Beginning pages in a journal can be extremely daunting. The perfect clean, crisp pages seem to draw out the inner critic, and it can often stifle us into submission. We get so caught up in doing something great and something worthy that the blank page becomes so intimidating and stops us from committing to the page. That is when we can just do something random to take the blankness away. The examples below are just random pages started with one of the simplest media - watercolor.
Each two-page spread was started with some random colors and techniques, and there is no preconceived idea of what these pages will evolve into. You can use any material or technique. Try drawing random lines and shapes to ease into a page. Or collaging random elements to a page. Or using random words. But whatever you do, allow it to be random. You are planting the seeds for pages, and with the right care and nuturing those seeds can grow into rich, beautiful, grown-up pages.
For more ideas check out the "How-to Posts" to the right - especially the ones labeled "Encountering the Blank Page."
So, when you are at a loss, try something random.
Each two-page spread was started with some random colors and techniques, and there is no preconceived idea of what these pages will evolve into. You can use any material or technique. Try drawing random lines and shapes to ease into a page. Or collaging random elements to a page. Or using random words. But whatever you do, allow it to be random. You are planting the seeds for pages, and with the right care and nuturing those seeds can grow into rich, beautiful, grown-up pages.
For more ideas check out the "How-to Posts" to the right - especially the ones labeled "Encountering the Blank Page."
So, when you are at a loss, try something random.
thanks for a great post!!I love your blog:)
ReplyDeletei couldn't agree more! stark white pages frighten me so the first thing i do is to slap a bunch of inks and watercolors on my journal pages. the journal pages all of a sudden become much friendlier, and the random shapes and patterns usually spark ideas that wouldn't have come to mind otherwise.
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