Art journaling tutorial Archives

5 Ways to Begin (and Finish) an Art Journal Page

01.14.2019 by Amy Johnson Maricle // 8 Comments

Dear Wonderful, Creative You:

One of the most common issues that folks run into when they first start trying to keep an art journal is how to begin an art journal page. Some people have too many ideas, some have none at all, and lots doubt their artistic ability. Art journaling is a beautiful practice because it welcomes us ALL – artists and non-artists alike, to record thoughts and feelings, explore, and play, in visual-written form. So how do you begin (and finish) an art journal page? I want to share 5 simple and fun ideas that will help you create expressive, beautiful pages.

ART JOURNALING IDEA ONE: Your Words in the Stars

Write all over the page. Let it all hang out. Write the deepest, silliest, craziest, boringest stuff down that is swimming around your heart and mind. Give it over to the page. It can take it, because it’s your art journal! But if you are worried about someone finding the deepest secrets of your heart, worry not! We are going to cover it up for safe keeping.
Paint your page black. Grab some black paint, high flow acrylic, or ink and paint over the entire page. Use a dryer to speed up this stage if you wish.
Make your personal galaxy of stars. Use a white gel pen or a paint pen to create your own personal galaxy with what I call “dot clouds.” Let your dots (stars) cluster together as feels good, or look up some photos of the galaxy for a point of reference.
More ideas with dots and doodles: You may also like the idea of creating with a buddy. Check out this collaboration I did with another artist for inspiration.

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ART JOURNALING IDEA TWO: Adult Finger Painting.

Use 2 – 3 similar colors – like a couple of blues and a green, or yellows and a red or you might end up with mud.
Give yourself permission to play and tune into your senses as you paint. Notice the feeling and the smell of the paint as you push it around the page. Focus more on what feels good than what looks good.
The one word. When it’s dry, use a brush or paint pen to write one word that summarizes what your experience felt like.
More playful art: You might also check out this post on making watercolor and string prints in your art journal.

ART JOURNALING IDEA THREE: Natural Object Tracing

Trace a natural object that is meaningful to you. I’ve used shells and rocks mostly, but you could also do interesting shapes with acorns, dried flowers, or fruit. Imagine the fun of a banana page! Use a permanent drawing pen like a Micron so that it doesn’t bleed when you add other elements to the page.
Trace the object multiple times on the page, or in multiple sizes. You might overlap them, or make it neat, or chaotic.
Paint around the objects with a color that makes you feel peaceful.
Paint in the objects with a color that matches and makes you feel happy. You’ve just created a cool pattern page in your art journal!
You can find more ideas on making art journal pages with natural object inspiration here and one on making natural object sculptures here. I also have a whole Pinterest board on patterns where I save tons of inspiring ideas.

ART JOURNALING IDEA FOUR: Recycled Art

Cut up one of your own art pieces. You might use circles, stripes, or squares.
Glue the pieces on the page in a way that pleases you.
Pull the page together with paint. Use watercolor, acrylic, or Neocolor crayons to create unity on the page. Pick one of the colors in your cut up art piece and keep the number of colors you use limited so that you bring the whole piece together.
There’s a bunch of fun and easy ideas for art journal pages right here.

ART JOURNALING IDEA FIVE: Meditative Art Journal Painting

Choose your favorite color in acrylic or watercolor and a small, round brush.
Keep a loose grip and paint circles. Hold the brush LOOSELY, and paint loopy circles (or another shape) all over the page. It helps me to pretend I’m a small child when I do this in order to keep my marks looking relaxed and almost primitive.
Keep painting and overlapping your circles until you feel loose and the page is getting covered. While the page is still wet, mix a lighter version of the color using a bit of white, and layer a few lighter circles on top of the darker ones.
Make your pattern consistent. Keep your circle placement feeling either very chaotic and unplanned, or very orderly and graphic, otherwise it might feel stiff. Be sure to run your pattern off the edge if it’s meant to feel chaotic.

Still Overwhelmed About How to Start? I made a class just for you, The Guide to Creative Self-Care, and it’s FREE:

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I hope this helps getting you creating today! Let me know your other good ideas for starting your art journal pages.

Creatively Yours,

Amy

*The products linked in this post are affiliate links. This means that at no extra cost to you, if you choose to click and purchase something, you’ll be supporting the work of Mindful Art Studio to empower the artist in all of us. Thank you!

Top Mindful Art Journaling Ideas to Inspire and Calm

12.14.2018 by Amy Johnson Maricle // 4 Comments

Dear Wonderful Creative You:

I’ve been looking back at what I and my students have accomplished in 2018. This year, I wanted to spend more time with you in “live” online classes. We did that in Spring, Summer, and Fall sessions of Diving Deep. Students in the Diving Deep classes worked really hard, learned to push their creative limits, and formed a deep, intimate connection to their art. Being a part of that process is an honor I’ll never forget. Folks enrolled in Fluid Art, Freeing the Muse, Art Journaling 101, and Small Creative Acts learned to make mini masterpieces with fluid paint, push past creative blocks, create an intuitive art journaling practice, and uncover their creativity with one small creative act a day. You can see some beautiful student work here and here. As always, I love to share the insights coming out of this community to inspire you to create. Here’s my top mindful art journaling ideas to inspire and calm.

