Art Journaling 101
Mon, February 13, 2012 at 08:56PM How to start an art journal!
"Art journaling is about the [creative process] of pulling together color, words and images as you wish on a page. Unlike many other forms of art, it is not about the outcome."
Tammy Garcia
Welcome to Art Journaling 101! If you are super, duper new to doing art or you are ready to introduce kids & teens to art journaling, you might prefer Art Journaling 101 for Kids, Teens & Beginners. While AJ101 focuses on getting started, there is more emphasis on artist quality art materials and technique. AJ101 for Kids/Teens/Beginners focuses more on student quality art materials, which are less expensive and great for starters.
1. What would you like to do?
Picture yourself working in your art journal at some point in the future. What will you do? Write ideas on a colorful background? Paint in your journal? Create a collage from magazines? Thinking about what you want to do in your journal will help you decide what art materials you'll need.
2. Get some creative books for inspiration and motivation
Spilling Open: The Art of Becoming Yourself
The Journal Junkies Workshop,
Good Mail Day
1,000 Artist Journal Pages by Dawn DeVries Sokol
Journal Spilling by Diana Trout
Creative Illustration Workshop for Mixed-Media Artists by Katherine Dunn
Personal Geographies: Explorations in Mixed-Media Mapmaking
The Creative License by Danny Gregory
An Illustrated Life by Danny Gregory
Print & Stamp Lab
Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life
The Art Journal Workshop
An Illustrated Life: Drawing Inspiration from the Private Sketchbooks of Artists, Illustrators & Designers
"To be nobody but yourself
in a world which is doing its best,
night and day to make you everybody else -
means to fight the hardest battle
which any human being could fight;
and keep fighting."
~ E. E. Cummings
3. Start with a small supply of materials.
Art journalists use an array of materials. {Find a lot more detail on the materials I use at Art Materials for Art Journaling, Doodling & Beyond.} You can use free things like maps and receipts and to do lists. And you can get art supplies at a craft or art supply store, things like acrylic paint, permanent markers, adhesives and paper.
Here's a list of art materials to get started, with thoughts on quantities:
a. Paper. The key is to use paper that will hold up to what you wish to do with it! Thin paper simply won't work if you want to paint your page, but there are ways to strengthen thin paper (see gesso below). You can use a blank journal hidden in your office drawer, a loose sheet of watercolor paper, an old hardback book, a journal with heavy paper, even the front of a cereal box. I have lots of work in process, including loose pages, hardbacks and catalogs I've altered, etc.
So don't get stuck on paper. Try a bunch of things. It's OK to have a bunch of stuff going on in various shapes and sizes. You can get a flat file box and keep everything together. [More on this at A Collection of Art Journal Pages.]
b. Paint. Get some fluid acrylics (I like Golden) in 1oz bottles, or thick-bodied acrylics (I like Liquitex or Golden) in tubes. In my opinion, better 5 colors of quality paint than 20 colors of mediocre paint. You can mix paint colors with a brush to get other colors. More on color mixing in one of my favorite books, Color Mixing Bible. 
c. Markers. Faber-Castell PITT Pens are my favorites - they dry quickly, don't tax my hand, and they're permanent. The journaling in Do Something is in black PITT pen. A lot of art journalists love Sharpie water-based paint pens for writing on a wide variety of journal backgrounds. Be careful though because art journal backgrounds, with all sorts of different textures and materials, can be rough on certain markers. There's a lot of info on pens in Art Materials.
d. Stamps. Stamps are a great way to add unique details to your pages. Alphabet stamps are great for adding words or quotes to your pages (see Adjectives and Happy Life). They're available at craft stores in the Scrapbooking section. You can also make your own stamps, by carving eraser stamps and transforming hardware store finds into stamps. If you go around your house, you'll find zillions of things to use as stamps - lids, medicine cups, cookie cutter molds, old brushes, etc.
e. Adhesive. I use Mod Podge and matte medium to attach paper to my pages. You can also use staples, masking tape or stitch things to your page.
f. Brushes. Buy basic, cheap-o brushes for adhesives and gesso because they will be trashed. I buy average quality brushes for painting. Try a variety of brands, styles and sizes, until you find an assortment you like. I like flats and rounds. For art journaling, really almost any brush will do!
g. Gesso. Gesso is a primer. I use both black and white gesso; see Black Gesso & Stamps + Faded Blue + black.magenta. You don't need to prime watercolor paper, but you will need to paint gesso on thin or rough paper to create a base coat, and you'll need to paint gesso in a hardback you plan to alter. It's great for layering or lightening in your collages. Definitely a core art material.
h. Neocolors. Caran d'Ache Neocolors can be blended with fingers, wet with a brush, sooooo versatile! You can even doodle with them as in Altered Book: orange.peach.
i. Old gift/credit cards. Seems funny to have its own category on the art supply list, but you might as well start collecting plastic cards! These are great for sooooo many things. Pushing paint and gesso around a page, making borders, scratching off layers, etc.
these pages in an altered book have a watercolor background, highlights with neocolors + white markers.
