art journaling for noobs questions

What kind of book paper? Oh goodness, you can use anything! I use book paper, mixed media paper, newsprint, old security envelopes, etc. Look at everything and use it. Have fun!

What tools? You don't really need to buy tools except maybe some of your favorite paint brushes but you can start with a foam brush if you want. Again, think about of the box. Use old hotel keys to lay down paint, gesso, or gel medium. Use old lids to make circles. Use bubble wrap and whatever else you find to stamp fun images using acrylic paint. The sky is the limit!

What is Mod Podge? I do not use Mod Podge. I do not care for it at all. I too am a gel matte medium girl. I like Liquitex, Golden, and Prima. Gesso is a must have. You can also use modeling paste, crackle, you name it. Once again the sky is the limit.

Starting point? Oh gosh so many places to start. I say search Pinterest to find your favorite style and artists. Some of my favorites are Roben-Marie Smith, Rae Missigman, Alisa Burke, Finnabair, and many others. Feel free to check out my Pinterest board. I have lots of boards but this is the art journaling things I have pinned.

Have fun! Mixed media is my favorite thing to do!!!

Just mms to follow this thread. I'm new to art journaling too and am overwhelmed with all the stuff there is to try! I've been spending a lot of time on Youtube and Pinterest.

when I do art journaling, it's either paint-based pages (I just use cheap acrylics, or cheap watercolors), or paper / collage based pages. I use stencils, magazine or book images, all sorts of text, and found paper of all kinds- SB papers I don't like any more, wrapping paper, wallpaper, security envelope patterns, cancelled postage stamps, cigar bands (courtesy of my boyfriend), decorated transparencies, doilies, tags, ribbon, washi tape, anything *paper-ish* that is flat and can be glued or stapled to my pages. My final page layers usually include a lot of doodling and/or pen detail work with Sakura glaze, souffle, or gel pens, colored pencil, crayons, watercolor pencils, etc.

After years of experimenting, I've found that I like using spiral-bound sketchbooks as art journals; the STrathmore or Canson mixed-media one is a good one, and they have a couple different sizes I like-  6x8 ish or 5x7 ish, and a 9x12 one for when I like to work bigger.

It's a personal choice, but I don't like using thinner pages as a base. for me, it's easiest to work on a heavier paper so it won't warp too much and I don't have to do the step of gluing pages together.  

--  I just use cheap craft acrylic paints, and I typically don't gesso the pages first; this is another plus for using a heavier-weight paper.  

--  My adhesive of choice is either gel medium or a good old-fashioned UHU or Elmer's glue stick.  (I buy glue sticks when they're cheap at back-to-school time;  I like the purple *disappearing* ones so I can see where I've put the glue.)

I use a paper towel to 'burnish' any pieces down after gluing, and to wipe off any excess glue. That way the pages won't stick together.

a couple more general tips from me:

--  some people cover the entire page with mod podge or gel medium after they're done with it but I don't like to do that.   Not every pen will write over that finish; it makes the pages shiny, which I don't like; and they can stay tacky and stick together.

--  if you do have something still damp / wet and you need to flip the page, put a piece of waxed paper in between them. That should keep the pages from sticking together until they're dry.



this is who I learned from 10 years ago now (!), and while my style has evolved somewhat from back then, I still love her style. Art journaling can be whatever you want it to be!!
--  Kelly Kilmer
(she has a blog, but I don't think she does videos.  She typically makes her own books using a particular type of watercolor paper, but I'd rather just work ON the pages, not make the book myself, lol.)  She teaches in-person classes at different venues all over the country, and she also has some online classes with journaling prompts and such, every once in a while.