Winter is a great time to try out some new ideas in my artist journals. I have done some other work in my journals that will eventually be shown in Sketchbook Ideas posts, which are exploring specific concepts or medium combinations. Shown here is the other work I’ve been doing in my artist journals meanwhile, done in gouache, fountain pen ink, wax crayon, acrylic, watercolor crayon, posca pen, soft pastels, oil pastels, charcoal, india ink, and graphite.

I do way better if I always keep my hand expressing itself. As you can see in the stream of consciousness images in this post, what is valuable is process more than product. Then when I’m ready to spend out materials on formal artistic efforts, I’m already warmed up, due to never letting my creative spark cool down too much. Plus, a lot of my visual vocabulary is derived from low stakes work like this.

I can’t recommend strongly enough keeping an artist journal as a means to mental health, a way to work things out, a way to de-stress and settle your thought, a way of release, and an outlet for some tinkering and some fun. I hope you are working in one, whether you consider yourself an artist or not.