Art Journaling: The Journey in Words and Images

Seeing people at the park writing in their journal or painting on their canvases usually left me with a sense of envy. What I envy most was watching how they block out everyone around them as they get into their creative zone and staying in the present with nature.

I started my own journaling, but felt it was lacking so I drew in it. [see image below] 

Then in 2014, I discovered what they call “Art Journaling”.  It looked like so much fun with bright colors, tons of layering, very complex work. I watched videos of how-to’s on Youtube and still did not feel confident it in. However, I was told by many people who have done Art Journaling how rewarding and therapeutic it is for them.

For most of my life, I realize that I am a visual person –I have to watch how things are done. Once I think I understand, I then believe I can do it even if I have never done it before. Well…. until the time comes when I have to do it and teach others how to do it; then fear of being called-out sinks in.

As I volunteer with Cancer Survivors by teaching them art. I found that I wanted to teach Art Journaling, because I believe there is joy in writing your thoughts down and there is strength in art-making.  As a facilitator, you have your insecurities of doing something wrong, but I remind myself that I am an artist, and each artist has her own way of creating art -there are many paths that lead to the same destination. How I instruct may be different from how another person instruct, but the end result is the same – to help the participants find inspiration, relaxation and meaning in their work. To help give extra guidance, I give prompts, such as their favorite song/poem, their secret wish, their favorite symbol, their inner goddess, etc.  What is most rewarding for all of us is that once we try our first Art Journaling page, we realize the artist in us.

Basic Art Journaling Supplies

·         A journal (I use Dylusions Large Creative Journal by Ranger)

·         Watercolor/Color ink spray

·         Crayons/oil pastels

·         Scissors (or ruler)

·         Glue

·         White Gesso

·         Markers/gel pens

·         Pencils (colored and regular)

·        Old magazines for collage or photo copies of your favorite images

·         Stencils/stamps

·         Ink Stamps
·         Hair Dryer to dry your paint faster

·         Wax paper

Here is an example of how I create one of my pages. This was a 25 minute clip and I had to learn iMovie to cut it down to less than 10 minutes and then I had to learn how to upload it into YouTube. Forgive me for the amature quality.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUQlJHQiERE

Here is the final result along with other samples I've done.