download chapter NINE of DYCS here⇨
WEEK NINE: Art as a journey and a journal
“Life moves so fast.
You gotta document the good times, man”
~ Big Boi
Looking back over my years as an artist, I think that art journaling has to be one of the most rewarding ways that I use my creativity.
And there are so many great things about Art Journaling.
I believe it’s helped when I’ve been worried, afraid or anxious. It had absolutely allowed me to play and connect with different creative techniques and helped me figure out those that did or didn’t work, those that I loved and hated. And I feel it freed me from any of those ‘artistic should’ thoughts that were hanging around.
I find the most amazing thing about art journaling is there are very few rules. There are no limits, no boundaries, and no one judging or commenting.
BUUUUUUUT this also has its own issues!
Sometimes it would be much easier if there were step-by-step rules. Do this first, then this and now this. And while there is absolutely nothing wrong with this approach to playing and art journaling – this absolute has a purpose, my goal this week is to enable you to reject to rules, to share a few ideas that you can use and then expand on and set up your own art journaling practices.
By the way in the beginning of an art journaling practice I always suggest avoiding Google and pinterest. Because when I Googled the search term ‘art journaling’ it returned over 10 million results.
10 MILLION
I want you to avoid the chance of complete overwhelm, or falling into the ‘must have’ or the ‘you should’ trap so no googling just now!!
SO WHAT IS ART JOURNALLING?
Quite simply art journaling is a visual diary.
Instead of a traditional diary with lines and margins, where you write down your thoughts, your emotions, your worries, or your day you use visual elements such as paint, collage sheets, washi tape etc. to record your emotions, feelings, celebrations or events.
These journal entries can be in a book, a art journal, index cards, playing cards etc. There is no limit.
And why should you art journal?
As a kid I kept a very detailed traditional journal, where I would start with the words ‘Dear Diary’, and then poured my angsty teenage heart out on a page detailing all the petty hurts and slights that had occurred to me that day.
And writing in my diary did at the time help me release my emotions, (usually a combination of confusion, anger and sadness) on the page.
But as an adult I rarely found this traditional way of recording and memorialising my life very satisfying.
If I was struggling with a dilemma, as an adult I felt there only a handful of times when the problems I had could actually be reasoned through by writing about the problem. Mostly I just wanted to release negative emotions I had about the problem, so I wouldn’t have to think about them over and over again.
Sometimes I just wanted to record a moment in my life with out actually writing about all the detailed minutia of it.
Once I started an art journaling practice, I actually found it helped me with all of these issuers that I had with traditional journaling.
And I loved the freedom of journaling this way and through my practice I found that art journaling was more that just recording memories, releasing emotions or resolving problems.
Through art journaling I also:
- Saw my writing style (i.e. type or font styles) develop and improve.
I found styles that were immensely appealing and loved including this into my creative practice. - Have an album of memories: using art journaling to document my holidays, birthdays or events were a really fun alternative to photo albums and I can share them with anyone and I love flicking through my journals and remembering these travels and celebrations.
- Have had an easement of my emotions and feelings: having it all out on the page, and covering it up with pretty colours and images help me look at problems differently and find other solutions. (Remember our left/ right brain week? While my brain right brain was creating my left brain was problem solving)
- Realised that my journaling can be accessible to people in a way my teenage diaries are not! I can easily share art with you and others with out actually sharing the emotion behind the pieces. I feel less vulnerable but also I feel very powerful through sharing.
- Found a sense of confidence. Journaling is another tool in my creative belt, and totally increased my confidence – not only with font like I mentioned before, but also in colour choices and page layouts, subjects etc.
- Was able to explore a variety of techniques and mediums: Art journaling is the absolute best way to play with different techniques, mediums and tools. In my art journals there is space for things that don’t work.
Art journaling doesn’t have to be complicated. You don’t need to schedule an hour or two to create a journal entry. A quick sketch and a few words of how you might be are feeling is totally enough!
However, you can also spend hours doing complicated spreads with layered and textured pages. It is totally up to you and the time you have.
Just explore and do what feels good to you.
WAYS THAT I HAVE USED ART JOURNALING.
