Art Journaling

Some thoughts on keeping art journals.

Jul 10, 2023

Art journaling is a fun and inexpensive way to creatively explore ideas in traditional media.

I threw the word “inexpensive” in there because you can start a journal right now with just a few things found around the home. I’m hoping to encourage you to do exactly that, along with whatever art journaling or sketch booking you’re already doing.

“Art journaling is a visual diary where you can creatively express your ideas, thoughts, feelings, experiences and emotions through any type of media you enjoy. You have endless possibilities for artistic experimentation and your journal can be as unique as you are.”

I have quite a few journals and sketchbooks on the go at the moment, and I use them when I want to play around with an idea without it needing to be a good result worthy of showing. Like it might turn out really awful and if it’s in my journal it doesn’t matter. In fact if it’s really bad it’s actually really good that I’ve created it in my journal because I can look back at that idea and not try it again, or figure out what’s not great about it at a later date and maybe re-work it - or even use it to see how far I’ve improved if I thoroughly explore that idea and end up making something good from it.

At the end of this article check out the video I’ve put together to show you my journals, I’ve also shared some ideas for inexpensive ways to start an art journal from stuff you might have lying around the home.

exploring an idea…

Today I want to explore making patterns in some of my journals. I want to see if I can improve my pattern making ideas. I’m not a very neat designer, so my patterns look messy, but rather than neaten up my drawing I want to see if I can make my messy, haphazard style of pattern application look more ordered while still being unruly.

My first pattern started…well, it’s kind of an abstract pattern, which I like as is but I also want to add more. “But what if I wreck it?” And here’s the first great thing about journaling, learning when to stop and when to keep going by keeping going when I think I should stop and stopping when I think I want to keep going.

Look what happens when I keep going:

I did some more in my other journals…sticking with the kind-of seed poddish shape idea which seemed to get more abstract the more I did.

It got interesting when I cropped them.

Working on this sparked an idea for a large painting. Something I could do for the Red House group exhibition later this year. Journaling helps with ideas.

beetles

these shapes remind me of beetles, so I have a little play…

Drawing in a couple of rough beetles I realise that I need to get my spacing right so the legs don’t overlap.

Early the next day…

My intention was to get up early and do a few more beetles, but as usual I got sidetracked and started a mixed media mini portrait.

I just noticed that there’s a large seed pod shape in the background…makes me think of that movie “close encounters of the 3rd kind” where the main character keeps seeing the shape of the mountain where the aliens will land, in everything he builds.

Here’s that video about my journals that I promised. There’s plenty of room for improvement in my videos I know, but being the optimist that I am it is encouraging more than discouraging because it shows me somewhere that I want to go.

The end.