Art Journaling Tutorial

Art journaling is is a method of journaling using illustration and artwork instead of just writing. It is not about creating a perfect picture, but allowing you to be imperfect and express yourself. I discovered art journaling online around 2008 (about the same time I opened my Etsy shop). Art journaling allows me to play with pictures and not just use words which can be harder for me because I think visually a lot.



Here are some tips to get started art journaling:

- Art journaling is all about expressing yourself so just experiment until you find what works best for you. Remember, you don't have to show your journal to anyone so don't worry about it turning out a certain way.
- Use different materials such as paint, glitter, fabric, decorative paper, etc. You can keep a box or folder where you keep things you find that you might want to use in your art journal (e.g. magazine cut outs, photographs, receipts, etc.).
- Play with using both text and photos/images.
- If you don't know what to journal about, journaling prompts can help get you started. Google "art journaling prompts" or "journaling prompts" for a list of ideas for what to journal about.
- Set aside time to art journal to help stay consistent. For example, you might decide to make an entry every night or every Sunday.
- If you need inspiration for art journaling, you can google "art journaling" to find a bunch of helpful blogs and photos. Flickr also has a lot of art journaling groups where people post photos/scans from their journals.

You can see some of my art journaling on my Flickr. If you need a journal to get started in, I sell some journals in my shop that would be perfect for art journaling. Do you art journal?