Note: This is Day 21 in the “Recharge Your Creative Batteries in 31 Days” Challenge. For the rest of July, we’ll be posting different ways for you to get yourself on the path to living in a creative flow and reaching your writing goals. Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss any.
I was recently introduced to a fun journaling concept. It goes beyond just scrapbooking or writing your feelings on the page.
It’s called Art Journaling, and it’s a way to incorporate art, words and pretty much anything else you want into a journal.
There are a million different ways to art journal, including
- Paper bag journaling
- Mixed media visual journals
- Sketchbooks
- Gluebooks
- Themed art journals (some artists like to keep to a single theme per journal)
- Travel journals
- Scrappy (mix of art journal and scrapbook)
- Media-specific (for example, an art journal just for painting or just for Zentangling)
- Altered book
- Junque journal
If you can dream it, you can create it with an art journal. (For even more ideas, Google “art journal ideas” and click on Images.)
Why You Should Art Journal
I know, you’re a writer, you should be writing, right?
Yes, you should be. But you should also never underestimate the inspiration you’ll get from trying out different artistic activities.
As a writer, you can use an art journal for things like artistic expression and working through issues you have with your inner critic.
In fact, one of my friends who art journals says that when she’s writing and finds her inner critic coming out too much, she stops what she’s doing and does some art journaling for a little while.
Her art journal is the one place she allows herself to make mistakes and try new ideas. Anything goes. Well, almost anything.
The one thing that’s not allowed anywhere near her art journal is her inner critic.
On top of all this, keeping an art journal is just a hell of a lot of fun. It’s a way to take the scraps and bits of information you come across in your day and use them to inspire your creativity.
Give it a try, I bet you’ll love it.
If you’re interested in starting an art journal, here are 50 idea prompts to get you started.
Share With Us
Have you ever created an art journal before? How do you use your art journal for creative inspiration?
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