Journal Craft Inspirations

For those of you who were disappointed when the premier edition of Art Journaling magazine sold out, there is some good news - it is now available as a digital download here for just US$9.99

You can also pre-order the Winter ‘09 edition.

Trish Bee has put together some wonderful prompts for your art journal inspired by the alphabet.  For each letter you will find ideas for Themes, Colours, Art Products and Techniques - take a look at the examples for A -

Theme Ideas: Altered, Assemblage, Abstract, Alphabet, All About Me, Africa, Ancient History/Civilisations, Animals, Angels, Around The World, Art, Art Nouveau, Asia, Autumn, Antique, Aircraft, Anatomy, Aquatic, Apostles, Artemis.

Colours: Aquamarine, Amethyst, Aubergine, Air Force blue, Alabaster, Alice Blue, Alizarin, Almond, Amaranth, Amarillo, Amber, Anaranjado, Antique White, Apple Green, Apricot, Aqua, Aquamarine, Army Green, Ash, Asparagus, Atomic Tangerine, Auburn, Azul, Azure

Art Products and Brandnames: Angelina Fibres, Adirondack, Acrylic Wax, Alcohol Inks, Acrylic Paints, Acetate, Archival ink, Adhesives, Air-dry clay, Acetone

Techniques: Angelina Fibers/Film, Airbrushing, Acetone Transfers, Alcohol Ink Smooshing, Antiqued Vellum, Acrylic Paint Backgrounds

So if you are looking for some inspiration for your Art Journal, head on over to her Squidoo page for B to Z….

By keeping to only two colours on this page, Anita has really made the lemon zing!

“Homemade lemon Madeira loaf…My favourite!
…and seeing as the whole loaf lasted about 40 minutes….everyone else’s favourite too!”
Blog post and cooking method can be found here:
artbyanita.blogspot.com/2008/11/let-there-be-cake.html

From the journal of Anita Davies
(Click on the image to view original)
Image copyright of the artist

Trish Bee has just started an online workshop with a difference - its self-paced and FREE, so you can’t get much better than that!  The workshop has it’s own Yahoo Group which is already very lively and there is some inspirational work being posted.  Trish is posting lots of hints and tips along the way, and the letters are being worked on in random order - so it is very easy to start at any time. 

Click here for more information about this workshop

Your art journal is a good place to explore symbols and meanings

[Read more →]

Sometimes it’s hard to know how to start an art journal, but be warned, when you overcome the resistance it can become addictive…
[Read more →]

Lots of new online workshop dates for you, including an exciting new workshop from Pam Carriker -

• Pam Carriker is running a new online workshop - Shades of Grey, a 3 week workshop starting 23rd March, and by popular demand is running her Visual Journalism 101 workshop (5 weeks) again on 6th April 2009
• Jessica Wesolek of Cre8it.com is running her wonderful online workshops again  Art School for the Journal and Sketchbook on 18th April 2009 and Love this Journal starts on 20th March.

You can find out more about these workshops by clicking here or by visiting the Workshops link at the top of the page.

This is such a great journal page by Peter - it tells the whole story of his trip and cleverly uses filmstrip to record all the important details.

“Trip to Bristol film Gala, silent films with live 4 piece band. great time.
For the Journal I use Pilot P-500, extra fine, black, blue and red pens, I find them easy to use when out and about, also if you hold them on their side you can get a nice scratchy effect. I also use coloured pencils. The Journal at the moment is a WH Smith A5 sketch book, with hard waterproof covers.”

From the visual  journal of Peter Hart  (Click on the image to view original)
Image copyright of the artist

If you have enjoyed this post please leave a comment for the artist

 A great way to create an interesting background for your journal pages is to add colour.  However if use a wet medium such as watercolour or acrylic your pages may warp, unless you have good thick paper in your journal.  Another option is to use soft pastels.  The new PanPastels are ideal for this as they are soft and creamy and produce very little dust.  You can create very soft blended effects - this example uses Yellow Ochre, Turquoise Shade and Hansa Yellow Shade, and was then lightly overstamped with Colorbox Chalk inks -

Of course, PanPastel are also designed for the serious Pastel Artist - see information page for more details, a short video demonstration and an example by Pastel artist Donna Aldridge.

This week is the last time to purchase PanPastel at the special introductory price!  Head over to the Journal Craft store to take a look.

If the previous posts have not inspired you to document your resolutions, then read about the results Pam achieved -

“Speaking of goals for the New Year, have you started to write yours down yet? I will confess, until last year, I did not. Maybe I was afraid of not meeting them? Whatever the reason, last year I got brave, what was I waiting for? I’m in my 40’s now, time to ‘put the big girl panties on’ and go after my dreams. So I wrote down my goals. It was a simple one, simple and scary. Try to get a piece of artwork published. Now I am looking back at what happened this past year and shaking my head. As the year progressed and the first goal was met, I added another, when that was done, another, and so on. Each step was recorded in my personal journal.

 

I have 4 journals going right now, and this one is my ‘personal, for my eyes only journal’. I decided to share a snippet of my goals and accomplishments pages so you will be motivated to do this for yourself. You don’t even have to start with a big list, I started with one goal and added to it. It is important to write down your accomplishments too. That is what will keep you motivated and inspire you as you realize the fulfillment of your dreams. As the New Year approaches, don’t be afraid, write down your goals, no matter how BIG or small. Document your journey. Be proud of your accomplishments. It’s OK, really!”

From the journal of Pam Carriker
Click on the image to view Pam’s blog - The Bag Lady’s Art

Image copyright of the artist

If one of your resolutions is to do more journaling, then why not join Pam’s online workshop - Visual Journalism 101 starting 12th January 2009 (yet another of her resolutions that has come to fruition!), click on the image below for more details -