Art Journal Catalysts

Collage

Lesson 4 – Layering Image Transfers

Lesson 4 – Layering Image Transfers

For this final lesson, I will demonstrate how you can create a really cool art journal spread by layering multiple image transfers on top of one another. This particular process does take time to complete, only because you have to wait until each transfer is completely dry before you add another transfer over it. But the outcome is so worth the time and wait.

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How to make an envelope journal

How to make an envelope journal

Connections Hey y'all! It's Katie here with my tutorial for the Season of Connections! Have you ever had a penpal? I used to have half a dozen of them when I was a...

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Part 4 – Claiming the Female

Part 4 – Claiming the Female

Women’s lives and stories have been interpreted through the masculine lens for a long time. The idea of the witch came out of men being afraid of the knowledge that certain women had. They wanted to control women and so invented this idea of witchcraft as something to be afraid of and repress. And I would like this lesson to be about not being embarrassed to tap into that shared knowledge and history. To acknowledge that we are women and that we participate in society and matter just as much as anyone else. I want women to be proud of this and to be intentional in our art and lives.

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Creating a mixed media self portrait

Creating a mixed media self portrait

Connections "A portrait affirms; it gives the gift of self to its subject. It says, 'Yes, you are worth spending this time over, your story deserves to be told, you should...

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How to combine contrasting media

How to combine contrasting media

Contrast Hi again messians!In this post, I will share with you quick tutorials on contrasting mediums. These are the tools and products you wouldn't necessarily think about...

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Textured Backgrounds for Journal Pages

Textured Backgrounds for Journal Pages

Hello again Get Messians, Tanyalee here with another tutorial post. This week I am going to show you how to use household items to create texture on your pages. I wouldn't normally use...

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Flowers of Freedom with the Gelli Plate

Flowers of Freedom with the Gelli Plate

Freedom Hello everyone! It’s TC here, with my final tutorial as part of the 2018 Creative Team. I can hardly tell you what a great year it’s been and how grateful I am to you for...

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The paintbrush of power: Using comics and cartoons to turn yourself into a superhero

The paintbrush of power: Using comics and cartoons to turn yourself into a superhero

When I read all our posts and conversations on the Facebook group or on the forums, I am continually blown away by the incredible human beings that make up this community. I see courage, creativity, friendliness, and love. I see artists making the world a better place each and every day. Lets play at being superheroes, celebrating these incredible qualities and bringing them to life in our art.

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Art journal your spirit animal

Art journal your spirit animal

Art 101 Hi guys, it’s Riet here. Today I want to show you my Raven Nest Journal. It’s about my spirit animal that I discovered last year. I dedicated a whole journal...

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How to create a collage of hands

How to create a collage of hands

Hey Messians. It's Nina here with a fun and simple idea for your next art journal spread. Since we're in the season of Gifts I thought it only appropriate to make this piece about...

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5 elements to meaningful journal pages

5 elements to meaningful journal pages

This workshop gives you a run down of 5 simple things to strive to include in your journal pages to ensure you are filling them with meaning, purpose, story telling and emotion. How to successfully encapsulate the significance of a moment no matter how small it may be.

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Lesson 5 – Prompts

Lesson 5 – Prompts

How I interpret prompts and how I utilise the techniques I have demonstrated so far to make my pages. The goal is to give you a starting point for using prompts in your own pages. It will include a run-through of my interpretation of four prompts, with hopefully four very different spreads at the end.

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Lesson 2 – Intricate Backgrounds

Lesson 2 – Intricate Backgrounds

In this lesson, I will show you how to create intricate backgrounds using paints, inks, and a series of image transfers. This is an easy way to make your pages pop and look like they took a great deal of work to create.

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Creating a Seasonal Mood Board

Creating a Seasonal Mood Board

We all have favorite seasonal activities and traditions. By using old calendar pages, and creating a mood board, we are celebrating these unique parts of the current and upcoming seasons.

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Scavenger Hunt: Get inspired by your neighborhood

Scavenger Hunt: Get inspired by your neighborhood

Today I invite you to explore your neighborhood or maybe even a new city as a child would, curious about everything and wanting to find all the answers! Use the scavenger hunt guide to collect inspiration for your art journal and let your inner child play.

