How to prepare ahead your art journals by Cristina Parus @ creativemag.ro
Art Journaling Art Projects

Not enough time to create? Prepare ahead your art journals!

It’s obvious that I don’t have that much time to create art as I had before I had my baby. But in the last couple of years I’ve realized how important is to make time to create. This constant urge to draw, sketch, paint has been haunting me all this time and this is why I continued to create art, even if many of those pages didn’t make it to the blog.

Old pages ready to be finished @ creativemag.ro by Cristina Parus

Today I wanna share with you what I do when I don’t really have time for art, but I want so badly to create something, even if by creating I mean just scribbling marks on the paper.

It’s important to have something to go back to, so what I do is create a starting point for future pages.

It’s simple and efficient, and the process is nourishing my soul, helping me stay on the path of creativity. Here are five things I do when I find it impossible to make time for art, or at least not as much as I would want to.

1). Switch to a small sketchbook

When you have multiple journals and want to create a page really fast, you go with a smaller sketchbook /art journal. Smaller surfaces to cover seem less intimidating and you get the feeling you did a page (or even a spread) in such less amount of time – and you actually did it in less time just because the page was smaller! Now it depends on what you’re aiming for, because not every page has to be finished in one sit. You might simply need more time to complete a page, even if it’s a smaller one!

Small art journal by Cristina Parus @ creativemag.ro

2). Sketch something

A sketch it’s a simple way to start a new page in your journal. You might love the result or not, in which case you are free to transform the sketch in whatever you want. Sketches can become drawings and later even paintings if you choose to add color and bring them to life. Not every sketch will make it that far, but sketching is a great exercise when you are just starting with art journaling. You can start with a small sketchbook that can become your companion whenever you go, so if you are waiting for the bus or sipping on your coffee at the coffee shop, you can grab your pencil and sketchbook and practice a little bit.

Sketch a face in your journal by Cristina Parus @ creativemag.ro

3). Create a background/aka prepare ahead time

Backgrounds… They are so much fun! Except for the fact that sometimes you might not get what you want, backgrounds are really fun to create and a great exercise to start an art journal page. No stress, no fuss about it. Just make sure to combine the right colors by picking a color palette that goes well visually and stick with it. Don’t know how to create a color palette? No problem, Pinterest can be of a great help when you feel stuck in the creative process, or simply need a starting idea to develop a new page in your journal.

Create a background to get started @ creativemag.ro by Cristina Parus

4). Note down your ideas

Ideas come and go. They are like a never ending stream of creative bliss. It’s important to stop for a second from all the hustle and bustle around us and reflect on the day. If ideas are flowing through my mind, I quickly grab my phone and create a short note. I have my ideas noted in a digital journal and I don’t have to worry I might forget something I’ll later want to remember to write about or create a page in my journal. I even note down ideas about future blog posts and work on them later, so I have plenty of drafts to pick from. 

5). Write emotions & feelings no longer wanted and cover them with paint

Write in your art journal words that express feelings or emotions that you no longer want or need, and then cover the words with a big flat brush to symbolize your desire to let go. This is also a therapeutic exercise that’s aiming to release past haunting emotions and make room for new ones that are more in alignment with what you feel and want at the present moment.

What else? Creating color pallettes can be really fun! Although you might already have some color pallettes for the pencils, watercolor pan sets, acrylic paints, etc., it’s really fun to create new colors by mixing the colors you already have. Document that in your journals – I tend to do this at the end of each journal – and see how they evolve over the time as you perfect art journaling and mixed media. 🎨

Create pallette colors to get the most of your art supplies - by Cristina Parus @ creativemag.ro

How do you add new pages to your art journals? What are your thoughts about keeping multiple journals and working on them simultaneously? How do you prepare your journals? I would really like to know in the comment section below, so feel free to share your thoughts and ideas with us all!

See you soon,,

Cristina

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