Art Journaling & mixed media – Get started!

I feel excited. Nothing special has happened, nothing at all, but I feel it could. Soon, very soon.

It’s the small things in life that makes me giddy today. The expectation of greater changes (like a job, a town or a place to move to). Anyway, I try not to worry right now, but to smile about;

– Upcoming weekend in the country with a friend.
– Talking to a happy mom on the phone.
– Knitting again, a sweater if I continue, right now just a few rows.
– New blogs and sites to visit and be inspired by (see below for links).
– I’m thinking about starting a shop on etsy.com with some collages and paper…

– Sorting papers and magazine clippings like crazy. Gluing things into my 7th art journal (!) that I started last week. I got a comment on the post How to choose a journal (that I wrote in February 2005 – wow, how time flyes! has it really been that long since I started this adventure?) yesterday where Mahima (another new to me blog) asked if I have continued with art journaling after that…. And, yes I have! Indeed I did continue. I haven’t been without gesso since, and I love it! The mess, the papers, the collages I make, the free feeling of play on the pages… It’s what I want to share with you all!

I’m excited about a new blog I found last night when surfing around late. It is called Love life, written by an artist of many talents, Kal Bartesky! I want her book, I want a site like hers (I love her artist statement too) and I want to do her challange 1 + 1 + 1 in my art journal! It’s about writing a letter to your self. I love to write letters like that. It’s so silly and fun! Expectation my friends! It’s all about expectation for the future!

I’ve gotten some e-mails lately about journaling (thank you!), so I’ve tried to collect some links to help some of you get started, or restarted, or inspired, or curious… Start writing or gluing or smearing colours. There are no rules, no boundaries. Just you and a blank page that you can fill with whatever you like!

   Let’s Play!

• • A grain of salt an article by Anahata Katkin, about the Creative Process (in five stages). Read it!
  • Instructions on Art Journaling from Aisling. Basic about how to start – a great starting point for beginners. How to find a book, making a first collage, explanation to what the heck gesso is (my first mixed media question ever) and so on. Great articles that I read when I started out!
  • Making a stencil of a photo – a great tutorial! And the stencil joy is spreading. I didn’t ever think I would need spray paint and have a burning desire for it!
  • Go cheap as you start! Use Michelle Ward’s cheap tricks and use what you can afford plus your imagination! Mixed media art is a lot of stuff but you don’t need to just buy, buy, buy! My kinda girl!
  • cracker box journal – a tutorial by my friend Nancy, who also has other great tutorials for mixed media experimentation! I’ve tried her paint gesso on a face tutorial, and it was so fun! Recently I tried a clear tape transfer, and it was so easy. I’ve read about it before, in Karen Mitchell’s great book on altering images (it’s called The Complete Guide to Altered Imagery – Mixed-Media Techniques for Collage, Altered Books, Artist Journals, and More). I’ll show you my result when I use this technique on a page some day.
  • Pencil Crayon tutorials – lots of them over at lovelife’s blog. Plus her tutorials on Oil Pastels and Watercolor pencils! This is a great tutorial with lots of explanation and images, and a great supportive teacher!
  • Decorate paper to make backgrounds to use everywhere. Lots of different styles.
  • Michelle Ward does all kinds of cool stuff! Check out her crusades into mixed media fun!
  • Transfers are fun, but for the more advanced players if you ask me. Why not alter a postcard using transfers – tutorial from the try it Tuesday-site.
  • Graphite pen photo transfer [found via crafty musings]

• Is all this magic? Nah, look at this: A magazine page grows into a journal entry. I’ve linked to this post before, but it is sooo cool to see the process. I wish more of us would take the time to photo your work like that!
• Artchix’s Class room index – a mixed media archive of tutorials and fun!
• If you paint with wet paint, try this great trick (another more crafty way to use a bottle lid here)!
• Art tutorials from Empty Easel, like the one on how to create a better composition when you’re painting and how to draw what you see!
• Writing prompts from Errant Epiphanies
• Journaling prompts from Inspire me Thursday.
• Journal writing prompts from A Creative Journal blog.
• How I journal – article by artist Teesha Moore.
• Page by page: Inspiration for Visual Journals – pre-order this very cool zine now (!)! It’s by Kira, and she is a great writer/teacher/inspiration/artist – I’ve already ordered mine!

After all that, don’t forget to silence the mind before going to bed. ;-)

Big hugs to all of you who read all the way to down here, and a kiss for those who comment! hehe. I dare you!

Do you know of a tutorial I need to check out, or an article on journaling? Please let me know.