Starting an Art Journal

Last week, while looking for some Kindle books to read, I stumbled on a book by Gina Rossi Armfield called No Excuses Art Journaling: Making Time for Creativity (click here for more information). Since one of my goals for the summer is to do something creative each day (see my list in the post Hello Summer!), I thought this might be just the thing to get me started. Gina recommends using a daily planner as an art journal to record one's life in words and pictures. Her book is filled with ideas to get the reader started on creating a beautiful book filled with personal thoughts and meaningful illustrations. Each month begins with a collage, each week there is a miniature watercolor, and each day includes an illustration of the weather, color/word of the day, and a design. It's just enough to get the creative juices flowing, and the end result is a book filled with memories -- and art!

I have looked at books on this subject in the past and even tried to start a sketch book of daily drawings, but, like so many things, it got put on a shelf and forgotten. Enter No Excuses Art Journaling. Gina has so many ideas here that, surely, I can do a little something each day. And I am hoping this will prime the pump for even more drawing and painting. So I have decided to go for it.

Instead of using a planner, at least for now, I am going to use that old sketch book that was being neglected. It wasn't very pretty on the outside, so I covered the front and back with some origami paper I had in a craft drawer. Now it looks inviting -- like something beautiful -- instead of just a spiral notebook with Bienfang printed on the cover. I gathered some supplies and set to work preparing my journal. Envelopes are attached to the book with washi tape for holding little reference photos or memorabilia that will be used for the monthly collage. I added a sheet of watercolor paper for each month and traced around a gift card to make little boxes for the miniature paintings, called "card peeks". And I drew grids on some pages for the daily drawings. I have plenty of extra pages in my book so I can do larger drawings or calligraphy if I so desire.

No Excuses Art Journaling is a method that can be used by anyone -- no need to be a professional artist, or even a skilled amateur. My book doesn't have to look like it belongs in a museum. And I can do anything I want with it -- it's my own personal art journal. I can't wait to get started! Maybe I'll even share some of my pages when I get them done. Have you ever considered starting something similar? Why not give it a try?