For a while I’ve wished to help people get started art journaling. It’s been such a transformative tool in my own life, and I’ve hosted enough workshops to watch other have their own “ah-ha!” moments. It’s such a fun outlet and a way of processing our lives.

I thought about trying to host an in-person retreat but I know how hard it is for people to get away, even for a few hours. I also have a greater appreciation for the energy budgeting that’s necessary when working away from home. It’s not always a good choice to like in one more commitment.

The answer appears to be trying something online. It allows people to do things at their own pace, and without the potential intimidation of doing something new with people you don’t know.

This is the series of posts I put on Instagram in my stories. For this blog post, I wanted to include some of the same graphics, but I’m not sure they’re going to cooperate. Be patient with me, and just know I’m learning which things translate as Gifs and which things don’t behave well. I’ve tried to write out the steps as well as using graphics.

Here we go!

Supplies

You won’t need anything to fancy for this. You’ll want a couple different colors of paint, along with some white paint. You’ll also want to have a pencil, and your fingers.

 

Here’s the thing though –> You can use whatever you have on hand. Got crayons instead of paint? Use crayons. Like the brightness of highlighters? Go for it. Don’t think you have to have specialty supplies to get started. Just start.

 

If you h-a-t-e getting your hands dirty you can use a paintbrush, but I challenge you to try using your fingers. It’s a great tactile exercise and it helps give you a chance to set aside perfectionism and harkens back to childhood play. How can it be serious or perfect if you’re just fingerpainting??

 

Some things to think about as you start

Here’s a couple prompts for you to consider as you get ready to try this out:

• What places do you visit most often in a regular week?
• Which three people do you interact with must in a day?

 

 

 

Step-by-steps

You do NOT have to follow these steps. But sometimes when you’re just getting started or you need a little boost, having some guidance is helpful. Take what you want to use, leave what doesn’t work for you.

1. Use your fingers to finger paint the travel pattern of your day.

 

 

2. Now use a pencil to draw some shapes for places and people. These shapes go right over the top of your paint.

 

 

 

3. Using white paint, outline your shapes. Remember, we’re finger painting so don’t get too concerned with precision.

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you’d like, add a darker color under your shapes to suggest a shadow.

 

 

4. With pencil go ahead and label the places or people.

 

 

And here’s my version of following these steps…

 

 

This is a good warmup activity to get your creative juices flowing. We’ll start by examining things outwardly today, then later we’ll turn our attention inward.

 

Next week, I will have another prompt and step-by-step process for you to try, and I’m working on a few more to share over the summer. I’d love to hear about it if you give this a go! If you post any photos on Instagram, try using the hashtag #innerjourneyart and tag me (@tclmn) so I’ll be sure to see your work! Another way to be sure you don’t miss any of these is to subscribe to get these delivered straight to your inbox. I think the link is up on the right hand side.

 

As always, thanks for allowing me to share here. I appreciate you!