Art Journal Every Day: A Journal For Every Mood
April 22, 2011
Can you believe that we're more than half way through April? This month has been flying by. And I'm currently hunting for some eager volunteers. If you're an active Art Journal Every Day participant and you're willing to answer a few questions and share a photo or two, drop me an e-mail. Let me know what number you are on the April sign-ups when you e-mail me!
If you're new to Art Journal Every Day, all the posts can be found here. Please read this post first. There is a flickr group for sharing right here. Remember, it's just ten minutes of nourishing your creative self every day! No need to finish anything or even like it. Just play!
Today's post is from Michelle LaPoint Rydell.
A Journal For Every Mood
Hi everyone! I'm so excited to be here today as part of Julie's Art Journal Every Day Project! I've been inspired by Julie's work for a long time now, and feel so honored that she asked me - thanks Julie!
I admit I am a bit "obsessed" with art journaling. I started my first journal in 2007 and have been hooked ever since! One of the things that I have struggled with in the past though, is deciding what kind of journaler I want to be. Do I want to mostly write? Paint? Have it messy or organized? I'd start one type of art journal and then another idea would come into my head, and I'd get all confused - which way was the right way? Well, I finally decided that the beauty of art journaling is that I don't have to choose! I can do them all! I can make it up as I go along and it's all "right!" Yeayyy! Once I figured that out I was off and running! Now, I have lots of journals going all the time, and each day, I just pick up whichever one I feel like working in! I thought it would be fun to share a little bit about the different types of journaling I like to do.
Here's a pic of a bunch of the journals I've already filled. As you can see there is no rhyme or reason - they are all a little bit different...
I've realized that for me, it really boils down to three basic different types:
1. Documenting Life
These are the journals that tell my life story. Not that it's all that interesting to anyone but me, mind you - ha. But still, I like to write about my day, and paste in the memorabilia of daily life - receipts, concert tickets, photos, etc. Here are a few pics of different ways I've done that...
A messy mish mosh of different size pages, bound with a Bind-It-All...
Remains of the Day Style Sewn Journal...
My current grid style journal...
2. Creative Abandon
These are the journals that I experiment with new techniques in, make random painty pages, collage, work with journal prompts, etc. They are messy and overfilled and the bindings are sometimes breaking, but for me that's part of the fun! Here are a few examples of those pages...
3. Specialty Journals
Sometimes I will start a specific project or workshop, or play along with an online challenge group, and decide that it would be most fun to create a special journal just for that one thing. Here are a few examples:
ABCs of Me Challenge...
Sketchbook Challenge...
30 Day of Lists Challenge...
My journals are my playground - where I feel free to express myself any way I choose. I am so thankful for them!!!
I will leave you with some links to my favorite art journaling supplies. Maybe they are yours too?
Markers:
- Poster Paint Sharpies (best white marker ever!)
- Pentel Markers (nice bold tips for writing and doodling)
- Pitt Pens (nice for sketching - love the array of grays and black)
Journals/Papers:
- Canson (beautifully thick paper - well made, great for writing on)
- Stonehenge paper (fantastic for use with acrylic paint, great for making your own journal)
Paint:
- Peerless Watercolor (super intense colors and great for traveling)
- Pelikan Watercolor (also beautiful colors) )
- Craftsmart (transparent, great colors and super cheap!)
- Grumbacher Academy Acrylic (opaque, bright and smooth like butter)
Fun Tape:
I live in Minnesota with my hubby Michael and our two cats Willie and Johnny. As an artist, the main thing in my head when starting a new project is usually the emotion I'm feeling or want to convey. Then I think about how I can bring that emotion to life. Music is a huge source of inspiration for me, and being a teenager in the 1970's, I'm also partial to all things with a retro-groovy kind of vibe!
I believe creativity is an evolution and my favorite mediums keep changing as I go. I love to experiment and believe that the best art comes from letting go and just playing. Along with art journaling, I enjoy painting, mixed media collage and scrapbooking.
You can visit me at my blog - Inspiration Everywhere and I also run a creative challenge blog called Scrapping The Music. Come on by and say hi - I'd love to see you!