Top Mindful Art Journaling Ideas to Inspire and Calm

1. Make an art pen pal and make art together. I did with artist Cait Sherwood and it was a magical experience. We created two gorgeous journals that we sent back and forth through the mail. Imagine getting a big art surprise in the mail every few months! What a treat to see what she has done, how it’s changed, and gather inspiration for your contribution.

You can see our journals and a photo of when we finally met in person this summer: My Collaborative Art Journal

2. It’s okay to paint some ugly stuff. Sometimes I don’t like my mindful art journal pages, and so I add layers and see where it takes me. This intuitive art journaling process can lead to pleasant surprises. Trusting the Process: Notes from an Intuitive Art Journaling Class

3. Percolation is powerful for making delicious coffee, and beautiful art journal pages too. See how I let my ideas percolate, marinate, simmer, and boil over into my journal. What Your Art and Your Coffee Have in Common

4. Reading about art encourages you to make more art. My favorite book was actually an artist biography, can you guess whose? My Favorite Art Books of 2018

5. When you feel sad, writing about it and then painting can be surprisingly powerful. I’ll show you several different ways to art journal when you’re sad. I find having a little structure like this helps me get started when I feel low. How to Art Journal When You Feel Sad

6. Sometimes the simplest marks will calm you down and look really good. This still surprises me sometimes, but simple is often better in so many ways. Intuitive Art Journaling

7. I’m a big fan of having fewer, but high quality supplies. Here’s my top favorite art supplies and artsy lifestyle supplies of 2018. Gift Guide for Artists 2018

What did you learn about your art practice in 2018? I’d love to hear about it in the comments. I’m looking forward to even more time with you in 2019, in face to face workshops, online retreats, new classes, and mentoring sessions to get you zooming past your artistic blocks to your most deeply creative life.

Finally, if you are looking for a way to take a class with Mindful Art Studio, your loved ones can give you the gift of creativity with one of my Mindful Art Studio Gift Cards for any of my classes.

Creatively Yours,

Amy

My Completed Collaborative Art Journal

09.11.2018 by Amy Johnson Maricle // 13 Comments

Dear Wonderful Creative You:

Tomorrow I am off for my annual art retreat for the next several days, so I want to leave you brimming with ideas for YOUR creative life. Connection with other artists is one of the most nurturing things I do for my creativity. An art retreat or a workshop is an amazing way to do that, but a less expensive, more sustained way of doing that is to connect with someone and make collaborative art journals.

A Collaborative Art Journal

If you’ve hung around here for a while, you might remember that in early 2016 I started an art journal collaboration with artist Cait Sherwood. We both purchased the same Moleskine accordion journal, worked on it a bit, and then swapped. We continued this process for nearly 2 and a half years, until we finally met up in New York this summer. I’ve shared our progress all along the way. You can see the first marks here, see how the journals evolve and hear about my art fears here, and watch as I open Cait’s creation for the first time here.

This art journal collaboration was a ton of fun, and helped me stretch as an artist. When your style is similar, but also really different, it takes some time and trial and error to put the pieces together. Initially this felt like a challenge. I worried about upsetting her with something I did in the art – doing too much or too little. But as the collaboration continued, we found our groove, and things began to gel.

Cait had been the one to reach out to me on social media and suggest a collaboration. I didn’t know her. Over the last two years we have shared our art and some personal things too. I love the way that art has the power to connect us and make us better. Seeing Cait in person for the first time was such a beautiful way to complete this project. I also had no idea she was so tall! (And yes, I’m a bit short. But hey – not that short!)

So my hope in sharing some of the completed pages here is to inspire you. Cait has an AMAZING eye for color and texture. I love how everything feels so alive in these pages, and how our styles melded. YOU could do this too!

Aren’t these flowers that Cait made so loose and beautiful? They are a wonderful example of the beauty in imperfection.

See how they contrast with my slightly more neat plants, but still relate? This was part of the challenge initially, and then once I figured it out, the fun – going back and forth between these styles and building bridges between what each of us was saying in the art.

I made several of these birds throughout.

Cait made these fanciful cows. We also mimicked each others marks.

I punched holes all throughout this one, and we both took advantage of the different layering options that afforded us.

I love the loose lilies that Cait makes.

Cait introduced fish throughout, which were also a lot of fun to play with.

Inspired yet? What about doing your own art journal collaboration? You might have a friend nearby who is interested, or you might reach out to someone new and make an art penpal like I did. I have to tell you, getting a colorful journal in the mail takes fun mail to a whole new level. I’ve done a few other collaborations with other artists I didn’t know, and it’s always been such a rich experience. Not sure how to start your art journal? This post has tons of great ideas, or you can grab my e-book guide here, or take my intuitive art journaling class for beginners here.

Creatively Yours,

Amy

P.S. Today I was featured on the Self-Care Soother Podcast with Suzanne Falter. We talked about the way I use art journaling to express and transform my feelings. She had some great questions for beginners and I think you’ll really love it. You can listen here.

P.P.S I’ve just added a free workshop for next Friday and I hope you can join me. We are going to build our creative muscles by playing creatively. You can RSVP here: Call Off the Art Police!

The links in this post are affiliate links. This means that at no extra cost to you, if you decide to click on something and purchase, you will support the work of Mindful Art Studio to empower the artist in all of us.