Second Daily Art Journal Look Through

I think I said in my last post that I wasn’t sure if I was going to write this post, but I decided for the sake of closure/completion of this project, I would. I like looking through my journals and taking the time to see the progression my work has gone through during the weeks I have been journaling. It is also valuable, I think, to reflect and evaluate what has worked and what hasn’t worked.

What I really interesting, for me at least, is that whilst these are not written journals, I can clearly see my mood reflected in the pages. This journal was done in a much more positive state of mind than my previous one and that shows most noticeably in my choice of colours. It also means, though, that looking back on it, the pages seem less like an emotional response, and more like sketchbook pages where I’m trying out new techniques. Whilst this, obviously, in itself is a sign of a better state of mind, I feel less connected to this journal than my previous one. I feel like the first daily journal I did was because I had to do it and this one was because I wanted to, if that makes any sense. I think that is why I won’t do another for a while.

My choices for my journal was quite different this time around. In this one, I used bright, often light, colours. I continued to experiment with different mediums, such as oil pastel and watercolour and now feel much more comfortable incorporating both into my work. I worked on double page spreads, which gave me a different space to work on compared to my first daily journal. Again I used an old notebook that had previous notes and doodles in. It has a hole roughly cut into a few of the pages, for some reason, which was fun to use.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t really a suitable book. The pages could be pulled out too easily and as I worked in the book more, the spine broke several times. The paint I used on some pages wasn’t really the best quality (because I didn’t want to waste good paint on a daily journal) so it’s finish was quite tacky which meant opposing pages stuck together. In a way this has allowed for a secondary experience. When opening the book, the pages often rip, which leaves them different than before. In fact, the journal I have now is very different to the journal I photographed throughout the process and might well be different next time I look through it and have to prise it open again!

These are some of my favourite pages I did. Like I said, I think I tried a lot of new things in this one and am mostly pleased with the results.

If I do another journal, I’ll be posting it on Instagram like my last few. If you’d like to look through all of my pages from this journal, my first art journal or my collage journal you can find them on Pinterest, but looking at my art journal board or my collage journal board.