journaling tip tuesday: visual journaling, preparing the pages
Tuesday, March 24th, 2009
The hardest part of visual journaling is finding the time. When I want to write a journal entry, the last thing I want to do is to pull my paints out or find my glue stick or figure out what I want my page to look like. I just want to write. The best way to beat this is to prepare pages beforehand. You don’t have to do page by page. Just pick random pages throughout your journal.
visual journal entry from my journal
This page was created using a phototransfer technique of one of my photos. I had created this page before hand, so on a day when I was stuck waiting in the car I happened to have my journal with me and I pulled it out and wrote to the left of the image. Later when I went home I finished it by adding a stamped date, lettering with some alphabet stamps, and a little more paint here and there.
Ways to Start
+ Paint backgrounds using watercolor paints, acrylics, or ink.
+ Glue down images from a magazine or newspaper
+ Glue down cool background paper, such as scrapbooking paper, or a torn dictionary page, or wrapping paper, or…
+ Glue down your own photos
+ Glue down a black and white photocopy of an image- the white of the background leaves a perfect space to write an entry
+ Get your stamps out and ink them up all over the pages, create borders, boxes, divide up your page creatively
+ Do a photocopy transfer {see technique tip here}
Once you have your pages prepared, you can write in them as you come to them. Don’t worry about the page not being “ready” for your words. Once you get your words in you may have a better idea of how you want the art to progress.
Check out this spread created by mixed media artist Amber Gibbs. In this spread you can see how she created a collage combined with her line drawing. The architectural element of the arch provided the perfect space for a written entry. The whole spread is pulled together with the purple background.
Visit Amber’s blog to see more of her art journal spreads. She shares her experiments in her journal as well, so you are sure to get some good ideas there too. She has been gracious to allow me to show some of her journal spreads here and I will be sharing a few more in upcoming posts.
If you totally hate what you have created, just cover it up with a piece of scrap paper. Paint over it. Don’t let the fear of ruining your page or ruining your journal stop you. If you treat your visual journal like something sacred and precious, you may just end up putting off creating a page for another day. Again.
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