Technique Tutorials, Inspiration and Prompts ★ Art journaling is a fantastic hobby for people who enjoy being artistic, and when you finish a journal it is so satisfying to look through the beautiful and varied pages you've created.
I especially love journals that incorporate a wide range of media and texture experiments because these journals are literally bursting at the seams and are so fun to look through! You can use a huge number of different materials in your journal, and you can really let your creativity run free without judgement. The most popular materials are pens (markers, felt tips, micron pens etc) and paints (acrylic, watercolor, oil etc), although I've seen everything from salt to tea bags being used! More materials you can use include: magazine pages, recycled book pages, ephemera, crayons, pencils, photos, pastels, newspaper, inks, different kinds of paper (tissue, crepe, parchment etc), leaves, and thin fabrics like muslin and cheesecloth.
And remember...every page does not need to be a masterpiece. Project Art Journal « C.B. Wentworth. A few years ago, my aunt taught me how to make an art journal out of brown paper bags.
She is an incredibly artistic person who always inspires me to be creative and try new things. I’ve made more than a few paper bag journals since, but one stands out as my favorite – an art journal dedicated to travel quotations. I thought it might be fun to share the process of the project from start to finish. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be posting some of my favorite pages and techniques. I am by no means an expert, but I do enjoy creating and inspiring others to do the same. The construction of the book is pretty simple and only requires a few supplies.
Create Mixed Media: Art Project Ideas, Techniques & Tutorials. Turn a Book into An Art Journal. I love making art journals using composition books but old books are another great way to make a journal….and it’s a great way to recycle old books!
Since I add layers of paint and collage, the first thing I do is thin out the book. If the pages are sewn in I just pull out a few pages from each section….if the pages are glued to the binding I use a razor blade to cut them out. This is the thinned out book: To make the pages I start anywhere in the book and put pieces of wax paper under each page I’ll be working with: I coat the pages with gesso (a primer you can purchase in the paint section of the craft or art supply store): Once both pages have been coated with one of two coats I let them dry: Then I add some color using craft paints: When I am doing a lot of coats I will pull out the hair dryer to speed along the process: I usually add another coat of gesso….. ….and before it dries I’ll blot it with a paper towel so that the color will show through: Now a few random pages from my journal…..