Find Where You Belong to
It took just a few seconds looking at the pictures of folk dresses to become almost overwhelmingly inspired. I hurried to my fashion themed Smash book and created this art journal spread.
And then I had to make even one more page. Folklore and folk art always make me feel like this: fabulous! They give me both the sense of belonging and the sense of freedom. I feel that I am one part of the long chain of all the women, of Finnish women, of my mother and grandmothers. At the same time I am not defined by them, just empowered by them. With folk style, I can express my roots and origin without constraints.
They say that one of the basic needs is to belong to someone, to somewhere. I think that creating art can greatly enforce that feeling.
What kind of art makes you feel like that you are included? Maybe enjoying creating is not so much about finding one’s personal style but finding ways to feel belonged.
If you want to develop, it will be insufficient to create art that touches only you. You will want to get connected to other people as well. I claim that the deeper you go in your own self-expression, the more you will also touch others. Our mothers and grandmothers may have very little in common but we can share the goal to create something new and original from our heritage.
We do not have to think shapes or lines. It is often enough to dive into the colors. For me, colors represent the feeling. Shapes and lines are just to support them.
Find the colors from your origin and mix them with the colors of your present life. You are free to create any combinations! The best colors give you the sense of belonging. They will also inspire you to create art that is filled with meaning.
See this journal fully finished! >> Watch the flip-through video!
Draw Your Own Fonts
“I am very much down to earth, just not this earth“, says this little art journal page which I made for my fashion themed art journal. The quote is from a famous fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld. I kind of relate to his quotes and predict that my art journal will be full of them! Namely, I have found creating lettering so much fun! These two great books have inspired me for that.
The books are:
1) Draw Your Own Fonts (also with a name Draw Your own Alphabets) by Tony Seddon
2) Creative Lettering by Jenny Doh
Both of these books try to bridge the gab between graphic designers and art journalers. If you want simple exercises and skeleton like starting points, I would recommend Tony Seddon’s book.
Draw Your Own Alphabets introduces each font as a simple concept which you can alter easily. It is also a workbook where you can practice drawing the fonts. I find this book easy and practical and every skeleton inspires me to create my own version of it. Clearly, if you are a graphic designer wanting to learn how to create elegant fonts, this book is not the best for you. But if you are an art journaler or card maker who wants to have fun with lettering, this book is just what you need to get started.
All the fonts shown in the art journal page are based on Draw Your Own Alphabets.
Another book that I have and like is Creative Lettering. It introduces 16 artists who show their way to use alphabets. The artists have very different styles from each other, which is great and which really inspires to use alphabets in different ways.
Creative Lettering is more beautiful than the previous one and it is still pretty easy to pick ideas from it. I am quite picky when purchasing books but these two I can warmly recommend!
(If you wondered how did I made the background of the page, it is explained in the blog post a while ago.)
Collage Birds
My new year’s resolution: in 2014 I am going to make an e-book showing my techniques and sources of inspiration. I have begun to create collage birds that I am going to include in the book.
I have always admired birds. I have four budgies as pets, and they have proved me that birds can be smart, skillful and full of compassion. I want to add positive feelings to my collage birds too.
Update in 2017
The e-book about collage birds never came true, but it was a seed for my most popular class Inspirational Drawing.
>> Sign up for Inspirational Drawing 2.0 here!
How To Love Your Art Journal
If you have not been art journaling for a long time, you probably have a journal or even many that you are not satisfied with. Maybe you have even ripped off few pages, just to keep the journal pretty. If you feel disconnected with your journaling, this post is for you.
If your journal is empty, it’s like freezing. “Give me some colour, give me something warm to wear!”, it screams! You won’t get to know your journal, neither your inner world, if you search for the perfect moment to create the perfect page. The pages can be built gradually, layer by layer, and you have to start filling those empty pages.
If you do not know where to begin, take a dry brush and some acrylic paint and paint a thin layer. You get visually better results if you do not repeat one color but make the page as asymmetrical as possible. That way colors get their own space and character from the beginning. You can paint many pages if you feel like to. If you are tired and lack inspiration, this is the thing to do!
The next thing you need to do is to let your journal see the world. Take it with you when you go to library, travel, where ever you have little moments to spend quality time with it.
While on the road, take a black pen with you and draw or write something, it does not have to be special. Remember, the pages can be built within time and even the smallest scribbles help to fill the page.
When you feel more focused you can continue with the pages that have painted backgrounds. I used acrylic paints and thin brushes to draw some doodles and colour pencils to add dimension. If you have nothing else in mind, strengthen the colored areas that you painted. Add more similar hues to each area with color pencils and work with horizontal or vertical strokes. Always work fast as it makes you use more imagination and less rational thinking. The result at this point is like a photo without a focus.
Then decide where you would like the focus to be. Add some details there. I love to use my own hand decorated papers for details. Finally find or create a background for journaling. When I begin to make a page I do not usually know what to write but in the end I just write what I had been thinking while creating.
An art journal is the photo book of your inner world. Like with photos, the pages are not always perfect. But when you have a collection of them, they tell a story. And I guarantee – you will then love your art journal.