Does your art journal begin with a background? Do those colors and mood spark your creativity? Ooh, take a look at what others are doing…
For many of us, background colors and textures inform everything else we do with the page.
These artists videos are short and fun and… wow!
The first is by Purdy Creative Things. I love the variety she achieves, so quickly and with such simple techniques.
Next, this 8-minute video by Mercurial Milk presents some juicy colors and varied ideas, with useful tips for five different art journaling backgrounds.
The next video is by Maremi’s Small Art, and she shows how to create a textured, magical art background. This video is nearly 10 minutes long, but worth watching, even if you skip ahead as you understand each step.
The next video is by that same artist. It includes several one-minute background techniques. All of them are simple and use just a few colors and tools.
The video is about 7 1/2 minutes long, if you watch it all the way through. The techniques are repetitive, but each background is unique. I think the variety will inspire you to try some of her ideas, yourself.
And, in Mark Montano‘s video – about 4 1/2 minutes long – he assembles completed artist’s journals pages.
I’m including this video because many of his techniques are fast and easy ways to create vivid, unique journal page background, too.
After watching these, I’m ready to work on my journal. I hope you’re excited about these materials and techniques, too.
Art journaling with magazine images can be relaxing and fun, and make a statement at the same time.
It’s something anyone can do, with no art training at all.
Since the 1990s, that was one of my missions: To show people – especially women – that they could express themselves in art, no matter what.
Initially, I focused on torn-paper collages, because they were easy and were supposed to look a little “messy.”
Also, some of the words & slogans in magazine advertisements… wow! They can be great lines to include in your artist’s journal.
If you’re art journaling with magazine photos and text here are some videos that may inspire you.
How to use magazines for art journaling – with mixed media additions
Here’s a short video of Kelly Kilmer flipping through some of her artist’s journals. She uses lots of magazine images in her work, but also pens, paint and other fine art supplies.
Not seeing that video? It's at https://youtu.be/gVfe1wlwbd0 where you can find more of Kelly's art journaling videos, too.
One way to layer magazine layers in your art journal
In the next video, you’ll see how pitje4life adds magazine images – one over another – in her journal. (This starts part-way through the video, where she’s actually putting the images on the page.)
NOTE: I don’t recommend using white glue to attach paper, because you risk it bubbling the paper, even after it’s dry. But… I’ll talk about that, later. First, the video:
Instead of white glue, I recommend Yes!Paste. I apply it gently with a sponge brush. Then I place the paper where I want it to stay. (However, Yes!Paste is repositionable for several minutes. I’ve successfully moved magazine images as much as 10 minutes after first placing them.)
If you use gel medium as the adhesive, do not smooth it, or you’ll stretch the damp paper and it will stay bubbled after it dries.
(I learned that technique from collage artist Claudine Hellmuth, when we both taught at Artfest.)
Also – from my experience – I have better luck letting the gel medius air-dry, instead of applying heat to rush it. (Your mileage may vary.)
And then there’s a gluestick approach to art journaling with magazines
Some artists use gluesticks, as Jenn does in the following video. It’s about 10 minutes long, and she shows you exactly how her two-page collage came together. It’s from the “One Magazine Challenge.”
Where to find magazine images (and more) for art journaling
If you’re wondering where artists find delightful and deliciously quirky images for these kinds of collages, here’s Colleen McCulla‘s seven-minute video explaining her resources.
I hope those videos inspired you to create some magazine collages in your artist’s journals. (I can hardly wait to start a new journal, after seeing these.)
If you have any questions or tips, I hope you’ll leave a comment, below. Thanks!
Artists’ journals can be as big – or small – as you like, especially if you make them by hand.
You can even start with a single sheet of paper and – in just a minute or two – fold it into a simple journal.
Here are some videos to inspire you.
Folded Journal One
First, here’s a video by Cathy Johnson. She’s probably best known for her watercolors and mixed media art. Here’s part of her longer video about folded-page journals.
