One of the things I want to do more of in 2011** is art journaling. I'm not sure what I'm doing really and it's taking me a while to get the hang of it. I am hoping my journals will be a thinking space as well as a playing with art place. Blank pages here seem even harder to start on than were the CED2010 books I did last year!
I started the page below when life was threatening to overwhelm me this month and all my little to-dos were falling through the cracks. The branches are (some of) my to-dos and where I have made progress I planned to add green leaves.
I wasn't sure how many to-dos I had when I started with this idea. (So I have a second tree ready to go on the following page (below)!) As you can see by the green leaves above I have made some progress. And I have more leaves to paint on tonight!
(No to-dos yet but maybe soon!)
Below is another work in progress (WIP). Something I read said it was easier to start if you had a background smeared on and ready to go. I'm not convinced of that for myself (as I look as ten plus pages of smeared paint...), so on this WIP I started doodling. The writing is really just whining about this not working for me (Hey, what are journals for if not to get the whining out of your head so you can move on?) I'm actually starting to like the doodling on top of the paint so I will probably zen doodle the rest of it.
What about you? Do you art journal? Do you just do art or use it as a journal to work through your thoughts? Do you prepare backgrounds in advance or wait until an idea strikes and work it out then? Or do you start with a crisp blank page? Want to link to a few of your favourite pages so we can visit?
Thanks!
xo
EVA (Art Journalling Newbee)
** Kristin and I have a plan for the "other". And it is something we have heard many of you express the same thoughts about! Stay tuned! It will be fun for us all! (Launch date is March 18th.)
Guess I'm kind of a wait till the inspiration hits me kind of girl but art journaling sounds cool! :-)
ReplyDeleteThis is such a great idea to take all the things one has looming in life and put them visually at the front so you can 'see' the progress as you add the leaves to your tree!
ReplyDeleteI have never journaled but I keep finding inspiration for it everywhere I turn...perhaps it is time.
Smiles and darnit you and kristin keep teasing us and I can't wait to see what you have planned! :-)
I like to keep a stack of watercolor washes on hand, that way if I'm not in a blank page mood, I've got the color wash to inspire me.
ReplyDeleteI have tried art journals, but always stop after a while...
ReplyDeleteUsing leaves as a way to "cross-off" things on your to-do list is brilliant... absolutely inspired. Love it!
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, I am way too all over the place to keep a separate book just for art journaling so I just keep everything all in one book - it is the only way for me to keep some semblance of control of my life and order to my thoughts! As a result "pretty pages" are mixed in with crazy random messes! Ha!
xo
Kristin