4. Find stuff or make stuff to put in your art journal
Find stuff. Ephemera is a fancy word for stuff you put in your journal... clippings from old textbooks, maps, receipts, recycled stuff from other art projects, product packaging, scraps of scrapbook paper quotes, lyrics, lottery tickets, polaroid photos, grocery lists...
Make stuff. There are a bunch of ideas for creating your own stuff in Step #574: Create Journal Fodder. More ideas in Psychedelic Batik Cardstock and stamp unique patterns.
5. Find a place to create art
First, I need to say that you do not need to have a dedicated art workspace. I do art on my breakfast room table. I have some shelves for art materials and all of my art stuff is in baskets based on different types of art I might do (watercolor, acrylic, stamping, embroidery, etc.) and I take out the baskets I need and spread out on our table. At night, most nights, I clean everything up! If you have a dedicated workspace, I am happy for you because it will be fun. The more "NEEDS" you put in the way of your art, the less art you will do.
6. Find a pocket of time to start your first page or two
Where does art fit into your world and your priorities? We all make choices about what to do with the pockets of time in our days. Creating art wasn't even on my list 7 years ago but now it is crucial to my happiness. Find time in your schedule by doing art while waiting for something, at lunch, on the metro, at kids' activities, while the baby naps. If you truly want to do art, I promise you will find a niche of time.
7. Do an experimental art journal page
- Take out heavy paper, a paint brush, a cheap brush, Mod Podge, a handful of clippings from the "find stuff" list above and 3 colors of acrylic paint.
- Pick any 3 colors (try choosing with your eyes closed).
- With your paint brush, dab paint on the page wherever you wish.
- Let it dry (acrylics dry quickly).
- Glue some of your clippings to the page with Mod Podge.
- Add more paint.
- Add more clippings.
- Write something. You can make a list of your favorite songs, scents or the flowers you'd like to plant this summer. Quotes are fun too.
8. Nip perfectionism and procrastination quickly.
If you find yourself wanting to start art journaling, but not actually sitting down to do a page, START HERE:
Trick Your Inner Perfectionist
Art Journaling Imperfection
It's Your Art
9. Get involved in the art journaling community
Join Flickr. It is a fantastic place for inspiration! You can find people who like to do the same type of art that you do. I even wrote a post about why Flickr is fun and inspiring. Flickr is not Twitter. Flicker is not Facebook. Flickr is not G+. It is uniquely about photography and visual art. You can post photos of your art and join groups that interest you. Groups for sharing art journaling and collage include Just Art Journals. Learn about the Flickr groups I moderate at Daisy Yellow Flickr|Twitter.
Join Art Journaling at Ning. This is a great place to ask for help with those questions about gesso or what the heck an acrylic medium is, what to bring in your backpack to do art while traveling. There are free and fee art journaling classes and a lively community.
10. Do creative prompts & challenges
The Official Guide to Daisy Yellow Creative Prompts
The Unofficial Guide to Creative Prompts | Challenges | Inspiration
Creative Every Day, a challenge to create something every day
11. Check out these blogs....
- Hanna Andersson
- Traci Bunkers
- Samantha Kira Harding
- Teesha Moore
- Roben-Marie
- Diana Trout
- Dawn DeVries Sokol
12. Listen to creative podcasts like The Creative Mom Podcast.
Reader Comments (31)
This is a great article to introduce people to art journaling. I have posted a link on my blog for anyone interested.
I'm fairly new to art journaling and I love this tutorial. So many great ideas. Thanks so much for putting this together.
What a great inspirational spark! I've found great links on your site, and as a journaler myself, finding great links is like finding a vein of gold in a big rock mountain.
I am just beginning to explore art journalling, and much of the material out there, both in print and on the web, seems to be aimed at those with more art experience than I have. Thanks so much for this great introduction, and for all the links and reading recommendations. It is so helpful for this true beginner.
You inspire me SO much. Thank you.
Great inspiration! Thanks!
Thank you! Great post! After reading about art journaling and looking at others' work, I'm itching to try some more (I've dabbled a bit).
very inspiring! I'm writing morning pages from The Artist's Way, and am thinking of making them a little more interesting... Good idea of keeping more than one journal - duh! Thanks for the suggestion of materials - you're in my evernote! {:-Deb
This great, thank you, I have found my new thing : )
Thanks putting together all this info. It's been a great read and I'm saving it in favorites, to refer back to and also to send to other people who I think will be interested. Thanks again for all your great ideas, wonderful inspiration and beautiful art work.