Of course, you don’t have to stop with a single sheet of paper. For a larger journal – or a journal-inside-a-journal – you could add more (and larger) sheets of paper.
LK Ludwig – part of the original artists’ journals movement – filmed this several years ago. In less than a minute, you can see various ways she uses fold-out pages in one of her handmade journals.
I think those are brilliant folding ideas, to get the most from any artist’s journal.
This video is longer than the others – a little over six minutes – and filled with ideas. In some ways, it’s similar to Cathy’s video… but this is simpler. Also, unless you attach a couple of these – back to back – it produces an art journal with fewer pages.
I love this concept if you’re starting with scrapbooking paper, or sheets of paper ephemera.
Altered books are a great way to create an art journal. It’s recycling, in a way, but with lots of added benefits.
Drink up these videos for ideas!
The next one is a lovely demonstration by Art by Silas. It shows how to create a mixed media artist’s journal. It includes torn paper collage – one of my favorite techniques. And it’s a good way for a beginner to get art journaling ideas. (The video is about five and a half minutes long.)
Here’s the video:
If you like this video, be sure to see Silas’ other videos at YouTube. She has a delightful sense of style.
The next video features a style almost 180-degree different from Silas’ style. Dana S’s altered book is somewhat dark, Steampunk-ish, and a bit Goth. I love the variety in it!
And here’s Karen Gaunt’s “lazy” tips to altered book art journaling. If you want to cover pages quickly, her tips can be very useful.
And finally, if you want to go extreme with your altered books, check this next clever concept… a book with added drawers!
When I’m not working on art, I’m usually researching and writing books… mostly fiction, but some true-life stories, as well.
So, I was excited when I saw someone talk about journaling as a way to plot a book.
(This concept was sparked by an article – now gone – called RJ’s Guide on Creating a Story Bible. You can read a similar piece at Jane Friedman’s site, “The Story Bible: What It Is…“)
What’s a story bible? Well, it’s a notebook (or some other system) where you keep your ideas for your book:
Locations
Characters
Background information, like history (real or imagined)
Plot ideas
Plot twists
Sequel ideas, if you might make this into a book series
There’s something rich and juicy about using pen-and-paper as much as possible, when writing.
Often, by using a journal as a story bible – mixing writing & graphics – my books seem to write themselves.
Oh, I’m still writing my books in Scrivener. For me, that’s the easiest way to create Kindle books and printed manuscripts. (I also use voice recognition software, so I don’t have to type anything, if I don’t want to. That’s a time-saver and avoids carpal tunnel issues.)
But the idea of using a journal – written and visual (art journaling) – plan a short story or novel… I really like this.
Let me know if you try it, and any tips you have for fellow artsy writers. Leave a comment – or question – below.
Journaling is included in this TED talk about the “happy secret” approach to living a more fun, productive, rewarding life.
It starts with how you feel, and how positive you are. Your emotional level — how happy you are — determines how happy your life events are.
Click the Play arrow to watch it. The video is about 12 minutes long, and very worthwhile.
If you’re in a hurry (though I hope you’re not), the screenshot below shows you the point to fast-forward to. Start at about the 11 minute marker. (The graphic, below, is a screenshot… click on the video above, to watch it.)
All of those suggestions can help.
Of course, “meditation” will mean different things to different people.
They may include things like:
Prayer
Conscious meditation
Admiring art in a museum, gallery or studio, or even
The simple act of “being there”… being in the moment.
I believe the more of these elements you can include in your life, the happier you’ll feel.
Journaling each day — making notes (words, images, a recording, etc.) about one happy event of that day — can make a big difference in your happiness.
The studies were based on a 21-day practice of… well, whichever of those choices seem most appealing to you.
Sometimes, people will become happier the first day. Others will need to develop the habit, and — somewhere around day 21 — the person will pause and realize that she (or he) is feeling happier.
Colors seem brighter.
