New to art journaling? Curious about this fun papercraft? Then join me for a series on Art Journaling Prompts, where I share a few of my art journaling ideas and tricks.
Art Journaling Prompt: Sketching a Map
I think paper maps are beautiful. (Probably more beautiful than helpful, as I will cheerfully admit to not being much of an effective map-user!) That said, I think they are lovely and this week I decided to create my own map in my art journal.
You could do lots of different kinds of maps in your art journal: Your neighborhood map (like I did), your country map or you can even make up your own map. We’ve moved around a fair bit in the past few years, and it just occurred to me that at some point in the years to come—when we’re not living in Poland anymore—I’ll think about where we lived when Anna was three and I’ll try to remember the name of the cross-street or which direction the chestnut trees were.
Art Journaling Sketching
Remember how I said I wanted to practice more drawing? Well, drawing a map is drawing, but seems a lot more accessible since it’s usually a lot of straight lines. I found it to be a great way to get drawing practice without the pressure of drawing something three-dimensional.
Art Journaling Writing
Hmmm, this is the second week in a row that my art journaling has been more imagery than words! On my facing page, I’ve simply written our address—probably later this week I’ll go back and add a few more pages with writing about the house we live in, with some descriptive details about this place.
(That funny-looking “t” is actually ł…it makes a sound like “w”. “W”, in case you wonder, makes a sound like “v”. And “v”? Well, there isn’t one in the Polish alphabet.)
My writing and penwork is all done with my brown Sharpie marker.
Planning Your Art Journaling Page
You may or may not have the map of your area in your head but as I was doodling my map (while on the phone) I realized I couldn’t spell the name of one of the area streets. (No surprise—again, I’m living in Poland!) So I brought up Google Maps and it gave me a lovely sort of place to start.
Art Journaling Watercolor Pencils
I’m trying to put to use coloring supplies that I’ve been neglecting, so this week I went with my Derwent Watercolor Pencils. I have a simple 12-pencil set, and just scribbled color onto my paper, then blended it with a waterbrush.
The paper in my art journal isn’t really thick, so I was a bit more reserved with the water so it didn’t warp the paper or make it fuzzy. This of course also helps the color to stay brighter.
Here’s one page with just the watercolor pencil colored onto the paper:
Then, with water. The one above is beautiful for a soft look; the water makes the color brighter.
You can do either one!
Hope you enjoyed today’s Art Journaling Prompt!
Happy Monday!
Intrigued by art journaling? You might check out my Art Journaling with Gelatos online workshop, available at Creative Workshops. It’s over 3 hours of video demonstration, featuring 15 art journaling prompts and techniques with Faber-Castell Gelatos, plus design tips and writing tricks. Hope to see you there!
