Career Tips

Maps, cityscapes, landscapes… they’re not just for travel journals. There are many ways you can include them in your personal art journals, too. If you’d like to create fine art abstract landscapes in your artists journal, I think Cathy Mevik’s demo will inspire you. If you’re not a painter, don’t let this scare you; I […]

When I first saw this concept in the movie, Crimson Peak, I didn’t think fore-edge book art was anything mainstream… ever. Now, I’ve learned that it’s a legitimate book art. (How did I never hear of this, before?) It’s something I’m considering including in my altered books art, and perhaps other projects. Another example, from […]

Are you art journaling with mixed media and ephemera? Do you struggle to collect and organize collage photos, papers and ephemera? Here’s the system that works well for me. It might help you, too. Art journaling – and mixed-media collages – can require lots of images. And, to remain “in flow” as you’re creating a […]

  A composition book art journal is any journal that’s kept in a composition book. Those are generally school-type, saddle-sewn (along the crease) notebooks with cardboard covers… similar to exam/test booklets, but a little more permanent. Composition books are inexpensive, so many people like them especially for informal journaling. It feels less intimidating to use a […]

You can sew embellishments onto your paper journal pages. You can use any page in a book like fabric (to sew on, for example) by using iron-on interfacing on the back side of the page. Yes, just iron it on, the same as you would iron interfacing onto fabric. It won’t always stick 100%, but […]

Paintbrushes are important for many artists.  I have lots of them for all purposes. I use bristle-style brushes for my oil and acrylic painting. Also, I’ll use soft, hair-type brushes when I’m painting with watercolors. However, for me, one-inch foam brushes are most useful for art journaling. How I use foam brushes When I’m creating […]

These are the final scans from the American participants in the round robin (RR) journal #1 that began at ArtistsJournals in April 2010. The first are 10 pages by Linda Giese: The next journal pages are by Iris Gonyea: (The text on that collage says, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” — Albert Einstein.) Now, […]

These are more scans from the round robin (RR) journal #1, launched in April 2010 for the ArtistsJournals group at Yahoo Groups. The details in some of these images required very large file sizes.  However, the load time delay (if any) is worth the wait. The first group of pages were by Dot McQuade: Page […]

Last April (2010), I launched two round robin (RR) journals at ArtistsJournals2 (aka AJ2) at Yahoo Groups.  (Since then, AJ2 merged with my main ArtistsJournals group at Yahoo Groups.) RR Journal #1 has returned to me.  I’m scanning it before sending it to Stephen in England, to begin the international segment of this journal’s adventures. […]

Torn-paper collages are among my favorite ways to illustrate an artist’s journal. I’ve been creating them for over 20 years now, and I never seem to get tired of them. In fact, two walls in our living room are a mini-museum of my favorite torn-paper collages. (People who visit us can be overwhelmed. It’s like […]

Artist’s journals are illustrated diaries and journals on any theme. An artist’s journal – or art journal – can be a record of your daily thoughts, a travel journal, an exercise or diet diary, a dream journal, a place where you jot down your goals or to-do lists, or… well, almost any record that you’d […]

This is a collage to honor the music of Dr. John (aka Mac Rebbenack). It’s art I created for the Homage to Music card deck exchange hosted by Red Dog Scott. Dr. John is among my favorite musicians, since I first heard his music around 1970. On an early album, Gumbo, he described his sound […]