Art Journaling

What is “Art Journaling”?

The best way to describe or define art journaling, which in many ways is undefinable, is: “The expression of yourself through color, words and images, it requires no skill and there are no rules. Art journaling is a chance to play, to experiment, and to express yourself! Art Journaling unlike many other forms of art, it is not about the outcome, it is about the process.”

See one artist’s process in her Art Journal >

Art journaling is simply doing art in a bound journal, on loose paper, even on canvas. You do not need a kit, an instructor, or a “how to” book. But you do need to discover or rediscover, your sense of enjoyment. Art journaling is therapy, exploration, and experimentation wrapped into one. It’s about loosening up and going in the direction you choose. An art journal can be a record of your daily thoughts, a travel journal, a dream journal, a place where you jot down your goals or to-do lists, or… well, almost any record that you’d like to keep in a personally styled notebook.

Your art journal can be whatever you want it to be. It can be something very simple, like you can simply document what happened today, with a few doodles along the margin. On the pages of your journal, you can do self-colored collages, stenciling, and stamping, scribble with pastels and watercolors, put together secretive poetry from random phrases from magazines, collect unconventional imagery and symbolism. So it can be as simple or complicated as you want or need it to be. They become “Art Journals” when you add YOUR fashion of artworks, embellishments, and thoughts to the pages!

See How to Start an Art Journal >