Time: An Update on my 2024 Art Journal

5 minute read

Here is an update on my Word of the Year Art Journal! My word for 2024 is TIME. I am not behind on creating, but I am behind on sharing.

If y’all don’t know what a “word of the year” is (sometimes referred to as One Little Word), here is a wee explainer.

A word of the year is an alternate to creating a specific New Year’s resolution; a way to unify your goals and focus on how you want to feel over the entire course of the year.

It is not the Oxford Languages Word of the Year, although that looks cool too!

I have been documenting my word through scrapbooking and art journaling for over 5 years now. My art journals from the past two years are some of my favourite work (ever). And I am happy to share them with you!

APRIL THROUGH JUNE

WHY AN ART JOURNAL?

I distinctly remember in late 2022 getting very interested in art journaling again, and wanting to explore my creative side with no pressure. I thought it would be easiest to add this in to my life by making a routine of it. Something that was intentionally ongoing.

I also set many goals for myself, and track them in various ways throughout the year. The two seemed like a perfect match.

But mostly, I learned a lesson about myself with my 2021 Word of the Year book, that I can’t handle an actual journal with lots of writing. With an art journal, the focus is on art, images, and creating.

My habit is to start projects and never finish them. Starting with an idea that has a higher potential for success makes the most sense to me.

SIGNATURES

Each quarter of the year gets its own “signature”, which is a bookbinding term referencing a group of papers that are folded in half and then stitched into the book along with other signatures. I have four signatures in each year, and dividing it up like this instead of working on the whole book at once is much more manageable and doable in my brain.

PROCESS AND SUPPLIES

As we get closer to the end of the year, my process gets looser. I forget the themes I had chosen in January and start experimenting with new techniques. April through June taught me an important lesson about brevity – that signature is enormous – so I am playing around with that as well.

My supplies range in quality from Posca markers (my faves) to literal garbage. Here are a few things I really enjoy adding to my art journal:

Stickers that my friends made
Text in a language other than English
Vintage items (some things are just old)

Honestly, anything with words on it, especially my name or loved one’s handwriting
My birthday cards
Cool looking paper I found on the ground (aka literal garbage)

Art supplies:

Acrylic paint and gelli plate
Posca pens, every couple of months I buy a new colour
Spray ink and stencils
Caran d’Ache water soluble wax pastels are the fanciest art supply I own and I have no idea how to use them properly
An assortment of markers, highlighters, and a neon orange gel pen
Washi tape for all of those flip up pages
Rubber stamps

MY TIPS FOR YOU

Remember that these are my accessible supplies, but you should use whatever you have. Put a bunch of stuff in a tote or bin so it’s easy to work on whenever you feel like it.
Embrace the ugly pages! They’re going to happen!
Save memorabilia, tickets, posters, postcards from your life, and then USE them (don’t get too attached).
Start small, and start cheap. You can always add on and get fancy if you love this hobby. And if you don’t love it, I am giving you permission to move on without any guilt.

If you want to get started, and need more one-on-one help, please come to Office Hours or Co-Working Club!

And if you want to join an art journal club, let me know. Because I am always down to start another club 😉