What is art journaling and why I do it?

What is Art journaling ?

Art journaling has become wildly popular, so to many of you, this may seem like a silly question. However, if you are unfamiliar with the concept, Art Journaling is a visual way of keeping a journal. Instead of painting on canvas or wood, you paint on paper, in the form of a book. There are really no rules. It can be any size, it can be as simple as a notebook, a ready made sketchbook or it can be homemade. It can include words, art or a combination of both. My personal preference is to combine both words and art.

Why do I do it?

I started art journaling in its most basic form, about 15 years ago. I was boarding a flight to Africa when a friend handed me a travel watercolor set and suggested I paint on the long flight. At first I would journal far more than I’d paint, although, I would paint a few decorative flowers along the edges to brighten the page. Several years later, I found my self home alone for the first time in the 21 years since becoming a parent. We had been homeschooling our 9 children and had reached a point where, because of health reasons, we felt we needed to put the youngest 5 in public school. I suddenly had huge blocks of free time on my hands and no idea what to do to occupy myself.

I had already been dabbling in art journaling so that seemed like a natural progression. I came across The Documented Life Project which was an online group of 4 women who had started a website and Facebook group where they gave weekly prompts and sometimes instruction. It was a way to document your daily life in a fun and creative way, while sharing photos of what you’ve made with others the group. Being able to see what others were creating and getting feedback on my own work was hugely appealing, so I dove in head first! I had absolutely no idea what mixed media art was, so I googled it and watched a lot of YouTube videos. It was fun and exciting to explore new mediums, I felt like a mad scientist experimenting with all different pens, inks and paints. I found it to be the perfect place to learn and perfect new skills and techniques. Best of all, I loved how I could complete a piece of art that was small and compact, in a short period of time. I could easily have everything cleaned up by the time the kids came home from school so that I could be in full on mom mode. The other benefit was that it was just for me. As a mom of many children, that was very rare, I loved that my journals were mine and I didn’t have to show them to anyone or share them, if I didn’t want to. In a household filled with 11 people and having little to no privacy, this was HUGE! Over time my journals evolved but I’ll get into that and tell you more about the writing aspect of it in a different post.

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If you are a beginner, this is a great book to start with. The papers are heavy enough to withstand virtually any type of medium you wish to use, plus it lays completely flat when open and the cover can be painted.

These pens are what I use to write on dark surfaces.

These pens are what I use on light surfaces.