Art journaling

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Art journaling is a way to visually express thoughts and emotions. It can be through abstract shapes, lines, colours and words. The good thing about this is that anyone can do it even the less artistically minded person.

Benefits:

Like regular journaling, this type of journaling can have the following benefits:

  • Reduce stress
  • Reduce anxiety
  • It’s play-time, exploration and experimentation
  • It’s a form of self-care
  • It helps settle your thoughts by increasing awareness of thoughts
  • For visual people it can be a great way to help plan and envision goals
  • Added benefit is that it can help flex our creativity muscles.
  • It can even be a space for problem solving
  • A safe space to express fears and emotions
  • It can help you identify triggers and patterns of behaviours
  • It can record your progress even if you start only with stick figures…

It is a good activity that has multiple benefits and linked to the topic that I covered last week. Children and adults both get these benefits.

How to start art journaling?

The question should actually be how to not art journal… There are no rules here.

The goal is to express yourself any way that “feels” right… it can be words, it can be paintings, drawings, doodles, scribbles, abstract, mixed media, digital, collage, and everything and anything in between. To some this choice is freeing, to others this variety or choice can be intimidating, but just as with the problems with a blank canvas, the hardest part is to start. At lest the pressure of performance can be limited as this is only for our selves and to help us have an outlet for thoughts and feelings that is very beneficial in the long run.  It is a perfect place to explore, experiment and play. Don’t know what to draw or write or paint? It can be to pick a colour that represents your day and then doodle on top elements of what happened. It could be a text and then you cover it with drawings or images or anything really. Some even take old books and convert those. There are sites with prompts if you really don’t have an idea where to start (and I’ll link to a few in the resource section below).

Other tips that seem to be helpful in getting the best out of this activity:

  • Create a habit: a daily journaling practice of 10-20 minutes a day is what is recommended. It is surprising what can be accomplished in this short time frame.
  • Availability of the art journal: wherever you are art journaling, if it, and the materials that you are using, are easily accessible it can be harder for you to come up with excuses not to do it.
  • Give yourself permission: this is important! Give yourself permission when you start journaling, not to be perfect, to make mistakes, to play, to explore…. This is a safe space for you.
  • Purpose: This is the only downside I found in all of my research to this activity, and it is more a warning than anything else. It is important not to use the journal to perpetuate negative views of the world and yourself on an ongoing basis. The goal of the journal is to improve our overall wellbeing, and it is good to keep that in mind as we keep growing. If, however you are stuck in a negative spiral then by flipping through the journal it is easier to spot the pattern and seek the appropriate help. There are art therapist that can deepen our personal understanding of what we are discovering about our selves through this journaling. I will talk more about Art Therapy and other forms it takes in the next few weeks. It is a fascinating subject.   
  • Try using your non dominant hand to draw or write in your journal. This technique is popular and may actually help you develop different parts of your brain and focus needed to do this will let you more easily distance yourself from your thoughts.
  • Mark or scribble your pages ahead of time. It is much easier to start if the page isn’t blank. The goal is to be freer with our creativity and not let the blank page scare us into not starting.

Materials needed

This is the fun part. You don’t need much. A pencil and paper and maybe a way to add colour, watercolours and colored pencils are popular choices, but it could be gouache or kid’s art supplies as the goal here is to express your thoughts and your emotions, not to focus on the results. You have magazines, scissors and a glue stick? You can journal with those as well.

As for the journal itself it can be home-made, on a spiral bound or hardcover journal, but know that you should choose the type of paper that fits with what you want to be using and a general rule is that the thicker a paper is, the less it will warp or buckle if using a lot of water with you medium (like with watercolours) There are also good mixed media papers and journals to use a variety of materials.

There are digital versions of art journaling available, but I’m pretty partial to the physical mediums so I didn’t do much research into this aspect, but a google search on art journaling apps will definitely yield some interesting results.

Prompt ideas for mental health

As always, when exploring thoughts or emotions that can stem from trauma or abuse or other issues, it can be very difficult to attempt without support, but with online therapy being more available now this could be a good way to say what we are thinking or feeling without words.

Because it helps reduce stress and anxiety it is also a good idea to start this activity no matter what you art or writing interest is.

Here are a few mental health prompt ideas

  • How do you feel inside and what do you actually show to others?
  • What would be your ideal day?
  • How do you feel today?
  • What makes me feel most energetic and inspired to act in life?
  • What does self-compassion mean to me? How can I be self-compassionate?

There are a lot more ideas online and even classes on how to art journal if you are interested in learning more.

I tried the traditional journal with just pen and paper. Did not stick to it. I tried again using a word document on the computer and lasted a bit longer but still not doing it anymore. I will definitely be trying this out soon. I think the visual element is what has been missing from my past journaling attempts. We will see… I encourage you to at least give it a try. If nothing else, have fun with it! You never know!

“I found I could say things with colour and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way.”

– Georgia O’Keeffe

Resources

https://arttherapyresources.com.au/journaling/

How to Start Art Journaling and Manage Stress

https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/arts-and-health/201006/cool-art-therapy-intervention-4-visual-journaling

https://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/visual-journaling-health-promotion-art-drawing

Not sponsored or affiliated

https://www.skillshare.com/en/blog/start-an-art-journal-how-and-why-everyone-should/#:~:text=The%20point%20of%20an%20art,for%20a%20larger%20art%20project.

Posted in Anxiety, Creative's tool-box, Fear, Mental Health, Overthinking, Pressure/ Stress and tagged , , , , , , .

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70 Comments

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