Art Journal my way!

“Art enables us to find ourselves 

and lose ourselves at the same time.” 

― Thomas Merton, No Man Is an Island

Art brings out the child in you..

its makes you fly high...

its makes you feel alive.... 

It refreshes your soul...

It dares you to spread your wings...

and explore...

"Spread you wings"

You may have seen the many art journal pages floating around the net, 

but have you wondered what really defines an art journal?

 Is art journaling only for artists?

Who does Art journaling?

Why keep an Art journal?

What is art journaling?

Art journaling is been considered as one of the most rewarding forms of art.

An art journal, or artist’s journal, 

is a book kept by an artist as a visual, 

and sometimes verbal, record of her thoughts and ideas.

Art journals generally combine visual journaling and writing, to create finished pages. 

Every imaginable style, media and technique is used by art journalists. 

When it comes to the types of work represented in artist journals,

No rules, No regulations... It’s all about self-expression.

Art journaling has a long-standing artistic tradition. 

Artists through the centuries have kept notebooks in which they 

sketched, practiced, experimented, and recorded themselves.

 Each book is as unique as the artist who created it.

Why Keep an Art Journal?

There are times I come across people who don’t “get” art journaling. They wonder why people would take a blank book and fill it with images and words. Everyone has different perception but I feel compelled (creatively and emotionally) to art journal. 

It nurtures my soul–which sounds “new agey” and abstract, but it’s true.

I’ve always been drawn to art since my early schooling years, I always had the urge to express myself using drawings, paints, cut outs, scribbling etc. I started keeping a visual journal in addition to my regular journal, and it fills a need I have for expression and creativity when words alone just don’t cut it.

There resides an artist in everyone of us and all have different reasons for keeping journals. ]The reasons are very personal and individual, and could include:

• To experiment with art techniques & ideas.
• To get your thoughts & feelings out on paper in a creative way.
• To document your life, your being.
• To enjoy the process of creating.

I know there are many out there who think "how we are?" when it comes to artistic things. 

We think we’re not very good. 

We think we can’t do it. 

We think everyone else is better than we are.

But this is not true.

Think about when you were a kid and got to colour wildly with crayons

or finger paint until your fingers hurt or the paint turned into a lovely to brown colour,

 whichever came first. We created art back then without knowing we were creating art. 

We did it with reckless abandon and it was fun because there were no rules.

 Art Journaling spirits us away from a very complex time in our lives as adults, 

and takes us back to that simpler time when were kids. 

It feels good and that is why we want to do it.

In a self expression form, no one is RIGHT, no one is WRONG. 

We are all artist. 

we have different ways of expressing art.

We have different ways of seeing art. 

A couple of reason for you to try your hands at Art Journalling:

ART JOURNAL - TO EXERCISE YOUR CREATIVE MUSCLES

I believe anyone who wants to exercise their creativity muscles 

can benefit from keeping an art journal. Just like any other muscle, 

if you don’t use it often, it will get weak. 

 If you don’t have time to work on your normal project, 

you can whip up a quick art journal page just for the fun of it 

to keep your creative juices flowing.

If you have been scared to try a new technique

, an art journal is the place to do it.

ART JOURNAL -  TO GIVE YOURSELF A VOICE

Some people like to write in their art journals as a diary and add illustrations to it.

Some like to use their art journal for their favorite affirmations or quotations. 

 Some like to use their art journal for an emotional healing.

and most importantly

Art journaling gives you the

PERMISSION TO PLAY!

and BE A CHILD!

(Information source : Various)

Lets awaken the child in you again

 and create an art journal cover page!

Based on the size of your journal take a white - heavy card stock

and trim it as per the journal size.

I have trimmed mine to

(5.5" by 8")

using the Tonic super trimmer

( I always prefer creating my art journal cover page on a 

heavy card stock and then matting it on the original journal to keep it more sturdy)

1, 2, 3...

and here we go

Lets ground the surface with the 

Art Basics - Finnabair's clear Gesso.

Using the heat gun, heat the surface until its completely dry.

Using the amazing Kaisercraft Honeycomb template 

(This is a supercool stencil where you get 4 patterns in one 12" by 12" sheet,

Considering the sheet is so huge I trimmed each of the pattern separately. )

 and Art Basics - Finnabair's  Modelling paste.

 I Stencilled the following pattern.

 Using the heat gun. dry it.

Here comes the interesting part,

Colouring, colouring and more colouring

Using the happy and bright Distress inks by Rangers 

1. Scattered Straw

2. Mustard seed

3.Shaded Lilac

4.Peacock Feather

5.Salty Ocean

add the colours onto the textured surface

with the soft Artists watercolour paint brush.

Stamping, love the personal touch it adds to the project.

The amazing Finnabair cling stamp - Dont Forget to fly is to die for.

I couldn't help myself but use these gorgeous butterfly stamps and the sentiment called for my attention.

Using the Black Archival Ink, I have stamped the images onto the white paper

 along with the sentiment and then fussy cut them.

I love yellows and purple, these colours are so bright and cheerful especially 

the ones in Distress inks by Rangers

1. Scattered Straw

2. Mustard seed

3.Shaded Lilac

I have coloured the butterflies and the sentiment.

The Finnabair clear gel medium is an amazing sealant, 

thus using it I have sealed the background 

and then coloured butterfly and the elements

Tear a page from an old book keep trimming it using your fingers in a way you like

or as shown in the image below 

and stick it onto the textured page and colour it using the Distress inks.

Last by not the least.

I love splattering. Using the amazing Art Basics Heavy Black Gesso, splatter onto the page.

Using the Distress ink, darken the edge of the cover used in order to highlight.

 Viola! and its ready...

Now paste it onto the Journal cover using the super tacky red tacky tape. 

If you ever get scared about trying you hands at art journalling.

Think about why you are going to start creating it. 

And believe you me, 

you don’t have to have any other reason than, 

“I want to.”

and this will do wonders.

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Products list:

Art Basics Soft Matte Gel

Art Basics Modelling Paste

Art Basics Heavy Black Gesso

Finnabair cling stamp

Black Archival Ink

Scattered Straw

Mustard seed

Shaded Lilac

Peacock Feather

Salty Ocean

Tonic super trimmer

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I hope I have inspired you create!

Have a crafty week!

Thank you for stopping by

...Nupur...