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I’ve shared in my art journaling classes on Skillshare how I use a pocket-size art journal as a fun and creative daily challenge. In this blog post, I want to tell you a little bit more about how I use this journal to capture my memories and express myself.
Journaling as a Form of Memory-Keeping
Let’s start with this idea: There is no right way to art journal. Your journal may look like a scrapbook, a sketchbook, a written journal, or some combination of elements of all of these. You can use photos, drawings, collage, paint, hand lettering, or anything else you enjoy working with.
Have you heard this quote by Georgia O’Keeffe?
“I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way... things I had no words for.”
This quote sums up how I use art in general, and especially my visual journal. On some pages, I do use words to express my feelings and what’s going on. When I use words, usually they are in the form of collage poetry, song lyrics, a focus word, or a brief quote, rather than longer form written journaling.
But more often, I use line, colors, patterns, photos, and other visual elements to tell my story. I view each page as a little snapshot of my life story.
Sometimes I think, my art journal looks like a sketchbook. But it isn’t a sketchbook to me. I don’t practice drawing or plan out bigger works here. I don’t plan ahead whatsoever. This is a place to intuitively create by choosing materials and colors to express what I’m thinking and feeling at the moment.
My Favorite Supplies for Art Journaling
There is one step I take to prepare before I work in my journal, and that is to gather my supplies. Usually, I work with a small tray or pouch filled with just a few supplies. I like doing this because it reduces overwhelm and figuring out which art supplies to use.
Some of the materials I use over and over in my journal include:
- Acrylic paints - I like to choose 1-3 colors at a time. My favorite are Liquitex basics, and I also use inexpensive craft paints.
- Tombow Dual Brush Pens - I choose 1-3 colors of these markers as well. these are my favorite colorful markers.
- Posca Paint Markers - I love paint markers! Not all sketchbooks are paint pen friendly, so swatch them first. I love to layer with these, and they are an easy way to get a painted look without dragging out your palette and brushes.
- My current favorite brush pen to draw and letter with is the Pentel Fude Touch Brush Sign Pen.
- Collage with found ephemera and photos - When I’m not journaling, I’m collecting ephemera to use in my journal! I like to hang on to photos, ticket stubs, stickers, patterned paper, junk mail, and other bits and bobs that I can use to collage with later. I’m always collecting pretty pieces so that I have a stash for when I’m ready to journal.
Oh, and I should mention the journal that I’m using! This is a pocket-size sketchbook from Talens Art Creations.
While I’ve been disappointed by the paper when attempting gouache paint, I’ve been very impressed with how the paper in this sketchbook performs for just about every other material. It holds up nicely to my mixed-media experiments without any bleed-through. I often find myself creating pages in 2-3 layers, so this is a big selling point for me! I am using the 5.5” x 3.5” sketchbook right now, but these books come in a lot of different sizes (and colors).
Create a Daily Journaling Practice
If you’re interested in learning more about daily art journaling, I teach a Skillshare class where I walk through how to set up a basic supply kit for art journaling. Then we complete a week long journaling challenge together, where I provide prompts and examples to inspire you each day.
The best part is, my approach to a daily journaling challenge can be done in just 10 minutes a day. Yes, just 10 minutes! I believe you can have fun with journaling and build a strong creative practice in just a few minutes a day. In fact, some of my favorite pages have been created when I felt the desire to create something but I only had a few minutes to work on it. When I work in short bursts, it always leaves me wanting to create more! And that means I don’t get easily burned out or lose interest.
Take my art journaling classes (as well as thousands more on the platform) with a free one-month Skillshare membership by signing up through my link. I hope you’ll love Skillshare as much as I do.
And that concludes my overview of how I journal and the supplies I've been loving. What kind of things end up in your journal? Leave me a comment below and let me know!