{"id":6753,"date":"2017-04-24T13:52:43","date_gmt":"2017-04-24T17:52:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mindfulartstudio.com\/?p=6753"},"modified":"2017-06-28T06:57:52","modified_gmt":"2017-06-28T10:57:52","slug":"work-in-layers-in-your-art-journal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mindfulartstudio.com\/work-in-layers-in-your-art-journal\/","title":{"rendered":"Work in Layers in Your Art Journal"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"layering<\/p>\n

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Dear Wonderful, Creative You:<\/p>\n

One of the issues I hear most frequently from art journaling students is that they have no idea what to do with their backgrounds.<\/strong> My solution to this problem has always been to make sure journal pages don’t feel too “precious,” as this creates pressure and invites the inner critic to\u00a0berate you, tell you to get to work, fold the laundry, or stop “wasting” time and money on art and creative self-care. To open up your art journaling practice, why not\u00a0approach it as a process-oriented practice? Work in layers in your art journal.<\/p>\n

Most of the time, I don’t try to force, control, or plan my journal pages.<\/strong> Whatever happens with\u00a0those first marks becomes layer 1. Layer 1 might hang around for an hour, a day, or a year before I return to it. There’s no guilt, this is an art journal after all, not a painting for the National Gallery of Art. I think we sometimes need a reminder to let our art be a reflection of ourselves:\u00a0a messy, imperfect work in progress. There’s beauty in imperfection.<\/p>\n

Have a look at the\u00a0journal page below. It’s the same page that I used to create the title image for this post. This is not a page I would call pretty, and I don’t know if it ever will be, but I’m working through some messy emotions on it, and if I get that out, the page is a success.<\/strong> It will go through more layers and transformations, and I have no idea how it will look in the end. I’ll have other pages for something pretty. This one has purpose.<\/p>\n

\"Work<\/p>\n

[bctt tweet=”Emotions are messy and imperfect – your art journal can be too. #artjournals” username=”amymaricle”]<\/p>\n

Why Create\u00a0in Layers?<\/h3>\n

I would invite you to start thinking about your art journal as an evolving process\u00a0rather than a\u00a0series of\u00a0planned, perfected pieces of art.<\/strong> Aren’t we doing art journaling because it’s fun? Aren’t we creating\u00a0because it’s a great outlet for our feelings? While you\u00a0might not like every single piece when you work in layers in your\u00a0art journal, it’s more expressive, more fun, and I’m guessing you’ll gain more skill, because you open up to take more chances artistically as you\u00a0let go of perfectionism<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"Work<\/p>\n

Making Layers on\u00a0Your Art Journal Pages<\/h3>\n

You can combine these techniques in any order: Start with text, then draw a pattern, and then\u00a0add a layer of paint.\u00a0Experiment wildly. Close your eyes and point to the list 3 times to randomly choose techniques and the order in which to do them. \u00a0Remember, this is for you, so have fun with it. Try a combination of these techniques on the same page, not necessarily all in one day:<\/p>\n