Visual Journaling Is For Everyone
Do you think you are creative enough to make a Visual Journal?
It's amazing how many people say they dont have a creative bone in their body. Cracks me up really, its just not true.
Fantastic Visual Journals
Everyone is born creative.
If would like to, please visit my Art Blog
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We Are All Born Creative!
Fantastic Visual Journals
These are all ways of being creative.
We all have it, its just some of us practise and get better at it and others dont!
Making a Visual Journal is so easy, kids stuff really.
If you enjoy cutting or ripping out pictures from a magazine and glueing them into a book.
If you can write a sentence or two about how you are feeling, and if you can play with paint and abstract squiggles with a crayon or pastel then you can create a visual journal.
This lens will give you lots of journal ideas.
The pictures on this page are from my own Visual Journals and I hold the copyright for them. I hope you enjoy them.
This Is A LOvely Journal to Use For Visual Journaling!
FIORE - Flower Italian Leather Diary
Amazon Price: (as of 11/25/2009)
This stylish leather diary comes with a convenient rubber-band closure to keep itself tightly closed when not in use. It will also help protect your deepest thoughts from nosy prying eyes when you're not around! The flower-accent adds a lot of charm and personality to this diary. Make writing fun again with this flower diary!
First 3 Steps To Make A Visual Journal
1: Most of the time I buy cheap unlined journals with a heavier paper. They also have spirals and black front pages. I leave the covers till last, but there are no rules here and you can do what you like. This article is to give you ideas and get you started on one of the most enjoyable creative pursuits I know:-) If you are more inclined you can make your own journal or buy a handmade one. In the past I have found that I dont do a HUGE amount of writing in each page. I tend to use the pictures to convey to me what I am thinking about at the time and just make a statement of some type with writing or blocks of text.2: The first thing I do is sit at a desk and colour about 10 pages. If you have the backgrounds already coloured it seems a lot easier to get going. There is something sort of scarey about plain white pages. I adore the look that watercolours give, so mostly I use them for the backgrounds of the pages. Sometimes I use acrylic paints.I like to pre scribble on the pages with crayons or oil pastels which acts as a sort of a resist under the paint.
3: I then wet the whole page then swish watercolor paints all over. I tend to stop with two colors, maybe add more water and tip the pages so the paint runs together. I am always in a hurry so the heat gun is a wonderous tool to get the papers dried quickly. I use silicone paper between the pages until everything is really dry.
Art Journals
Handmade Paper Journals
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byCheck Out this Fabulous Visual Journal and How to make The Art
What Is Your Favorite Book About Visual Journaling?
3 More Steps ( Just Start With Baby Steps) To Visual Journaling
4: It really is up to you what you use and how you decorate the background.If you draw then you will know just how much of the background you want to colour. Some people want to do a lot of writing in the journal, then I would suggest that you colour around the top and edges and leave the inside of the page blank or you may find one of those wonderful pens that write over the top of the paint. I think its lovely to find "your own unique style" so you have your own "look".!5: Remember to try any watercolour crayons, lumiere paints or twinking H2O paints ( I just bought some of these and am not sure I am much of a fan). Acrylics or oil paints and pastels, chalks, felt tipped pens, coloured pencils, black or coloured sharpies, Gold pens...................try them all out and see what combinations you love the most:-)
6: Once those background pages are done, you can leave the book until you are ready to decorate a page. When I feel in the mood I go to the book and choose a page that "calls to me".
A Page from One of MY Visual Journals
"Try This! Start every day with 10 minutes of Journaling. You will find that you have much more focus"
5 More Baby Steps on How To Make A Visual Journal
7: I dont start at the front page at all..this is about creativity and intuition and learning to feel those. The one thing I ALWAYS do is Date the page. This gives me some feel for the rhythm of my life as I look through the journal later on. I think its very important.8: Now to the collage part! I love to flick through magazines and just pull out the pages or rip out the pictures that "call to me" at the time. Often I will have no idea why I want them, but do it anyway. I use the "Oprah" magazine quite a lot and I was lucky to buy in a second hand bookstore a book of coloured photos that graphic artists use. Some of these are very weird and they are sometimes just perfect for what I want.
9: Sometimes the picture I choose doesnt convey what I want to say at all but it just "feels right", so I use it anyway. I glue the pictures in the pages and then add the text. One of my favorite ways to do this is to cut out letters from the magazine to make up the words. I try to use different colours for each letter and make sure they are all different sizes. It just adds to the page.
10: The writing that I do in the page usually comes last. If you are a busy mum or you work out of the home, it is a great idea to take your journal with you and during lunch or while waiting to pick up children , or even when travelling, you can get it out and do the writing to finish off the page.
At one time I was very disciplined and worked on my journal every morning as I was eating breakfast. Made me feel really good but I was always left with a big mess to clean up LOL LOL.
11: Sometimes I draw on the page as you can see in the above one with "inspiration" written on the top. I drew some of the face and added bits of faces I got out of a magazine.
Art Journals
Handmade Paper For Your Visual Journals
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byVisual And Art Journals
Visual journals are tools to aid creativity. A visual journal develops the regular habit of looking at the world in a creative way.Visual journals are one of the most popular and most accessible forms in the artist book genre.
Visual journals have a long and rich history dating as far back to the 1400's to Leonardo da Vinci who carried a journal with him at all times so that he could sketch and record ideas, impressions, and observations as they occurred.
Visual journals are also known as artist journals, visual thinking journals, artist notebooks, altered books, and a plethora of names. Basically if you keep a book of some sort that marries the image and the word, then this is a visual journal
Visual journals are generally more personal and exploratory records, while portfolios are more public and tend to be retrospective.