There seem to be more opportunities, more fun, and more whimsy in daily life.
Serendipity is in your favor, and life is better.
Maybe you can journal your way to happiness. It’s worth trying.
Today, I was browsing some sites where people have posted their art journals (or artist’s journals… same thing… it’s a term always in transition).
I quickly found a wonderful series of pages, and the artist (Zom) muses if they’re part of an ugly art journal.
I want to say, “No! Those pages are lovely!” but I hold back.
It’s sort of like when I was pregnant. Each time, I’d refer to myself as “the fat lady.” At the time, it amused me. Obviously, I was pregnant, not fat, but the size of my stomach… well, my humor runs to sarcasm. Telling me I wasn’t “fat” made me question the vision of the observer.
Hello. 60 inch stomach…? Fat! *chuckle*
But, of course, I understood the point. They just didn’t understand mine… which was also okay. Often, people don’t get my humor.
So anyway…
I look at these pages in all their loveliness. I absolutely love the juicy colors and the choice of images.
However, if Zom wants to call them ugly… well, it’s her journal. My opinions are different, but that’s my experience, not necessarily hers.
Moving past that semantic moment…
I love it where she says, “I don’t know how much of a connection I am feeling with this art journal. Is the form no longer relevant?”
That resonated with me. For a long time, I didn’t connect with my artists journals. I looked at them, tried to add to them, and generally felt a sense of ennui before completing even one page.
I became a different person over the past several years. The reasons I’d kept an art journal, years ago… they weren’t there any more. It was a different context altogether. For starters, I’d been driven to keep my journal… it was a manic, almost “outsider” thing, for years. It was how I kept my sanity during challenging years.
Since then, my world gradually shifted. It wasn’t quite like watching paint dry, but it was very slow-moving. I didn’t want to articulate it because the changes — even the minute ones — were radical, but — at the same time — they were constantly in transition.
What I’d say one moment might be totally different, even an hour later. I suppose they were very subtle ah-HA! moments.
So, I’d put things down on paper and, later that day or sometimes a few days later, I’d shred them. They weren’t me… not a “me” that lingered for more than a few minutes, anyway. And, with such fleeting changes, I didn’t want to keep art around that represented that. It took me back in time, uncomfortably. It wasn’t a real ME-me, if you get my meaning.
I do like to document the process, no matter what the process is. However, there are times when the changes are like trying on a huge stack of clothes in a fitting room: By the time I find what fits me and looks good, I’ve pretty much forgotten the oh-dear-heaven-that’s-not-me stuff, now at the bottom of the pile.
I don’t want to save some of those half-baked journal pages any more than I’d take photos of myself in unattractive clothing in the fitting room.
They’re not me.
They don’t have significance in my life, even as process.
Keeping those pages would be making the moment more than it was.
Perhaps I should journal about those pages.
Anyway, this blog entry (linked below) is wonderfully, deliciously thought-filled. Click to read the pages. They’re very good and some may resonate with you as they did with me.
I don’t write as often about my art journal as I used to. I think my AJ and I have been going through a difficult phase. I knew things needed to change, not because anything was ‘wrong’ but because, for me, the innate nature of …
As I’m writing this (April 2002), I’m starting each day with an art journaling collage, the same as I used to do morning pages.
I allow myself a half an hour for the initial collage process.
Then, later in the day, I may go back several times – adding more things – until I’m pleased with it.
But it all starts with the determination that, whether it’s good art or not, there will be a collage when I’m finished!
Art journal page preparations
Usually, I coat each page with gesso throughout my art journal. Then I know the pages are strong enough to support my collages, even heavy ones here & there.
I’ll leave page or two for writing, then gesso two or three pages so they’re prepared for collage art. And so on.
That forces me to include lots of art in my journal. It’s still a diary, but it’s more than that, too.
In fact, my current art journal is fully gesso’d pages, because this one will be entirely art.
Gesso for art journaling
For my art journaling, I use any gesso that’s cheap, from the fine art supplies section of Michael’s.
