How To Make An Art Journal

Art Journals are usually just like standard journals which A good deal of us write in each day, in these you get down your thoughts, ideas and inner thoughts at that moment, for the day.

In an art journal you display these thoughts in addition to those emotions via images, paintings and designs rather then in words and phrases.

I found out that I enjoyed art journaling a lot more then standard journaling, simply because of the fact that I am much more into art and pictures then words. I found that I can show myself far better in my art then in my writing, I know lots of people who are this way too.

Pictures and designs are frequently much more expressive for certain individuals then words, there is nothing wrong with that..!

Art Journals usually are filled with clip outs, photos, designs,from time to time a couple words, collages and whatever else that you would like to place in them. I've discovered art journaling to be one of the most expressive varieties of journaling, for me anyways!

Gather these supplies to start art journaling.

You'll need to get a few things before you can start art journaling. You'll need a blank book of some sorts, I prefer to use unlined journals but a lined note book will work just as well as anything else! Journals are easy to obtain pretty much anyplace this includes online stores and of course note books can be found at virtually any type of store.

You are going to need scissors, make certain they easily cut paper and are comfy to use. Additionally , you will need some tape or glue. If you are using glue then either a glue stick or liquid glue will work. If you are using tape I recommend clear scotch tape, scotch tape is a great brand that is quality, other tapes don't stick nearly as well.

You will also require a pen, maybe markers, a writing tool of some kind. If you prefer to work with crayons obtain those, if you like markers do the same, pens, pencils, all the same. Additionally , you will require some magazines, with images you like.

Do not choose magazines that you do not wish to cut apart. You will also require a large, open, clean area to work. A clear desk top or a clean place on the floor will do just fine.

When you have gathered your supplies you can go on to the following step.

Acquiring the right photos for your art journal..

Do you have your stack of magazines?

You could be reviewing them all and are becoming over whelmed, what picture do you pick, what do you use?

I can't let you know exactly what to pull out much more then stating pull out what looks good, bear in mind to look at each side of the page. Very frequently there's an image on each side of the page that I desire, still the trouble is if I cut one of them out I will cut through the other. Usually you simply have to pick which one you want more, or if you have a copier you can duplicate one of the sides after which have one of each of the photos to use as part of your art journaling.

Opt for the photos which fit your mood, or what it is that you would like to express/create. Cut these photos out, you can easily make clean cuts or wavy cuts, remember mind they don't all have to be straight lines. Now in cases when you discovered a great photo with the exception of it including a cat, and you don't want to have the feline, you will considerably happier if you simply cut out the cat,or place something over the feline therefore you don't see it. :)

You may also cut out phrases or letters from the magazines to make use of at a later date, your pages might need a term or even you may want to just say something, indeed you can use a pencil however sometimes collaging letters and words can be fun too!

Now that you have decided on and cut out your pictures you may continue on to the next step.

Where to begin...

Next you need to decide on your page, you do not really have to begin on the very first page in the journal, you can select a page in the middle! I like to close my eyes and open the journal to wherever it seems good and start my new page there.

Select a page, now that you have your page we are able to begin. Many people prefer to color their page before they begin adding photos. Some people color with paint, crayons, markers, or pencils.

Should you decide to color your pages with paint you will have to wait until your page is completely dry before moving on, also you will want to think about leaving a blank space, a whitened area on the page for the small amount of writing you may want to end up doing on your art journal page.

After you have finished everything above you can continue on to adding your photos!

Take note: Don't glue or tape any of the pictures down yet!

For the time being just set up the pictures, determine specifically where you'd like them to go, add your terms you're making with words or letters you cut out previously.

The point to laying things out first is to make sure you like the end result, in addition to seeing if anything else needs cutting down on before you glue or tape it to your page.

Once you have every thing laid out just perfect, things are trimmed to suit completely then you may proceed!

NOW you may grab your glue sticks...

After you have figured out just exactly how you want everything to be and all your pictures are clipped to be the right size and so on you can finally actually adhere the pictures and clippings to your journal page.

Tip: If you're using tape, be sure you tape all four corners of your photo clip to keep corners from curling.

Proceed on to gluing or taping on your pictures to your art journal page, remember that you can overlap pictures if you want, this is your art journal for you to express yourself in so the possibilities are endless and limits are up to you.

After you have finished gluing or taping the images for your journal you may carry on to the next thing!

...Doodling time!..

Now you have finished with your photos you can move on to design! Design is my personal favorite, frequently I will do whole pages of design with not many pictures at all! 

Design is done with your writing tools, markers or pencils, pens, glitter what ever! You can include small designs to your page, little swirls lines and so on.. it is basically just like doodling. Your doodling designs which are relevant to your inner thoughts for this page.

Listed here is a little about doodling: Doodling 101.

Including glitter, designs, etc truly can mix up a journal page!

Just... about... DONE!! :)

Now that you have finished else you are able to just add the last details. What are the final details? Only you know, they might be final designs, pictures, colors and adding the date on the page!

About dating the page, you can use a number of various date formats listed here are some examples:

• Saturday, February 21, 2010
• 2,21,10
• February 21, 09
• 21,2,09
• 2,21,2009

Got it?

Now that you have finished up all the small things and dated the actual page you are able to add your signature, or pen name, initials, and so on.

And Walla! Your DONE!