Both provide ongoing records of an artist's explorations and evidence of self-assessment, reflection, and further discovery.
Art journals are a form of devotion. They are experimental and a great place to explore new materials and techniques.
Art journals are incredible ways of journaling.
Explore the many types of creating journals.
Explore color, line, texture, composition, just PLAY. From playing, from creating, from finding the direction you want to take, the floodgates will open.
Exploration and free self expression are the purpose. No rules limit what you put on your page, how you place elements on the page, or if you even use a page.
Another Page From One Of My Journals
The Last Few Instructions on Making Your Own Visual Journals
12: I use clear smelly acetone based craft glue to do the collage with.............sometimes a glue stick will be perfect and not nearly as messy.13: The last thing I do is add 3 dimensional elements if I feel like it. I make sure I am happy with the page. Working in my visual journal is very satisfying to me and I hope you will at least "give it a go".
I have made a goal to create something in my journal every day and it feels great when I achieve it.
Here is my Favorite Book About Mixed Media Art
Mixed Media Explorations: Blending Paper, Fabric and Embellishment to Create Inspired Designs
Amazon Price: $20.43 (as of 11/25/2009)
Stunning, February 4, 2007
By L. Mallette (Florida) - See all my reviews
I own a fairly large number of books on the subjects of mixed media, collage, altered art and fabric embellishment. This is by far my favorite. Beryl's projects are gorgeous. Amazingly, she uses the simplest, least expensive and most readily available materials to create most of these masterpieces, such as brown paper bags, Tyvek envelopes, flower-shaped brads, price tags, etc. If you know someone who's about to get married, the wedding journal is a fabulous project that will blow away every other gift imaginable. If you never pick up a needle, a paintbrush or a tube of glue, this book is worth twice the price for eye candy alone.
Choose One of These Fabulous Journals
3x4 Mini Handmade Italian Distressed Leather Journal with Unlined Classic Pages. Perfect Corporate Gift, Birthday & 1st or 3rd Anniversary Gift
Classic unlined writing journal with spectacular l more...0 points
NATURALS Handmade Paper Journals
A Unique Natural & Handmade Covered Journal - more...0 points
Brown Leaf Handmade Journal
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Leather Writing Journal - Handmade in Italy
Leather Writing Journal - Handmade in ItalyA gorge more...0 points
Epica's 4x6 inch Handmade Italian Leather Journal / Leatherbound Writing Diary / Notebook /Sketchbook with Smooth White Pages. Perfect notepad / corporate gift, gift for him or her, 1st or 3rd Anniversary gift.
Classic unlined writing journal with spectacular l more...0 points
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All Natural Handmade Journal - Starfish Sand Design
Amazon Price: $21.99 (as of 11/25/2009)
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Unique book made from a variety of natural organic and sustainable materials. Designed for everyday use, this book will let you gather your thoughts as a journal, travel log, scrapbook, sketchbook, cookbook, diary or anything you can dream of. Pen down your most creative goals, hopes, dreams and accomplishments. A long lasting keepsake to embellish with artwork, pictures, and collectibles that you can treasure forever. Perfect for yourself or as gift for family and friends.
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Now Its Your Turn To Squidoo!
Now it's your turn....Make your own Squidoo lens
Squidoo is a great place to create a web site (called a lens). You can share your thoughts on gadgets, crafting, arts, food or what ever's on your mind and maybe make a little $$ along the way....oh and did I mention it's FREE!
Click here to start your Lens
Do You Have Trouble Wondering What To Write In Your Visual Journals?
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Reply
- SemperFidelis SemperFidelis Sep 6, 2008 @ 10:54 pm
- Wonderful lens DiMcDonald. Well thought and put together.
Blessed, 5-starred, and favorited by a Squid Angel today! :)
Colleen ~ www.squidoo.com/squid-angel
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Reply
- Matthew_Ferry Matthew_Ferry Jul 7, 2008 @ 11:24 am
- So interesting..very creative I'm so impressed..
5 lovely stars for you Dim..=)
Really great work you got here..
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Reply
- beachbum_gabby beachbum_gabby May 15, 2008 @ 8:39 pm
- I love doing this during high school on my notebooks. Really fun and cool!
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- nightcats nightcats Apr 23, 2008 @ 12:01 pm
- I completely agree that everyone is born creative. We can stifle our creativity by negative thinking and harsh criticism of our own work, however. To be creative means to allow yourself to make mistakes and perhaps to discover that the mistakes are the best ideas of all.
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Reply
- JackieLee JackieLee Apr 7, 2008 @ 9:01 am
- WOW this is an amazing lens. It made me want to get started!! Thanks for sharing.
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Reply
- CindyKing CindyKing Apr 7, 2008 @ 6:48 am
- Very impressive lens. I am not in the market for a new paper journal, but your leather bound ones almost make me buy 'just because'
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Reply
- CrypticFragments CrypticFragments Mar 13, 2008 @ 10:04 pm
- Hi from a fellow mixed media artist! I rated you 4 stars and lensrolled you to my mixed media lenses. Please return the favor!
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Reply
- Sammie Sammie Jan 14, 2008 @ 6:23 pm
- Wow! Great lens with heaps of useful tips. I especially love the idea of doing the background pages first to take away the fear of the blank page - will be trying this out in my journal tonight :-)
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Di McDonald More Mixed Media Art
Posted on August 28th, 2008 by by Hi again guys,
Today I have a picture of my own work from my own book. For the background I actually used some paper towels that I had used to mop up excess paint when doing another collage.
Th
