Have you ever started a journal only to give up because you can’t find your voice? Or you don’t know what to say? Or how to say it? Well, I have the answer, and there is no writing required! Art journaling is a fun, unique way to tell your own story through art, color and lettering. This is a one-day-at-a-time journey that will take you down a path that will challenge you in the best possible way! I promise this can be an amazing and painless process if you focus on simplicity, and the pure joy of creating for yourself. The points below will guide you through the process of telling your story through art journaling (writing will be optional!). You will accomplish more than you can imagine!
Telling Your story
Your story is important and deserves to be documented in a way that makes it unique to you. Through art journaling, you will create a visual record of your day-to-day activities no matter how big or how small they seem. It can be as simple as a sketch of your morning coffee, treasures you find on a walk, or documenting the trip you saved for years to take. The process is more important than the WHAT. How much would an art journal created by a great grandmother that you never met mean to you? Or one created by a beloved friend? Just seeing how they lived their days and years through their own eyes would be priceless. Can you imagine?! And your story is equally as meaningful!
A Visual Storybook
What should you include in your art journal? It’s often the little details that make a up a great story. You are creating a visual storybook that should include those daily details, along with the big events. As you create a visual record, you will include memories that immediately take you back to a particular event. Think about your favorite novel. If the book only included the climax of the plot, it just wouldn’t be very interesting or impactful. Your journals can make an impact by including the daily actions that make up your life. Think of it as a journey, where no detail is too small or insignificant. Don’t make it complicated! Simplicity is your friend and can make a regular journal practice much easier to stick to.
COLOR AS AN EMOTIONAL CONNECTION
The use of color in your art journal can create an emotional connection and trigger memories of a specific time and place, much as smell does for some people. While the bright, intense colors of a Caribbean vacation can bring back memories of relaxation and sun, those same colors are probably not going to be the best choices to represent a cup of coffee on a cold winter day. As you use color in your journal, think about which colors symbolize warmth and coolness, for example, and use them appropriately to reflect the feeling for that moment. Color can be a powerful tool to capture the spirit of place. Mimi Robinson wrote a wonderful book called Local Color: Seeing Place Through Watercolor, that “guides us through the process of seeing, recording and knowing the palettes that characterize place”.
No WRITING REQUIRED
I truly believe that your art journal can be a record of your life without the need for writing. The idea is that you will convey your story visually without the need to use your voice, which can be uncomfortable to many of us. Don’t let this keep you from documenting your life. You can always include your own personal writing if you choose to do so; however, writing is not required! I like to include names or places and dates, and maybe simple explanations of what I am documenting. Incorporating calligraphy or various lettering techniques adds interest to the words I choose to use. I rarely include personal details, but choose to use color, art and lettering styles as a trigger to remind me symbolically of that particular moment.
NO JUDGEMENT ZONE
Art journaling can be a daily opportunity to practice and use your art, sketching, and lettering skills. Try new techniques, new supplies, new styles, and most importantly, have fun! Think of art journaling as a no judgment zone! You can share your work with others in person or online, or you can keep your pages to yourself. This is your story to tell and you get to make the rules of what that looks like for you!
Most importantly, take the first step on this creative journey! Today, I challenge you to grab a journal and some markers, pens, paints, an Ipad, whatever your favorite medium, and just get started!
Follow me on Instagram @kimlamberth where I share my story through art journaling! Or hop over to my Art Journaling page for inspiration. See you there!
