This isn’t quite art journaling… not visual journaling, anyway. Err… now that I think about it, this could include graphics, maps, and other visual cues. After all, those of us who create our own worlds or countries (for artistamps, etc.) often have a written record of our imaginary realms. Those include past artistamps we’ve created, [...]
Two phrases are often used interchangeably: ‘Art journals’ and ‘artists journals.’ For me, an artist’s journal is an illustrated diary or journal representing the artist. It’s about the person’s life, or some aspect of it, such as a travel journal, a diet & fitness journal, or something like my ‘decluttering journal’. It usually includes art [...]
Saving collage photos, papers and ephemera… it’s always a challenge. But, I’ve found a system that works well for me. It might help you, too. Step One: Sort collage elements by themes I save my collage elements — especially magazine photos — by color, in manila folders. I start with the major color groups (red, [...]
A composition book art journal is any journal that’s kept in a composition book. Those are generally school-type, saddle-sewn (along the crease) notebooks with cardboard covers… similar to exam/test booklets, but a little more permanent. Composition books are inexpensive, so many people like them especially for informal journaling. It feels less intimidating to use a [...]
You can sew embellishments onto your paper journal pages. You can use any page in a book like fabric (to sew on, for example) by using iron-on interfacing on the back side of the page. Yes, just iron it on, the same as you would iron interfacing onto fabric. It won’t always stick 100%, but [...]
Artist’s journals are illustrated diaries and journals on any theme. An artist’s journal — or art journal — can be a record of your daily thoughts, a travel journal, an exercise or diet diary, a dream journal, a place where you jot down your goals or to-do lists, or… well, almost any record that you’d [...]
Wax paper is always among my basic journaling supplies, and I use it any time I need to protect pages that include glue, water media, or anything sticky. When I travel, I pre-cut sheets of wax paper, and tuck them into the back of my journal. Usually, I use a rubber band or a binder [...]
Gesso can be a useful option for artists journals as well as painting and mixed media art. I use gesso often, because I often create heavily embellished pages in my journals. I need the extra strength that gesso adds to my art journal pages. If you create heavily embellished pages in your journals, as I [...]
This is from a letter to the old — now closed — ArtistsJournals2 list at Yahoo!Groups. I wrote it around 2002. Some of the information (and the terminology) has changed. We started calling them “artists journals.” Then, people began calling them just “art journals.” Then, I started saying art/journals. As of 2012, we’re back to [...]
Below is an article about creating an artists journal. I wrote it early in 2002. Before you read it, here’s the backstory: Back then, I was preparing to leave a difficult marriage. My then-husband wanted me out of the house, but I insisted on staying until my youngest child finished high school. It probably wasn’t [...]
