No mistakes. No judgement. No plan. That’s what art journaling is all about.
Do you have an art journal? You should!
I am always amazed at the number of artists I come across who do not partake in this creatively inspiring process. Where do these people store all of their beautiful, inspiring ideas for up and coming work? My head is not big enough for all of the ideas I have. I need to store them somewhere and over the years I have found my art journal to be the perfect place.
A place to store ideas and plans for future work
A place where I can just be. A place where I can comfortably, and in small-scale, push past my personal creative boundaries. It’s all about practicing your mark making, trying new mediums, color mixing and even playing with different styles.
It’s a process and all part of the creative journey.
I love looking back through my journals. They are filled with lots of inspirational quotes, crazy ideas, colors, magazine cuttings and lots of bad, and not so bad artwork. It is a picture in time.
My abstract phase. A phase I am not finished with. Just love all the marks and texture.
Your art journal is a place you can spend as little or as much time as you please. It is the perfect go-to spot when you only have a half hour. I find it the perfect place to go when I am just having troubles starting. Sometimes it is, oh, so difficult to get those creative juices flowing and feel creative. Give me 5 minutes splashing paint around and I am usually hooked for longer.
playing with color and form
I like to think of it as a thumbprint for something bigger. A place to try new techniques and see what transpires. It is never finished. Every mark is a learning experience. I can’t begin to tell you how many happy accidents I have produced in my journal. Or snippets of work I have started only to come back to and see in a new light.
Art journaling is therapeutic and relaxing too.It could save you thousands in therapy.
That’s what I keep telling my husband everytime I need new material. I almost have him believing it. I have myself believing it.
I was very surprised to come across this page in a journal from 2 years ago. I don’t do faces. If I start to see eyes emerge from my work I usually get a brush and some paint out real quick! Obviously some repressed subconscious glitch that I should deal with.
I am not sure where this image came from , but I obviously had a moment and felt the need to create her. I may have even copied her from another artist. GASP.. That is OK! Thats what your journal is for. Practice replicating work from others that inspires you. Try making their marks and using their colors but just dont dare go out into the real world and try to pass it off as your own!
Art journal = Anything goes.
This is what my art journal looks like these days since starting my Surface pattern design course with Rachael Taylor. Definitely not as colorful, but part of the process I am going through now.I am even amazed at my progression with these pages. A gentle reminder that every mark is a part of the learning process.
Summer is the perfect time to grab a book and your favorite medium to create. The time is now!
For lots more art journaling inspiration check out my Pinterest page~ art journal know how here. I have pinned some great links and lots of eye candy.
Hope you enjoy!
Love your abstracts! And the ink drawings in the last photo. Once I get settled in my new home, I hope to start art journaling a little. Thanks for the inspiration.
Best of luck on your move! I think you are moving to one of the hottest spots going. Look forward to reading more about your new start! xo
Love love love! It’s how I started becoming an artist: my dearest friend challenged me to do an art journal page every single day for a year. I was hooked! xo
I love your art journal pages. I always find bits of inspiration in them!
Stopped by to say that I LOVED your abstracts! So cool!
just glorious! There’s something very wonderful about being allowed to see into another artist’s play space and idea collections. Thanks so for sharing!
Right back at you! You are very good at sharing all of your work!
Julie your sketchbooks are yummy!!! I love your use of materials!!!!
Here is another loving your abstract painting! I would happily hang this on my wall …
. Thank-you for the encouragement that the art journal is a place to go when you can’t get started. I so need to do this …
Always inspiring and delicious!! Love it all.
I used to keep an art jpurnal when I was in college…many, many years ago. Once life started happening (marriage, work, kids, ets…) I stopped. I should get back to doing one as I hope my grandchildren (and kids) would love a peek at my mind some day.
Patti, I think the same way. I am hoping that one day my children will get a little better sense of who I am through my art journals and my blog. I believe an art journal would also work for all of your knitting projects -ideas, colors and patterns that you like all compiled in one place.
Your abstracts are fantastic, but I just LOVE the simple black and white pages too!!
oh Julie, this was fabulous… such an inspiring journey through those incredible journal pages… i am SO with you on keeping a journal and having it be a “stress free, anything goes” place to lay down our ideas and doodles. I’ve kept journals now for years and every page says something about “where” my head (and heart) were at the time of creating it. I love how your creative work varies – your abstract is MIND BLOWING!! i love the marks and textures too. Fantastic work… thank you so much for sharing. You’ve inspired me to go journal now. xox
Hi Julie, your art journals are fascinating – I love sneaking a peak at people’s sketchbooks. Especially love the black and white drawings you’ve been doing on the course and the colourful pages are beautiful. Very inspiring! x
Love it. Thanks for the inspiration!
Julie.. love your blog.. the pages, the colors.. oh my.. so inspiring. Abstracts are wonderful! Thanks for stopping by my blog and commenting. Judy