hexagons. And that is what I have introduced into my page. Simple! From there, I played with different mark makings to give some texture to my hexagons. I scribbled some dry pastels here and there, and smudged it on the page. Then I finished the page by adding thoughts crossing my mind at the time.
Here is what I used as art supplies for this day:
- my Lamy pen with permanent black ink
- Staedtler pigment liner 0.5 (optional)
- watercolor White Nights St. Petersburg 21 pans
- some blue, orange, and yellow crayons
- dry pastels Toison D’or
- sketchbook Sakura
Make art journaling with whatever medium you have. I do like to try new goodies, and explore new techniques. I just have some lino printing bug in my head at this time, and of course will explore that very soon. Stay close if you want to see the mess or the masterpiece that might come from there. But don’t forget to enjoy the Now!
This journey is about exploration, mixing and matching, and mostly having fun. [PFG id=971]