- A SIMPLE VISUAL OR DRAWING DIARY.
Quite simply I am recording my day through drawings. I will draw something or someone in front of me. I will date it and I will just record a few thoughts about what I am thinking, or what is happening in my life
FOR EXAMPLE: when I travelled around the USA I drew something I had seen each day and write a few words about the day – where we were, what our rooms was like, how sick of take away I was etc.
I love sharing this little journal with my friends and family. The girls love reading it over and over again too.
- ILLUSTRATING WORDS + QUOTES.
If I have a quote that I am particularly drawn to or word that has meaning for me (for example my
word of the year words) I will often illustrate them.
It can be as simple as quick background with the quote written over it, or a very font heavy page where I combine my love of different fonts, with simple doodles, or a heavily collaged page with a painting over the top and my word written on the page somewhere.
FOR EXAMPLE: My “You are an Unstoppable Ninja” page was a direct result of feeling overwhelmed with juggling motherhood, domestic life and LilliBean Designs. This is one of my most popular quotes as it resonates with so many people.
- RELEASING NEGATIVE EMOTIONS.
For this type of journaling I will write/ scribble very quick diary style page. I will write about the problem, the feelings I am having, how it may be affecting me, frustrations, sorrows and hurts, and any other negative emotions.
Over the top of this I will smoosh some paints, collage some papers, and make some marks with stencils or house hold items etc.
I will usually paint one of my girls but you could paint flowers, scenery or something else.
Finally I will often write a little affirmation or a little love letter to my self – either something of my own or a quote I have found.
Usually by the time I have finished this process, I have released my negative thoughts and feelings and feel less fragile about the event.
FOR EXAMPLE: I did a journal page where I was releasing the little bitch on a page – I had just weighed myself and realised that I had totally sabotaged myself over the weekend and put on a whopping 5 kgs. I wrote about my anger and frustration and self-loathing, and then covered it all up and wrote about breaking free of the chains of past behaviours.
- JUST PAINT.
Sometimes I just paint. I am often asked why my girls don’t smile much and I jokingly reply that I 
don’t paint when I am happy – I paint to clear my head and ground myself.
But it really isn’t a joke! I do paint to clear my head and there are times when something is going on in my life and it translates very literally onto the page.
FOR EXAMPLE: When my Nan was hospitalized with pneumonia I went to visit her and she looked so week and frail and not at all herself. I came home and painted a girl looking out a window crying.
It is very Rapunzel inspired – after I painted it I realized it was partly because I felt trapped like Rapunzel, because I couldn’t do anything but cry out the window and hope that she would recover.
(Also subconsciously I suspect it was Rapunzel-esque because Tangled was the video my kids were obsessed with that week and they watched it every chance they could!!
9.1 REFELCTION: Journal your thoughts
time: 5 minutes equipment: Your notebook + pen
Open you notebook into a double page spread and for five minutes write about something that is happening in your life today.
It doesn’t have to be a frustrating or unhappy event. It could be something that made you smile or laugh, or made you feel really good about yourself.
Do two pages of writing – write big, small, scribble or print. It doesn’t matter but do not be confined to the lines in your book if you have them.
You can use pencil, pen or markers for this exercise you are not limited to just a pen. And if you find you are falling into the ‘dear diary’ style of writing use a highlighter or fat marker to push you out of this instinctual conforming.
9.2 ACTION: Cover your thoughts with art.
time: 10 – 20 minutes equipment: Your notebook, paint + glue
Other things you may like to use:
- Dictionary pages, old books, wrapping paper, telephone books, tissue paper, newspaper, etc.
- washi tape
- Stencils (either bought or home made)
- Ink stampsRip up some papers into smallish pieces or strips and glue them over your written pages. If you are using patterned paper or book pages when you glue them down, be sure not to have
them all running the same way. (i.e. all horizontal or vertical – mix it up.)
Using a light hand smoosh some paint over the pages – using one or two different colours if you wish.
Let it dry.
Once the paint dries use your stencils or ink stamps (if you wish) to add another layer. (You can also do this before the paint smooshing stage)
Washi tape can be used at any stage – but again only if you want.
Put you page to the side for the moment.
