Journaling

I rediscovered the art of journaling again! I had forgotten about this mind relaxing technique. I remember growing up as a child doodling all the time. I had a passion for crayons, colored pencils, markers, glue, glitter, anything that would help me create bright, colorful, and pretty things. I was not interested in dolls, they were boring! They never talked or moved for me, it never made sense why girls loved them so much. On the other hand crayons, markers, glue, and glitter spoke to me, they would brighten my days. I was able to create things that were beautiful in my eyes, those were the things that made me happy, they also gave meaning to my life as a child and adolescent.

I love keeping myself busy with crafting items and just a couple of days ago I thought of starting a new journal full of color. I'm still trying to learn the technique of using different media together to create my art journal, it's very different to all the other journals I've done in the past. This process of art journaling is a little more time consuming than the other journals I've created in the past. The following pictures include some of my art supplies and the two first journal entries I've made. Please keep in mind that I haven't drawn in a long time and I also had never tried this technique before.

The picture above are just some of my supplies that I use for all my crafting needs. They include markers, erasers, acrylic paints, brushes, scissors, pencils, water color paints, gesso, oil pastels, decoupage gel, stencils, rulers, double sided tape, stamps, card stock, scrapbooking supplies, etc..

To start an art journal you will need either a multimedia paper journal book, I bought mine at Barnes & Nobles for about $10.00, a multimedia paper spiral is also good (you can find it at a local arts store). Other supplies include gesso (found at your local arts store), decoupage gel, acrylic paints, water color paints, brushes for your paints as well as a brush cleaner, gesso, gel, and paper towels. You will also need colored paper, embellishments, glitter, newspaper and magazines for clippings, anything that your mind can make into something beautiful and creative. Use your imagination!

This was the first journal entry I made two days ago.

 For this entry I used acrylic paints, gesso, decoupage gel, scrapbooking paper for the bird, water color paints for the tree, a green colored marker and Sharpie for the letters, newspaper clippings for the leaves, and decoupage get to paste the leaves and bird.



This is the start to my second art entry.

1)To start off, I painted my paper with acrylic paints.Using a disposable plate, I mixed  yellow and red to create this orange. I lightened the color using a bit of white and also thinned the paint towards the center of the pages by brushing it with water on the paper. I then blotted the excess water and paint with a paper towel.
2)My next step was to brush the gesso on both pages. I used a disposable spoon to place some on my disposable plate with my color. I also thinned it with water on the page until I reached the colors and consistency of the gesso that seem right for my mood. I blotted the excess water and gesso off with a paper towel.
3)Time to let it dry. I can let this air dry or I can speed the process by using a blow dryer.
4)Once dry, you can add more color or gesso repeating the same process as above, or you could start by using your water color paints and making your drawings. I added water color at this step and more gesso, until I got the color I liked.
5)Dry again.
6)At this point I started to paste my cut-outs (see picture below) by brushing with decoupage gel. I painted the color of the cut-out with water colors, outline the detail to the wings and skirt of my angel using a Sharpie pen. Once that was dry I added more gesso and wiped the excess off with a paper towel. You can start with adding the embellishments, cut-outs, glitter, or whatever you want to your colored paper at this point.
7)Play around with your paper and use your imagination, use whatever you might have handy. Repeat any of the steps at any stages as you please.

Finished second entry.

Remember that all creations are beautiful and unique!

Until next time!