My Passion for Art Journals

Many people say they would love to be 'arty' but they aren't creative. What they really mean is that they are scared to try and draw or paint in case their efforts are ridiculed. What a shame - all that potential creativity going to waste.

You don't have to be an 'artist' to enjoy creating art.

I've always enjoyed sketching and painting. My pencil studies aren't too bad but my painting is horrible! I still love to dabble in watercolors and solved the problem by using them in background washes for my journal pages.

Here's a sketch I did about a million years ago.

I usually create a journal page in this way:

I use watercolor paint to create a background. With a big brush I stroke color down the page, adding in water to lighten or more pigment to deepen. I add in other colors too so I get an interesting effect.

Then I add some collage. I keep a stack of cutouts from magazines, greetings cards and junk mail so I rifle through my pile, looking for something interesting which suits my mood and looks good against my background. I play around for a while moving the pieces about to find an arrangement that pleases. Then I whip out my trusty Pritt Stick and glue those little devils into place before I can change my mind.

I may add a border to the page. It could be more collage or very often I'll use my favourite Neocolor II watersoluble crayons. Sometimes I will 'zentangle' a border... but more on Zentangles later.

I use soft pastels to create a glow around the collage and border. I also use metallic pens to dot and squiggle and liven up the border some more. Sometimes I will pre-draw lines on the page ready for my journal entries.

Zentangles are doodles, repeated patterns. They are usually made with black pen on a white background but not exclusively. There are some beautiful colored examples around.

Zentangle Homepage

They seem to take you off into some kind of altered state. When I began drawing them I couldn't stop. I treated myself to the Zentangle kit and immediately fell in love. Now I don't do so many but it is lovely to incorporate a little Zentangling into my journals.

Here are four of my Zentangles.

I really enjoy using them as borders for my art journals.

Zen & Ink