Journaling doesn’t have to be boring, text only entries! Look into a widely popular, though often unrecognized, visual exploration using mixed media in your journal.
When I first heard of keeping an art journal, the first thing that crossed my mind was the sketch book I carried around with me in high school. It intimidated me more than anything, so I rarely used it despite my plans to fill every page. This isn't the case, though. Keeping an art journal goes beyond what the typical sketch artist would grace their pages with.
Clearly defined, an art journal (also known as a visual journal) is illustrating your personal writings. There's no right or wrong way to do this because, essentially, you are the only audience. Pick mediums you're most comfortable with, that you'd like to practice or that you'd like to explore for the first time. The choice is yours.
I started keeping an art journal when I discovered mail art collaboration. I'll get into what this is in another article, but it took this experience with other artists to really open my eyes to this form of creativity. It never occurred to me to take what I was doing on canvas and put it on to a page just for me. It never occurred to me to take risks and that it was okay to make mistakes.
Common forms of media used in art journals:
My favorite place for finding "art supplies" is home improvement stores. There's a wealth of ideas to explore in the paint department - everything from finding unique paint chips (I'll explore fun used for paint chips in a future article) to pictures of rooms to use in collages.
Then, if you wander over the several of the other departments, you'll find many other "take me' brochures and flyers with very high quality images contained in them. Before you know it, the pages of your art journal will transform into what would have been a typical magazine cut-out collage to something more like a "this is what I'd like to have in my home" dream journal.
Popular art journal web sites:
Be sure to choose a journal that won't intimidate you. I've worked with many artists and found some are comfortable with a standard composition book while others prefer a weightier, stronger paper found in coil bound hardback sketch books. The choice is yours. The need to spend to dollar for your journal isn't a requirement for producing beautiful pages. Use a book that'll conform to your needs easily, including its size, if it can be used with wet media and how many pages are contained inside.
And, most important, don't forget to have fun!
