Mindful Art Center

On June 5th, 2009 I decided to start creating a visual journal on individual pieces of paper. This gave me a little more freedom with techniques since the pages were not bound together. You can absolutely use a sketchbook for this course! The idea of my daily visual journal began as a challenge to myself to create art everyday and generate my own inspiration. This course illustrates some of the techniques used to create my daily visual journal pages and how you can incorporate these techniques into your own daily visual journal. In addition, each technique is followed by a self reflection prompt for you to think about and write about on the backside of your visual journal entry. Sometimes while creating a visual journal entry I have a thought in mind and it informs the artwork, other times I’m just playing with technique and process.

To stay motivated and inspired, I recommend preparing a stack of bases before you begin so that you have materials ready to go for the week. (Or use a sketchbook!). I have outlined here four techniques I use the most when preparing my bases ahead of time. It works well and I’m not rushing or frustrated when I sit down to work on my entry for the day.