visual diary
or journal or scrapbook or ideas book, whatever you want to call it – most artists and designers keep one. And so should you.
Whether you keep a visual journal to sketch in, or jot down your thoughts, or glue in your magazine cuttings or draw up your craft designs, visual diarys are a wonderful way to keep track of your thought processes.
work out what the purpose of the journal is – to play, to help create, to collect memories, to be organised, to express yourself
begin when you feel the urge – get a book, make one out of recycled papers, buy a beautiful one from an art shop, or get a blank white spiral bound A4 book. Choose a sturdy book that will survive being carried around and has sturdy pages that won’t tear or deteriorate quickly – choose a book that will last.
time to get over the first intimidating blank page – how do you start? write down how you feel at that very moment, write a list of what you want to achieve, your goals and hopes, write about your observations, write about your day, a conversation you had, something your heard or read and what you thought about it.
(edited to ad – seems the writing excercises I linked to no longer exists – but even better try 52 projects – his book is an inspiration – but Jeff also has a list of writing inspirations on his sidebar)
how do i get started on the visual aspect – you think you can’t draw, you think you are not an artist – well who cares, this journal is for you – for your personal growth. Start off drawing what you see, a tree, a leaf, your cup of tea – draw maps and plans, draw your ideal frock or just scribble and draw a page of circles. try some drawing excercises like blind contour drawing – not looking at your page and not taking the pen off the page, try drawing self portraits – give yourself time limit – do 1 minute sketches.
adding colour and interest to your journal – collect bits of things that interest you and stick them in your journal – press a flower, glue in some shiny chocolate wrappers, theatre tickets and newspaper and magazine cuttings. keep wonderful bits of paper and make a collage, use watercolours and crayons, experiment with colour. try some of keri’s 1oo things.
find a time to write or draw in the journal everyday, make a habit of it, a quiet time.
tips for journalling:
a helpful page on how she started and how you can too
a trail through leaves
read layers of meaning’s archives
some inspirational sketchbooks
karin erikson
tania keeps cutting of things that inspire her
joleen
kim’s journals are filled with wonderful sketches
beautiful pages from a travel journal
i love emma’s mixed media journal pages
keri’s journal pages are a wonderful inspiration
great sketch book pages here
and here.
where to get a journal
lovely design
ex libris anonymous
blissen
July 22nd, 2006 at 6:27 pm
And something else about visual journals – you ALWAYS have more ideas than you can make, so in a slump, you can go back and look at all the great things you didn’t get around to. I’ve just gone back into a journal from 10 years ago and found stuff I can’t BELEIVE I didn’t make as a priority then!
My teachers at art school are almost obsessive about students keeping visual journals – they get checked twice a semester. Mostly to make sure we’re DATING the pages: if you ever need to prove whose idea something was first, your journal is your best friend.
July 24th, 2006 at 8:36 am
great post!
i started keeping visual journals in highschool. but i started noticing i have so many half finished books. i don’t know why i can’t finish them, but always like starting new ones. i have started to buy thinner books, and it’s alot less daunting.
July 24th, 2006 at 8:39 pm
what a great post!
I’ve been thinking about getting a visual journal for a while now and you gave me some inspiration so thank you so much!
I came across this site via a post on Crochetville^_^ I think this is a wonderful site so I hope you don’t mind if I link to it in my blog^_^
July 25th, 2006 at 8:09 am
The link to the exercises in paragraph 4 doesn’t work, alas.
July 25th, 2006 at 9:26 am
Yeah, I’d be really keen to know what those exercises are…
July 25th, 2006 at 12:59 pm
I’ve just started my own visual journal (although I’ve always kept scrapbooks) and would highly recommend it to everyone! It’s great for keeping ideas for later or experimenting with new techniques as well as just being incredibly satisfying, especially when you have days when you don’t feel like doing much. It can really get the creative juices flowing.
July 26th, 2006 at 5:11 am
Because of the many responsibilities I have in life, I find it hard to carve out a piece of time daily at home to journal or sketch. So both my husband and I buy or make smaller sketch books and take them with us wherever we go. There’s always one in my purse and there’s a small stack at the back door for whoever is headed off to a doctor’s appointment or meeting when you might have a few minutes to wait. We always have sketchbooks available while we wait for our daughter’s Tae Kwon Do, swimming or dance classes. If you’re sketching or churning ideas, you never really feel as though you’re waiting. Even our 5-year old has some that she uses on flights or at restaurants for drawing while waiting for the food to come. She draws maps to places she wants to go and pictures of people that make her happy.
July 26th, 2006 at 9:38 am
i just deleted the writing exercises link which was not working and added a link to 52 projects which has some great writing ideas
July 27th, 2006 at 5:29 am
Sometimes I use loose paper.
Make a lot of pages.
Edit them into a group
and then go get them bound at a copy shop…….
a cloth bind or a spiral bind.
or I start a journal with one theme and pass it back and forth with a friend(s).