9.3 FUN: Finding things around the house to make marks with
time: how ever long you want! Equipment: your notebook, paint and household items.
Firstly take a double page in your notebook and smoosh a layer of paint over the two pages. Choose a darker colour for the background and lighter colours for the next step.
Leaving it to dry walk around your house and find 20 things that you might use to make patterns with. Bear in mind when you are choosing these, that you will be dipping them in paint so don’t choose the special china or dinner set!
Take your gathered items which may include things like – toilet rolls, bottle caps, string, dental floss, plastic forks or spoons, broken pens, paper clips, tissues, leaves, fruit or vegies, cotton buds, old toothbrushes, old credit cards, bubble wrap, pegs etc.
Using your lighter paint colours squeeze some out on a plastic or paper plate and dip your collected items into the paint and then press them onto your dark background and make marks on your notebook pages.
When you are making your marks with your items, think about how to use it in two or three different ways and what other patterns you can create with them.
For example: A toilet roll. My instinctual way of using this is to dip the end in the paint and make a circle mark on my page. However I could also roll the entire length in paint and roll it around on my page, or rip it and use it that way.
Go back to your journal page from our reflection and action exercise and picking two or three of the house hold items that created your favourite marks and use these to make marks on your art journal page.
9.4 FUN: Easy Poems and Journal spreads.
Time: 5 – 10 minutes Equipment: your notebook, your poem page. Scissors and glue.
DOWNLOAD the pdf file that is filled with text from very different places – from A Clock Work Orange and Little Women, to an encyclopedia entry about wildlife and climates.
Print off this page and use scissors to cut out the words on the page – you can cut them all up at once or just choose a couple of lines to cut if you like.
Turn the words so they are all facing up.
Closing your eyes think about your journal page from the reflection exercise. What was your original emotion that you were journaling about? Was it happiness, sadness, frustration or something else?
Now I want you to think about what you want to feel when you look at your journal page at the end of this exercise. Do you want to have a resolution, a feeling of being brave or strong, something else?
FOR EXAMPLE: one of my journal pages was about my feeling that a person in my life was projecting her issues on my life.
This person would judge me against their feelings and problems, and would often passively aggressively comment about things that I was doing or trying to achieve.
Our relationship was turning toxic for me. I couldn’t escape the judgments however this person wasn’t one that I could easily cut out of my life.
So I after one particularly frustrating encounter, I locked myself into my studio and began journal.
My page became a visual reminder that this persons shit wasn’t my reality and I didn’t have to take what they said to me to heart.
So what do you want to take away from this journal entry?
Open your eyes and look at the words you have cut out. Fashion them into a sentence, a poem or a just a couple of affirming words.
When you are happy with your choice glue them onto your page.
You can put the rest of the words in a zip lock bag for next time.
BOOK PAGE PDF⇨
9.5 FUN: Doodle on your journal page.
Time: 5 minutes equipment: your notebook, coloured pencils, crayons, gel pens, posca pens etc.
You can now add to your journal page with some doodling or pattern work – like the exercises from week two and three.
Alternatively you can write a bit more on your page with a pen – positive and affirming words that bring comfort or inspire you.
Or be brave and go for broke drawing and painting a picture on your page.
You can keep adding any of these steps until you feel the page is finished.
Not sure if your page is done? Step away for a bit and them come back with fresh eyes. As I tell my Art Club Kids – Less is more!!
9.6 BONUS ACTION: Make a little art journal kit.
Time: 10 minutes equipment: a small box like a travel sewing kit, iphone box, cd present box etc or small pencil case
In your box have a small collection of papers or washi tape a glue stick, some of your poem words, and if you have it a tiny tube of paint.
It doesn’t matter what you put in it, but it should be small enough to fit in your handbag, your suitcase (if travelling) or small enough to quickly pull out in front of the tv, at work, etc.
Use it to do a journal page in a different place to your normal creative zone.
Share with us the coolest place you’ve created an art journal page!
I hope you have fun journalling – for me it is just a lovely excuse to play, smoosh and feel the paint on my hands!
Next week is our last ‘official’ week and I am going to share with you the technique I use to draw faces!!
