I’ve kept a written journal
for most of my life and only started art journaling about 4 years ago. During
that time, I’ve noticed that visual journaling has helped me through many
hurdles that I couldn’t seem to get past otherwise. I think they helped because
I would often revisit my art journals where I would rarely reread my written
journals. Also, my written journals were more cathartic (like a rant), where my
visual journals were more wishful.
When I started this process,
I was daunted by the prospect of creating “Art” every day. How could I ever
expect to measure up to the talents of Hannah Hinchman
or Sara Midda? (Bah humbug, you
Inner Critic! Who asked
you?) But then I found some baby steps,
where each of them isolated a little hurdle, making them easier for me to
overcome. I hope that these steps may shed some light on what may be annoyances
for you, so you can start to enjoy this process as much as I do.
·
I always feel
that the first page should be something special, and that keeps me from starting. So, start a brand new journal on the second
page! I start journaling, and later on
an idea for the first page will occur to me.
Sometimes it’s simply a journal page that turned out well that I
photocopy and paste on the first page. Other times it’s a really cool picture
that I want to keep looking at.
Whatever, but don’t let the mean ol’ first
page keep you from starting!
·
Does the blank
page staring back make your heart start to hammer? Try painting pages ahead of time. This is a
great one for breaking that “blank page fear”. By painting 4 or 5 pages ahead
of time, I’m much more likely to start doing something on that page. My
favorite ways to get color on the page are by spritzing
with Pearlescents, or using baby wipes and Radiance
re-inkers. They’re both fast methods, and fun!
·
Journal a little
bit each day. I try to journal for 15 minutes with my morning coffee. This
makes it part of the ritual of my day, and I seem to do it more consistently.
If you’re migrating from a written journal, you’re probably already journaling
regularly, so this is a no-brainer for you.
·
Some days I do
art, other days I write. I don’t know if it’s a brain shift thing, or if it’s
because you need different materials to do art vs. writing. I just find it
easier to do them on different days.
·
Neatness “schmeatness”. Having to be neat is a real creativity killer
for me! I just let myself to go for it. When I have to be precise and measure,
it becomes a lot more like work. So go
wild!
·
Find or make a
journal with paper that you like. Once I started making my own journals, and I
could pick the paper, I found that I filled them up faster than any
store-bought ones. I love heavy watercolor paper, and usually make my pages out
of those. Also, I don’t worry about
ruining my hand-made journals. I always figure that I can make another one.
·
Figure out what
you’re drawn to in other people’s visual journals and try to incorporate that
into your page. It could be color, texture, loose watercolors, sketches, the combination of words and pictures,
calligraphy, collage. Whatever it is, include a small piece of that in some of
your pages. You’ll know what it is, because you’ll keep relooking
at those pages. For me it’s hand-drawn images, so I try to incorporate that
into my journals every 3 or 4 pages, even if it’s very small.
·
If you are
nervous about not having enough ideas, start with a small journal and work your
way up. Small journals can be less daunting because it takes less to fill up
the page. Right now I use half page journals, and they seem to be the right
size for me.
·
I don’t journal
chronologically, I skip around within the journal, but always date the page.
Since I paint my pages ahead of time, I find a color that suits my mood that
day, and then I write there. As long as I date the page, it seems to work out
fine.
Here are some of my favorite
journal page starter techniques:
·
Paint, spritz, color on the page, and then rubber stamp in the
margins
·
Paste a paper
doll on a page, imagine her having a dialogue with you, and put the words in a
word bubble next to her.
·
Include a movie
page, with pasted ticket stubs, movie reviews, and movie art. You could also
make one for books that you’d like to read.
·
Use a rectangle
template (the kind for scrapbooking), masking tape or
squiggles, to divide up your page into separate blocks. Doodle, color or write
in those areas. Breaks up the page into manageable chunks.
·
Draw a scene
using watercolor crayons, and journal over it. The cool thing about this
technique is that the picture doesn’t have to be very detailed because it’ll be
covered up with writing.
·
Paste a black and
white picture or a sketch onto the page and color in with color pencils or
chalks. This also works great if you print the image on tracing paper.
·
Keep lists on the
back pages of your journal for quick reference. I like to keep track of :
o
My favorite
journal pages in this book,
o
New art supplies
I want to try,
o
Important events
that happened during the writing of this book,
o
Themes that
cropped up that I’d like to look at,
o
My goals list.
Rubber-stamp
or stencil the topic on the top of the page and color it in.
·
Paste in
letters/cards you’ve received, emails, pictures that you like, basically the
ephemera of your life. Now you have a place for all of it!
I hope this has given you
some ideas about how I “moved over” from written to visual journals. They still don’t look like Hannah Hinchman, but I cherish them all the same. Give it a try,
and pretty soon you’ll be hooked, too!
Let me know if you have any
questions, comments, or if you just want to say “hello”.
To download this article in
doc format, click
here
My email: dianesalter@hotmail.com
Diane