Let’s Get Started
Creating an art journal may seem daunting at first but it’s important to keep it simple and most of all, make it fun. So let’s start at the beginning with some easy tasks.
Pick a Journal
In an earlier post, I described the types of journals you can use depending on what techniques you would like to explore: blank, dotted, lined, or graphed journals. I believe it’s easier to start with a blank journal and thick paper weight so you can try different media.
Pick a Medium
The possibilities are endless: colored pencils, markers, gel pens, watercolors, acrylics, to name a few. In a future post, I will go over all the fun choices for art supplies. I started with student quality watercolors so that I could practice and they are less expensive.
Pick Decorative Elements
There are so many choices for decorative elements to use in your art journal: stickers, paper scraps, washi tape, collage fodder and more. Again, I will explore all of these in detail in a future post. One of my favorites and easy to use is washi tape so I would recommend it.
Pick Art Supplies
I would suggest starting easy on this as, at the beginning, you won’t know yet what art techniques you will be experimenting with. So just get some basics. If you’re going to use colored pencils, you will need sharpeners and erasers. For watercolors and acrylics, you will need brushes and a palette. Also, it’s good to have glue sticks, tape, scissors, and an exacto knife for collage techniques.
Create a Journal Page
A journal page can be anything really and I have so much more to show you and share in future posts. But in the picture I shared in this post, I’m featuring one of my very first journal pages to get me inspired and keep me going. I used a watercolor journal with a pretty floral cover, a round brush, an inexpensive set of watercolors, washi tape, and a gel pen.
What’s Next
So what to do with the above supplies? I decided to make swatches of all the colors in the watercolor set so that I could get familiar with the different shades and hues. To make the little squares even, I used washi tape and created a grid, then filled in each square with a different color. Finally, I wrote “Beginnings” at the bottom of the journal page. This was such a fun and relaxing exercise, one of many more to follow.
Go For It
So are you ready to start your first journal page? Let me know in the comments what kind of journals, media, and techniques you’re interested in and if you have any questions. Also, a quick note to thank my new subscribers–I hope you’re enjoying the content so far and have been inspired to start on this art journey. Until next time, happy journaling!