Gesso makes the paper stronger, so it doesn’t suck up the glue or paint so much, and it has “tooth” to grab whatever I apply to it in layers.
I buy mostly white gesso.
Yes, you can buy it in colors, but if you start with white, you can add color to it (in small batches) with watercolors (including Dr. Ph. Martins), acrylics, even food coloring or unsweetened KoolAid if you like! But I’m happy working with white, usually.
Then, the collage images
I store a wide range of images in folders, kept in a heavy cardboard portfolio, to use when I want to do a collage.
I also keep a stack of magazines & newspapers on hand for my collage work.
And I go through them and grab whatever images, words, and phrases strike my fancy at that very moment.
If they connect somehow, great.
If they’re completely disrelated, that’s okay too. It usually makes sense to me when I put it all together, in the context of my thoughts at the time.
I love layers in my work. For this reason, I’m very big on using colored tissue paper.
Adhesives hold it all together
From my 2002 post in my Yahoo!Groups community, Artists Journals (aka “AJ”):
I use Golden Gel Medium (soft/gloss) for the adhesive, and when the tissue paper is saturated with the gel medium, it remains translucent after it dries.
However, the gel medium will make the paper buckle sometimes. I like that, because I’m very process-oriented. I’m not interested in a collage that looks pre-printed. The buckling and extra glops of gel medium work for me. But I know that not everyone likes the buckled-paper look.
I apply the gel with a sponge brush. Sometimes, I forget to rinse them. Though I’m much better at remembering now – due to environmental concerns – I stock up on inexpensive sponge brushes regularly.
[Important 2021 update: Now, I’m using Yes! paste. I apply it with a sponge brush or a cotton swab, depending on what I’m applying to the page in my art journal. It rarely buckles or puckers. I absolutely love this product!]
While the page dries, I’ll place a piece of waxed paper over it so I can turn the page and either write or do another collage. If it’s facing another damp-and-drying page, I’ll keep waxed paper between the pages for a week or two until the adhesive is fully cured.
Adding embellishments to your art journal
Don’t limit yourself to paper and the occasional paint or colored accent.
I highlight some of my work with different types of leafing… gold, copper, etc. I adhere it with the same medium or paste.
For some of my work, I think of other ways to attach stuff.
For example, on a “hurting” day, a bandaid may hold an image in place.
On other days, I may use grommets, paper clips, straight pins, safety pins, and so on.
Think beyond tradition and rules!
I never fret because an item prevents the journal from fully closing, nice and flat.
Frankly, by the time I get done with lots of pages, the whole thing is so layered (and sometimes a bit buckled), it hasn’t a chance of closing flat, ever again!
Cover additions are a nice touch
Often, I sew a button to the front cover of the journal, and a piece of string (I like hemp twine) or ribbon attached with a grommet to the back cover, so I can tie the journal closed when I carry it around or shelve it.
But, you may think of other ways to secure your art journal. Think of it as yet more mixed-media art, not just “what’s going to hold this journal closed, in my purse or backpack.”
Do. Don’t plan!
These art journaling collages are exciting to me.
I never know how they’ll turn out until I start putting the random bits of paper together and realize what the internal message is. It’s sort of like bringing what’s deep inside me, forward.
From time to time, I’ll display my new (real) art journaling and mixed media art pages here, as I create them.
Sure, mimic others while you’re learning, if you need to.
But, as soon as you can, start following your “what if…?” whims.
Experiment, and then tweak if necessary.
Soon, you’ll find your own art journaling style. And – of course – it will evolve over time, as we do as individual.
In many ways, I feel as if art journaling reveals who we really are.
That’s important, as self-expression and as a legacy for the future.
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So, I was excited when I saw someone talk about journaling as a way to plot a book.
They may include things like:
Today, I was browsing some sites where people have posted their art journals (or artist’s journals… same thing… it’s a term always in transition).