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Translating Music to Paper

Translating Music to Paper

Nature Hey friends. For todays post I wanted to show you something that I absolutely love doing in my journal. And that is, making playlists or working with lyrics of songs that...

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How to use lines expressively

How to use lines expressively

Art 101 Hello Messians! I'm so excited to be back on the creative team this year and today I am sharing a very simple how-to guide for creating expressive lines in your pages....

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10 Songs 10 Minutes 10 Pages

10 Songs 10 Minutes 10 Pages

When I’m staring at a blank sketchbook or art journal page, feeling the call to create but at a loss for where to start, I often turn to music. A good song can evoke so much. I draw from...

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Creating and filling an accordion album

Creating and filling an accordion album

Hi everyone, Tanyalee here from the Creative Team. I'm going to give you an insight into my process for a journal page. Not just any journal page though, an accordion album using...

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Documenting the Roller Coaster

Documenting the Roller Coaster

Documenting DEBBIE BAMBERGER Debbie is a sexual and reproductive health nurse practitioner in Berkeley, California. She began art journaling in 2016 with no prior art...

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Part 2 – Archetypes

Part 2 – Archetypes

Totems > Part 2 From Vocabulary.com: “In the psychology of Carl Jung, an archetype is an inherited pattern of thought derived from the past experience of the whole race...

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Lesson 3 – Felt Tips + Magazines

Lesson 3 – Felt Tips + Magazines

In this lesson, we are using magazine pages instead of our art journal. Try and gather 5-6 different pages to try out these techniques. I always gravitate towards black and white imagery – or pages with a lot of blank space on them. This way, your felt tip marks are the star of the show with their bright colours and the images don’t steal focus.

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Lesson 3 – Abstract Backgrounds

Lesson 3 – Abstract Backgrounds

This lesson is broken up into three parts: acrylic backgrounds, watercolour backgrounds and collaged backgrounds. I will very quickly take you through a selection of techniques using each medium/technique. At the end of the lesson you will have a vast array of tricks up your sleeve to make fast, abstract backgrounds for your art journal spreads.

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Lesson 3 – Symbolism

Lesson 3 – Symbolism

Three focus points we can utilize for a more meaningful and eclectic journal and incorporating symbolism into our journal pages.

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Lesson 5 – Wonder and Surprise

Lesson 5 – Wonder and Surprise

Wonder isn’t something that necessarily springs to mind when we’re thinking about all the different emotions we experience, but it’s a unique one, and really worth spending some time with.

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Bonus – Marks Imitate Art

Bonus – Marks Imitate Art

In this bonus lesson, we will create an art journal page transforming a found image with marks! This is a great technique to practice creating marks but also makes for a really lovely art journal page!

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2.1 Quiet Backgrounds

2.1 Quiet Backgrounds

how to quieten a background with gesso
how to quieten a background with vellum
how to quieten a background with tissue paper
how to quieten a background with white out text
the glory of the blank page
inherently quiet backgrounds

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Doodling for beginners

Doodling for beginners

Nature Hey everyone, It's Katie here! You've probably heard of zentangles, right? It's a method of line drawing where you create repeating patterns and turn them into designs. I...

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How to make a pop up art journal

How to make a pop up art journal

Fairy Tales Hello lovelies! It's Ashley here with a fresh new tutorial. As you know, fairy tales are full of ups and downs, twists and turns, trials and triumphs, much like...

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Make your own printables for journaling

Make your own printables for journaling

Fairy Tales Hey y'all, Katie here! I'm having so much fun with this Season of Fairytales. I'm actually a huge science fiction nerd, but fantasy is my my second favorite genre...

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Expressing yourself through colour

Expressing yourself through colour

Colour Welcome to the Season of Colour! Vanessa here to usher you in to this Season. As is always the case when we start a new theme, I need to find a way in. I need to figure...

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How to use scale to create contrast

How to use scale to create contrast

Contrast Hi, friends! It's Misty here to talk a bit about using size to create contrast and interest in your journals. I've got a short video to go over a few basics. I'll be...

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Creating expressive pages without looking

Creating expressive pages without looking

Hello, Julia here again to share a new type of creative practice with you... This past year, I have started to create in a new way (for me, at least). It’s something I have started to...

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Hiding your journaling on your pages

Hiding your journaling on your pages

Hello! It's Anika Lacerte with some tips on hiding your journaling on your pages. Hidden journaling makes it possible to write your thoughts down without sharing them with others. For...

