Art Journal #1
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Art Journal 1: Beginnings
Back in February I started to art journal. What is art journaling? Art journaling is a way of expressing yourself in illustrated form in journals and diaries. It really has no set rules. Which is great because I don’t believe art should have rules. I believe you should be able to express yourself however you like. When I had first looked into art journaling a few years ago I had come across websites that stated art journaling had to be done a certain way and that there were certain rules to follow. Due to this I decided to not art journal but this year when I started to do artist trading cards I was again interested in art journaling. This time when I looked into it I found that the majority of art journalers don’t believe there are rules so I decided to start. You can read more about art journaling at Twelve Squared Creations or you can google art journaling and you will find many pages that talk about it.
I have had fun art journaling these past few months. My first art journals have been about figuring out what I like and don’t like, trying new techniques and trying my hardest to not be a perfectionist. That has been the hardest but it is something that doesn’t go well with art. So if I make a mistake I just keep going instead of tearing the page out and starting over. Despite how a page turns out I always post it. I have also tried not to plan anything. I just sit down at my art table and just do whatever comes to mind or express however I feel.
I completed my first art journal in August. There are a few pages I don’t like at all but there are many I like and a few I love. It has been a great experience and I plan to continue art journaling. Below is a slideshow with all the pages in my first completed art journal which I titled Beginnings. The images are in the order that they are in the journal and not in the order I created them. You can also view the pages in the portfolio section.
I hope you enjoy my art journal.
Art Journal 1 – “Beginnings”
Created using Slidely – Slideshow Maker. -
Sneak Peek on Art Journal #1 Covers
No art journal pages this week as I have been working on the covers of my completed journal. I had hoped to have the covers completed this week but the spackling is taking longer to dry then I had thought. The inside covers are done and the backcover has already been spackled and has a coat of paint. Below are the inside covers. I think the front inside cover is missing something; so I may add a bit more. The pictures aren’t great so I will retake them once the rest are finished.
Inside Front Cover 
Inside Back Cover -
Art Journal Pages for the Week
Yesterday I created the last page in my first art journal. It felt really good completing it. This week I plan on working on the covers. Then the following week I will compile a slideshow of the entire art journal.
Untitled
Created 8/15/2013
Created using watercolor crayons, acrylic paint and acrylic paint pens on watercolor paper.
“Rise Up”
Created 8/19/2013
Created using acrylic paint, acrylic paint pens printout on watercolor paper.
“Adventure”
Created 8/22/2013
Created using acrylic paint, metallic acrylic paint pens and torn dictionary pages on watercolor paper.
“Time Flies”
Created 8/23/2013
Created using acrylic paint and regular and metallic acrylic paint pens on watercolor paper. -
Art Journal Pages for the Week
This was not a good week for art journaling. These pages are rather blah. I especially dislike the second one.
The first one I could see a face in that mess but after staring at it for a long time and trying to figure out how to draw it without messing it up; I gave up and went with what you see. For the second one I had started it well over a month ago but I added some circles and didn’t like how it looked especially the ones at the top. I didn’t know how to fix it at the time so I just ignored the page. Now that I am almost done with this journal I couldn’t ignore it anymore. I covered the horrible circles on the top with washi tape and tried my best to fix the ones at the bottom. I then added some butterflies and decided it was done because I just couldn’t think of anything that would make it better.
I was informed this week by my husband that my page backgrounds tend to use a lot of dark colors. I hadn’t really noticed that. So I will try to do more light colored backgrounds.
“Deal with it”
Created 7/29/2013Created using acrylic paint, acrylic paint pen and masking tape on watercolor paper.
“Untitled””
Created 7/29/2013Created using washit tape, Sakura Micron pens and distress ink on watercolor paper. -
Art Journal Page for the Week
I like how this turned out. I had originally painted the silhouette in solid black. After gluing it on I decided I wanted to make it sparkle a bit but I didn’t like how it turned out. I had used acrylic paint before but since it was glued onto the page I didn’t want to risk ruining the background; so instead I used black watercolor which unfortunately didn’t work too well.
“I am”
Created 7/25/2013Created using acrylic paint, watercolor, Sakura gel pen and buttons on watercolor paper.
