What’s the purpose of the art journal?
It’s for you, and nobody else. It’s your new creative outlet. It’s your safe place to let out your emotions, thoughts, and everything else in between. This is an effective way to expand your creativity, express yourself, and to release stress and all the things you’ve kept bottled up. Starting an art journal will give you strong personal insight, resulting in a greater understanding of yourself and the world around you. At the root of journalling is self-expression, which is critical to self-improvement and self-love; beginning your art journal will put you on a path to become more comfortable in your own skin and little by little learn to improve and love yourself.
The beauty of the art journal is there is no right or wrong way to do it. Thankfully, you don’t have be a natural born artist to produce something you’re proud of; any of your talents can bring a journal to life. Here’s how to get started:
- Get Your Journal. Pick up a cheap journal from the closest grocery store, dig up an old notebook you never used in high school, or take a trip to Barnes and Noble for my personal favorite, a moleskin journal.
- Gather Your Tools. Find a plethora of colored pens, raid your mom’s craft drawer, get some glue and scissors, tear out pictures out of your favorite magazine, find old concert tickets and movie stubs- anything that’ll fuel your creative process.
- Get inspiration. Before you really start, of course, you have to discover your journaling aesthetic. There are a bunch of Instagram accounts (perfectapologies and journalbean are my favorites) and Pinterest boards dedicated to the craft of the art journal. Figure out your style and what creative direction you would like to take.
- Create. Open to a blank page in the journal (this doesn’t have to be the first page) and get going. Look at your tools, and just go for it. Whatever you’re feeling; make to-do lists, scribble down the lyrics of that song stuck in your head, doodle- everything will come naturally soon enough. Put everything that defines you into the pages; your poetry, feelings, ideas, dreams, goals. A blank page staring back at you can be a little intimidating, but don’t hold back! Also keep in mind things are bound to get a little messy.
- Be proud of what you create. This is for you, and no one else. If you can’t quite get the hang of it the first time around, that’s okay, don’t get discouraged; sometimes you need to be in a certain state of mind, hit with a specific type of inspiration, filled with emotion, or moved by something to really get going. Keep trying.
- Most importantly… Once you start an art journal, use it. Don’t just do two pages and leaving it sitting around collecting dust. You’ll thank yourself in ten, twenty, thirty years… trust me.
The art journal has many purposes, providing healing, understanding, and a creative outlet. I urge anyone with a little extra time on their hands or trying to clear their head to get started on their very own.