Beautiful creative souls!
People often misunderstand what I mean by “art journaling”, so I wanted to explain.
I fully appreciate other creators having other methods and ideas about what art journaling is and I am happy about diversity especially in creative fields. So, this is MY way of art journaling. This is the EVA BEA method of art journaling.:
Your art journal is a playground, not an art museum. What you create does not have to be beautiful. Just play. Follow your JOY. I know this can even be a bigger challenge for an adult, to follow your joy. But try it, try finding even the smallest glimpse of joy in creating and follow it.
Do not create to show it to somebody. Art journaling is for you, for your inner artist, for you to play freely, to discover, to come home to yourself and your creativity. Nobody will reward you for painting correctly or beautifully. This is not an art class in school. This is not public art. It is private, personal art. This is free art.
When I discovered art journaling during the pandemic, I misunderstood it, too, at first. I did not fully comprehend the abundance art journaling could give me: Playing freely and not giving a f*ck how anything looks like. At first, I thought I need to experiment with certain visual patterns. I thought my art journal needed to have a certain look. I felt the pressure that my art journal would have to prove that I am an artist. I assumed I needed to be able to show my art journal to other people.
But none of that matters.
You can make a mess and it is valid. You are perfect, even in making a mess. It can be abstract and it does not have to mean anything. I do not even buy into the idea of art journaling as expressing yourself. I do not even want to put that pressure onto you that these pages have to express your complex soul. Not even.
It is just play.
ART JOURNALING IS FREE PLAY IN YOUR PERSONAL ART PLAYGROUND, YOUR JOURNAL.
Enjoy playing. Follow your joy to come home to yourself.
Love, Eva Bea