This is a lesson from Basic Bookbinding. Whatever your inner artist needs to create, build yourself the perfect handbound book with this course to capture all of your beautiful art and precious words. In Basic Bookbinding, you will learn how to bind four different...
art journal blog
Get Messy is an online art journaling school that teaches you to cultivate your creativity. Without perfection.
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Art journaling gave Anouk Karssen a purpose in life
Artist SpotlightWhat is art journaling to you? For me, art journaling goes so much further than making art. Art journaling gave me a purpose in life when I didn’t feel like I was enough for the world. It gave me a purpose to get out of bed each...
What to create when you don’t know what to create
Creativity ebbs and flows. There are ebbs where you have more ideas than time, there are flows where you have more time than ideas, and there are the bits where you have neither time nor ideas. It’s all part of being a creative human. Sometimes, even though you have a...
How to make art when you have no time
So much creative energy, so little time. Somehow, twenty-four hours in a day never seems like enough to do all of those things we have to do, let alone those things that we really want to do ... and “not having enough time” is without a doubt one of the top excuses...
Seven art myths we can kick to the curb
The world is full of myths about art. Some good, some bad. These myths float around, getting passed from person to person and perpetuating the way that art is perceived and talked about. Many of these ideas are not only inaccurate; they’re damaging to artists and the...
How to create when you have zero ideas
Want to make art but have no clue how to get started? Perhaps you know these symptoms all too well: You have the aching feeling inside of you that comes from not making, but it’s accompanied that pesky voice that tells you that there’s no point. You have zero ideas...
Stop trying to find your style
As artists and creatives, we can become obsessed by the notion of style. Style defines our work and gives us a way of describing our art to others. We are told invariably that style is everything: that having a recognisable style will help us to sell more work and gain more followers on Instagram. Despite the tempting potential upshots of having a neatly definable style, however, I want to propose that style is not the be all and end all. Here’s why you should stop trying to find your style…or at least flip the idea on its head a little bit.
Artist Dates: Everything you need to know
Floating around in the art world, you may have heard of the term Artist Date. Maybe more than once. Maybe only about one-hundred-and-thirty-seven times. Stemming from Julia Cameron's seminal book, The Artist’s Way, artist dates are a tried and tested way of connecting...
6 Lessons from ‘Do the Work’ by Steven Pressfield – and how to apply them to your art making
If you’re part of the Get Messy community, you have almost definitely heard of Steven Pressfield. His book, Do the Work, lays out the nuts and bolts of getting creative work done. I was recently lent the book by a friend and rocketed through it in about two hours…. Yes, it’s only a short book, but yes, it’s also that good. And yes, I would highly recommend that you read it. But in order to pass on some of its wisdom before it’s in your hot little hands, here are 6 important lessons that I learned from Do the Work – and how to apply them to your art-making.
Feeling stuck? Use repetition to get out of a creative funk
Creative funks are never welcome. They have a nasty habit of either sneaking up on us when we least expect it, or rolling in like a slow storm over the horizon, so we can see them coming a mile away. The following symptoms of being in a creative funk may sound...
The Joy of Ripping Paper
Type “ripped paper” into Google and you’ll be delivered almost 65 million results, with the first few pages pretty much solely taken up by Pinterest pics and downloadable ripped paper PNGs. Ok, we got it, the world is pretty into it. And so am I: ever since I can...
What Is Art Journaling? And How It Helps You Grow Courageously as an Artist
I’ve been a practising artist for many years now – and I guess I’ve always known, even when I was little, that I was an artist. It was only recently, though, that I was introduced to art journaling by a friend. After a while I decided to give it a go myself, making...
In a creative rut? Why more art supplies are not the answer
When stuck in a creative rut, buying new art supplies can seem like a reasonable way to go about getting out of it. After all, we all know that art stores (and to a lesser extent, their online equivalent) are magical places; not only full of…uhh, art supplies, but allure and promise and potential. I’m here to tell you to hold your horses. Back up a little. Here’s why stocking up on more art supplies is not the answer.
7 ways to feel less alone as a creative
The life of a creative can be lonely. And let’s face it: whether we identify as creatives or not, we all know what this pretty rubbish state of being feels like. As humans, we’re hard-wired for connection: we long to be understood by others, we long for relationships with people with whom we can go through our struggles and celebrate life’s wins. This blog post presents 7 ways towards feeling less alone as a creative. And the best part is – perhaps counter-intuitively – many of these can be done without interacting with a single other human in real time.
Roben-Marie Smith brings beauty into the world through art journaling
Artist SpotlightWhat is art journaling to you? As far back as I can remember, I have been a creative person. Art journaling is a part of who I am, and like I was as a child, I still find comfort and personal satisfaction in creating. Journaling is my...
Melanie Theriault escapes and processes her reality through art journaling
Artist SpotlightWhat is art journaling to you? Art journaling is a healing liminal space that allows me to both escape my reality as well as process it. It is my self care at its best. Art journaling feels like home, it feels like personal growth, it...
Abbey Sy expresses herself on paper
Artist SpotlightWhat is art journaling to you? Art journaling to me is all about expressing yourself on paper; regardless of what medium and purpose and style. Ultimately, these little decisions of materials being used, styles and layouts being...
Art and feelings flow out of Iris Fritschi-Cussens into her art journal
Artist SpotlightWhat is art journaling to you? It is a home for my feelings, and a safe space to experiment being myself. Nowhere else do the feelings and art flow out of me as easily as in an art journal. My best art is in my journals. I haven't...
Art journaling is good for Lisa Goddard’s heart, mind, and soul
Artist SpotlightWhat is art journaling to you? Art journaling to me is a way to express my emotions, dreams, experiences, and imagination in a creative and constructive way in a place where there are no rules or constraints. It is good for the heart,...
The mess makes for the BEST art
I'm currently reading two books - Pema Chödrön's Start Where You Are: A Guide to Compassionate Living and Mind Management, Not Time Management: Productivity When Creativity Matters by David Kadavy These books are helping me journey through the theme we're...
When you can’t create…
I’ve been sick for the past four months. Nothing serious, just a round of puking, a few colds, and like so many of us, I managed to catch corona. It’s been an extended period of lying on the couch doing nothing - sometimes cuddling a four-year-old, and sometimes...