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Creating pages inspired by cover art

Creating pages inspired by cover art

Hello messy dearest. I have a really fun challenge for you today. This one hits me right in the (good) feels and I hope you’ll love it too.We’re gonna go way back and pick a favorite...

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10 Minute Art Journal Pages

10 Minute Art Journal Pages

Hi there everyone, Tanyalee back with another tutorial. As it is the Season of Introspection, I thought it would be a fun idea to do a tutorial on making 10 minute art journal...

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Xeroxing Photos To Use In Your Art Journal

Xeroxing Photos To Use In Your Art Journal

Hi Get Messians, it’s Cait. I’m stoked to share... XEROXING PHOTOS ONTO EXCITING PAPERS! I think that xeroxing is underrated, magical, and surprisingly inspiring. Sometimes when my...

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Make Your Own Paper Embellishments

Make Your Own Paper Embellishments

Supplies old book paper ballpoint pen paintbrush acrylic paint sealant scissors 1. Draw shapes onto the paper Three simple ones for me, on two types of paper. The hearts and stars were on...

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Creating colourful paper scraps for collage

Creating colourful paper scraps for collage

For Valentine’s Day I made these colorful stitched papers which I used in my art journal for the Get Messy prompts and also for cards. I thought I’d share a quick tutorial on how I made...

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Messy Mandalas

Messy Mandalas

Reflection In this Artist Date, Clare will guide us on how to make a ‘Torus’ mandala base using a compass, along with a freeform method which needs no equipment apart from a...

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Embodying the Fool: How to feel the fear and take the leap anyway

Embodying the Fool: How to feel the fear and take the leap anyway

Starting can be difficult. The way ahead is obscure, we are afraid of failing or of getting lost on our journey. So how can we set off boldly, how can we be daring? We must embody the Fool. The Fool is an archetype that allows us to take a leap of faith, to go ahead even if we are fearful. When we are able to look ahead with enthusiasm and energy and when we know that whatever lies ahead is part of our journey and will support us, we are embodying the Fool archetype. This allows us to feel free as well as (perhaps paradoxically) in control of our own destiny. That is when we are happy to start. We will use water soluble media to create an inspiration wave to encourage us to start. Let’s gather this wave of positive energy and let’s be intentional in finding the mantras that carry us forward and let’s take that leap! Let’s start in this creative journey together.

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Part 3 – Elemental Magic

Part 3 – Elemental Magic

Humans are in and of this world, we interact with it; there is an exchange of energy. This is one of the first principles we learn in Anthropology and we sometimes forget this. We are the product of our environment, we are linked to it. Elemental magic encompasses those symbols, seen and unseen, that surround us.

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Lesson 5 – Real Life Pieces

Lesson 5 – Real Life Pieces

Incorporating real life pieces into our journal pages – the things that accumulate in your life on their own accord; little mementos that come from events you attend, people you meet or places you visit.

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Scrap Collage

Scrap Collage

All many of us need to do to create art journal pages is sweep up our art spaces and put those tiny discarded papers to serious work. In this class, instructor Zinia Redo starts simple and progresses through intermediate to advanced techniques that will help you use tiny pieces of leftover papers (or purposefully selected beauties!) for intricate and beautiful backgrounds. All you need for this class is scissors, your scrap paper stash, and glue to get your fingers snipping, arranging, and glueing. You can use this class to create art journal backgrounds, base pages, scrapbook pages, collages, mosaics, summer crafts with the kids, frame-worthy art, and more. If you follow all of the class techniques, you will have 92 art journal base pages ready and waiting for when inspiration strikes.

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New do! Styling hair in your journal pages.

New do! Styling hair in your journal pages.

This tutorial will encourage you to use an altered book and encourage lots of play when you give your ‘model’ a new hair do. You don’t need a ton of supplies to get a really effective page in your art journal.

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2.3 Riet Poch – Depth in Backgrounds

2.3 Riet Poch – Depth in Backgrounds

In a minimalistic page you can’t have a busy background, a lot of writing and a lot of other elements. That doesn’t mean that you aren’t allowed to use more than one color or element, but before you start decide what your focus will be. The focus in this lesson will be on the background. With simple techniques we’ll create detailed bases for our message.

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