Use an Art Journal

An art journal is basically a diary. Anyone can make an art journal. The only difference is how you use it. You can use it like a diary every day, like a comic book of your life, things that happened to you, or just do sketches of interesting or memorable moments from your day or week.

Steps

  1. Choose a journal or sketchbook, or make one. You can get an inexpensive notebook and just concentrate on the content of the book, or a fancier blank book if you're more serious. Check out the stationery department of your favorite store or an art shop.
    • Don't get anything too fancy if you're just beginning drawing. "Too fancy" is anything that makes you feel guilty about writing in it, or worry that you might mess up and ruin the journal. On the other hand, if you prefer to draw or paint, choose a paper quality, texture, and thickness that are suitable for your preferred medium.
    • There are pocket journals, for when inspiration hits, or for when something happens and you must draw it right away.
    • Choose the paper size you prefer. There are suitable books of normal size paper, poster size, and miniature size.
    • Check whether the book you choose will stay open by itself. It's no fun to try to draw or write when the book is flopping closed under you.
    • Some people prefer spiral bound sketchbooks because they lay flat. Others dislike them because the spiral gets in the way when they draw. This is completely a personal preference thing, so choose what works best for you.
    • Notice what's involved in getting a page out of your chosen book, especially if you think you might ever want to take a work out and display it.

  2. Make the journal your own. At the very least, lay claim to it by writing your name (phone number is good, too, in case you misplace it) in it or on it. You could also decorate the cover, recover it, add color, or attach interesting objects to it.
  3. Start putting stuff in it. Don't spend too long worrying about exactly what to do. Just start doodling or doing whatever's on your mind. You may find that some of your best work happens almost accidentally.
    • Leave the first page blank if you're not sure you can draw well enough yet, or if you'd like to make an index as you go. If you do the first page last, your art skills will have improved by the finish and you'll give it a gorgeous introduction.
    • Choose a middle or back page and chart your paints, pens and other art supplies. One function of an art journal is to learn what your supplies can do. Starting at the back with color charts and mixing tests makes them easy to find for reference later.
  4. Try new techniques in your journal. Feel free to try out techniques you see in art videos, online articles and magazines. That's part of the fun of having an art journal. Write down your thoughts about the experiment, this will make the page a mini-article about what happens if you mingle poured watercolors or if you use glitter glue instead of putting down glue and shaking glitter over it. These texts about the process are fun to read and the next time you want to use those materials, you can look for inspiration right in your journal.
  5. Think of something that happened during your day which made you happy or angry. One of the main points of an art journal is to vent emotions and opinions in a healthy way. You can put down things that happened in your life you can't talk about, things that make you laugh, sketches of funny outfits you saw - anything, really.
    • Treat it like a real diary if you want, or simply use it to collect your works and practice. The whole point is that the journal is for you, by you, and its contents are completely up to you.
    • Try reflecting on other art and design you see, especially if it makes an impression on you or grabs your attention. You can draw or create your impression, or just write about it.
    • Create in your journal frequently. It's good practice if you're learning new techniques or perfecting old ones, and it helps to keep you in that frame of mind..

  6. Turn off the filters and the inner critic. Don't hesitate to experiment in it or make mistakes. This is your journal. Put in it what you want. If that's strictly drawings, fine. If that's a mixture of drawings, paintings, writing, collage, and pasted-in prints of your favorite photographs, that's fine, too. Doodle aimlessly on a few pages or try out a new medium or technique. Your artistic journey might not even happen all in one book.
  7. Put your ideas on paper as soon as they form, or as soon as you can. Perhaps you made what you thought was a funny joke during school or at work, but no one laughed. You can draw that many different ways. You can draw it like a comic book, complete with the joke and the awkward silence where no one laughed, just one picture with the punchline that didn't work. Or you can split the page into halves or fourths with the key points of what happened. It doesn't matter, so long as you create your impression of it.
  8. Review your older entries occasionally. You might find new inspiration in old pieces, things to try drawing again or varying, or simply memories. You may also see a pattern of your work progressing through different interests and moods, or of your techniques evolving and improving.

Tips

  • If it's small enough to fit in your bag, then it's a really good idea to carry it with you everywhere you go. You never know when inspiration may strike. Carry pens and pencils in your bag, too, so they'll be handy.
  • Want to try something completely different? An art journal need not start blank. Find a used book that's not too rare or valuable, but that has a lot of character, such as a volume of an old encyclopedia from a mismatched set. Try thrift stores and garage sales. Then, make it your own. Write in it, paste things in, fold and cut the pages to your heart's content. The book underneath may color or inspire the content or just serve as a background. This is a good direction to go if your tastes in art run towards collage or altered objects. With your modifications, the book itself will become the art.
  • If you paint in a book, make sure to allow it to dry thoroughly and to put things between the sheets to prevent paint from seeping through to the next page. Alternatively, paint pictures separately, then put them together as a journal or add them to a journal including other media.
  • You can theme your Art Journal on something you love - cats, birds, landscapes, flowers, cartoon ideas. It doesn't have to be a diary like a day to day journal of everyday life. It can also be a journal of your artistic progress with sketches, collage, paintings and images of new principles you just learned or ideas you have about art.
  • If you are using really soft lead, charcoal, or something that will leave a lot of residue, get page protectors. You can also consider buying a can of aerosol fixative - there are many brands, but avoid Krylon because the cans go bad and drippy. Typically what you want is "workable" fixative, which means that the spray will keep pencil or charcoal lines from smudging, but you can go back into it and draw on the fixative - it won't resist the pencil or charcoal, like something shiny might. If you're on a budget, aerosol hairspray works well, too.
  • Date your entries, whatever your theme or style. You can track your progress by looking back through earlier entries to see how much you've learned. That's better for morale than trying to make everything perfect.
  • There are many fantastic supplies for scrapbooking that work well in art journals, and are widely available.
  • It's quite nice to keep it secret because then it can seem more special and precious to you.
  • A faster way to get something to draw on is to make a mini-booklet. Take a piece of paper and fold it into eight sections. Tear or cut the two consecutive borders between the four middlemost sections, then fold it along the lengthwise crease, push the two sides together and fold around to one side to make the book. This will give your a front cover, a back cover and six pages. It's pocket-sized, easy to remember, and if your paper is thick enough, you can unfold it, flip it around, fold it the other way, and you have a new booklet!
  • If you'd like to share your art journal or selections from it, consider placing them in a Start a Blog For Free or posting them on a gallery site, such as Be-Popular,-but-Safe-on-deviantArt You'll need a scanner or a camera that takes good close-ups.
  • You can also add collages and pictures of things that have happened throughout your life.

Warnings

  • Don't get hung up on what is "right". What is right is whatever you feel like doing. This is a place to let yourself explore, unfettered.
  • If your art journal is personal to you, take care not to lose it. Keep it hidden if you prefer, or only share pages that you choose.
  • People will want to look though your art. Complete and total strangers may come up and start looking through your book when you aren't looking. Don't get mad. Just quietly take the book back, ask them not to look through your things, and put it away until they're gone. They may whine about it or try to take your book, but other artists will admire how maturely you handle the situation.

Things You'll Need

  • Something to act as your journal: a sketchbook, a blank book, a collection of art papers bound together—whatever you like.
  • Drawing or painting supplies.
  • Materials for scrapbooking if you like to use them.
  • Some fake gems, stickers, etc. for the cover of your journal.

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