Art Journals – Nickel City Wax and Wane

Art Journals

Why journal?

Well, what's rad about journaling is that no matter what kind of brain you have, you can benefit from journaling! Journaling is a written or visual record of our thoughts and feelings. It's a way to brain dump ideas, feelings, and thoughts without judgement. It can be a way to just record your daily life. It can be a visual representation of how you're feeling, what goals you envision for yourself, or a way to just relax your mind. 

According to Amy Hoyt PhD of Mending Trauma, “Journaling can be a great pressure releasing valve when we feel overwhelmed or simply have a lot going on internally.”

Benefits of Journaling:

Just writing or creating simple art for a few minutes a day can help our mental and physical well-being, self-discovery and awareness, processing our needs and feelings, problem solve, help us to see our next steps, and can help us to shift mindsets we may need to let go or expand into. 

WHAT IS AN ART JOURNAL?

This type of journal is just like a written journal, but it uses shapes, colors, images, patterns, and other materials when using it. You can draw using pencils, markers, pastels, gel pens, etc. You can use watercolor paints or collage using cut out images from magazines or pictures. You can combine this with written words as well. Below are just a few prompts you can choose from to get started.

ART JOURNAL PROMPTS:

-Collage a self-portrait.

-Something you’re grateful for.

-Flowers

-Your favorite beverage

-Faces

-Something that makes you laugh

-Trees

-A happy memory from your childhood

-Your favorite animal

-Fill a page with blind contour drawings

-A favorite quote

-Who am I?

-How others see me

-Listen to your favorite song and imagine/create what it looks like

-You've got a magic mirror, what does it show?

-Draw your favorite kitchen item

-Draw the same object 10 different ways

-Create a monochromatic entry (meaning only using the same color or variations of that color for example: blue- light, darks, purple blue, red blue, etc)

-Doodle without picking up your pencil or pen- one continual line

SOME EXAMPLES OF MATERIALS YOU CAN USE:

-markers

-pens/gel pens

-watercolor paints

-graphite pencils

-colored pencils

-oil and chalk pastels

-charcoal pencils, sticks or vine charcoal

-glue sticks

-scrapbook paper

-stickers

-stamps

-washi tape

-crayons

-paint markers

-photographs/polaroids

-word art or quotes

RAD ART JOURNAL ACCOUNTS ON INSTAGRAM:

art journal