journaling tip tuesday: visual journaling
Tuesday, March 17th, 2009
So what is this “visual journaling” thing all about? Visual journaling or art journaling seems to be the popular way to journal these days. With all this attention on art journaling, I think a lot of people who just write think, what’s the big deal?
I myself prefer just writing in my journals, but I do have visual journal entries scattered here and there in my journaling between pages of just written entries. My visual journal entries are spaces for me to experiment and play, use up bits of collage material, see what happens if I put that color on top of that one. More often than not my imagery has nothing to do with the written entry. But sometimes it does, and that visual imagery just serves to reinforce the written.
The first time I became aware of a consciously deliberate visual journal was in high school when I ran across a book on the diary of Frida Kahlo. I was blown away and knew that I wanted to have a book just like that! The Diary of Frida Kahlo: An Intimate Self-Portrait
an art journal entry from my handbound journal
Visual Journaling combines the written and the visual. It’s as simple as that. Some art journalers dedicate a whole journal just to visual journal entries. Page after page is filled with collage, paintings, sketches, plus writing. Some people even skip the writing and explore their thoughts, feelings and experiences purely through visual means. The journal becomes a piece of art in and of itself. A container, of sorts.
So why do a visual journal entry?
- creating a visual page can often express a feeling or an experience that you may have a hard time putting into words
- during the process of creating with imagery and color, you may reveal more about yourself or your situation that you are journaling about than if you had just written an entry about it
- allows you to flex those creative muscles
- allows you to play and explore without any pressure
- this flexing and playing could inspire you to do something bigger and deeper
- what else are you going to do with your pack-rat tendencies? It’s a place to use your collage papers, ephemera and photos.
- it’s fun and will make your journal feel scrumptious in your hands!
links and resources:
+Dawn DeVries Sokol’s book 1,000 Artist Journal Pages: Personal Pages and Inspirations (1000 Series)
+L.K. Ludwig wrote a fantastic book called True Vision: Authentic Art Journaling
Also check out L.K.’s blog , especially on Friday’s as she has just started doing a visual journal prompt every Friday.
+ One cannot talk about visual journaling without mentioning Teesha Moore. Just go see for yourself.
+Visit Kelly Kilmer to be inspired by her visual journal pages. She also teaches workshops on visual journaling, online and off.
+I have just discovered this art journaling blog One Artist Journal. Her work is just wonderful. She also teaches workshops on art journaling.
+Dispatch from LA blog will just inspire you to pull out a journal and all the ticket stubs, random papers and stencils you have been collecting and go at it. She is about to start an online workshop. I believe it starts soon.
There are so many resources out there, but those are just a few to get your creative juices going.
The next couple of posts will be focusing on visual journaling techniques, but those of you who are just writers, don’t despair. I will return to writing prompts, but also always with a tip for the visually inclined.
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