THE ONLY ART SUPPLIES YOU NEED AS A BEGINNER TO CREATIVE JOURNALING

If you want to start creative journaling but don’t know where to start or feel overwhelmed by what supplies you might need then read on!

CREATIVE JOURNALING IS NOT ABOUT USING LOTS OF EXPENSIVE ART SUPPLIES, HERE ARE THE BASICS - ALL YOU NEED TO GET STARTED

My mantra for art making and journaling supplies is always ‘less is more’, this helps to keep the whole process simple, accessible and enjoyable. I believe that we are all creative until we start putting restrictions and pressure on ourselves, keeping your supplies inexpensive and minimal as a beginner is one way to relieve that pressure.

Before I dive into the list of supplies you need as a beginner, I want to share my thoughts on why you don’t need to spend a lot of money on a lot of supplies and still achieve the same result.

I often get asked about the supplies I use, in particular ‘which brand’ I use or ‘if the more well known/expensive brand is better’, my response is almost always unexpected - I rarely buy the big brand names and more often than not I shop at the dollar store or Kmart.

#TRUTHBOMBS

You do not need the most expensive supplies. Especially if you are a beginner. Expensive supplies can give you immediate paralysis, simply because you become too scared to use them and ‘wreck them’ or ‘waste them’. Expensive paints and kits usually end up sitting in their box at the back of a cupboard. Cheaper supplies come with an invisible permission slip to be ‘wrecked’ and that gives your creativity full reign.

Less is best. If you already have a lot of supplies and a lot of different techniques you want to try, you will probably be familiar with the paradox of choice creeping in - stopping you from actually getting started. You do not need all the colours in the box! You can create just as well with three paint tubes and some scrap paper as you can with a box of 24 and a sketchbook - true story!

Remember, this is a journey and you can gather and grow your supplies along the way. As you explore your creativity and experiment with different materials you will get a feel for what you like and dislike and this in turn will inform your ‘collection’ of supplies. This process can be as complicated or as simple as you make it, if you want to keep things simple, start with these essential supplies:

THE ONLY CREATIVE JOURNALING SUPPLIES YOU NEED AS A BEGINNER

The absolute bare essentials:

An art journal
Paint
brushes
pens/pencils
old magazines

The extra basics:

Gesso
Pastels
Washi tape
Ephemera

Art journal

This is the most essential item for creative journaling! As with all supplies there are many options to choose from, again I suggest keeping it simple and not overthinking your choice for a journal. If you have something sitting around your house already, then start there and use that.

Art journals come in many forms, you could use, a sketchbook, a notebook, re-purpose an actual book, or DIY it make a journal from a collection of papers (junk journal style).

The options are endless and really it comes down to personal preference, again you won’t really know what your preference is until you start. I know that I don’t like ring-bound journals, I know that I love re-purposing old books and making mini journals from paper scraps.

Start with what you have and figure out what you like along the way.

PAINT

I recommend using acrylic paints to start with - simply because they are easy to use, cost effective, versatile and brilliant for creating backgrounds on your journal pages.

You can apply acrylic paint in so many ways, brush, roller, fingers, print it . . . you can achieve some really amazing results with just a few tubes of acrylic paint. The best part is that you will find them in all craft and office supplies stores.

You could also add a few tubes of watercolour to your kit, if you want to achieve a softer look and add more layers to your creations. Keep in mind that thinner paper will not take watercolour well.

BRUSHES

There is no need to go to an ‘art store’ to buy expensive brushes. You can find basic brushes in most craft stores or even in supermarkets. This is all you need to get started. I recommend buying a pack that has a few different sizes to experiment with. Again, over time you will build up your own range of brushes and learn what you enjoy using.

PENS AND PENCILS

These are for the writing part of art journaling, I recommend a pen that you feel comfortable writing with, some hard pencils, and even coloured pencils are great to use for writing. I love using brush pens (that you can find at most craft stores), I buy cheap ones so that I am not afraid to ruin them when I write over wet paint! You could try a fine liner or gel pens or even a Sharpie. You may want to experiment with permanent and non permanent pens to see the different effects you get.

old magazines

Building up a stash of old magazines is the best thing you can do to enhance your art journaling supplies kit if storage is a problem you can go through the magazine, tear out the pages you like and throw the rest away) Magazines are great for the imagery, the text and varied fonts, collage elements, and for creating quick backgrounds with.

GESSO

Gesso is a medium used to prepare your pages for wet media - such as watery paint. The gesso stops the page from absorbing the liquid and so the paper doesn’t wrinkle or tear. Gesso is a must if you choose to use an old book for an art journal - you will want to cover the pages in gesso before painting on top of them. You can buy clear or white Gesso - you can also add a tiny bit of paint to your Gesso to colour it - not too much though!

I love creating with watery media, such as acrylic, watercolour, coffee, spraying water over paint, so I use Gesso a lot, I enjoy the smooth texture for writing on and also scraping lines and texture into it.

PASTELS

Chalk pastels and oil pastels are two of my favourite supplies, again they are just a cheap boxes that I get from a craft store. Pastels are great for adding texture, interest and pattern details to final layers of a page. You can create some amazing results using oil pastel and watercolour as it creates a resist effect. Pastels are definitely a medium that you should spend some time experimenting with and learning different ways they can be used. One of the ways I like to use pastels is for quickly capturing a colour palette - when I see a collection of colours that I like, I simply scribble down 5 or so colours on a sheet in my little colour library notebook for future reference.

WASHI TAPE

I was definitely late to the washi tape party, but I love using it. I use washi tape mostly just for sticking in things that I find and want to keep safe in my journal. I do also use it when making my own journals and piecing together different papers. You could also use it as a decorative item on its own or to frame parts of your page. Washi tape peels off easily and can be covered in paint too, which is great for art journaling.

EPHEMERA

Starting a collection of ephemera is the best thing you can do to enhance your journal pages as you progress through your art journaling journey. Ephemera is a collection of vintage items, such as pieces of paper, old postage stamps, postcards, tickets, photos etc that tell the story of the previous owner, that is to be used as a mixed media item. You can use ephemera in so many ways, and I love how a small snippet can add new meaning to a journal page.

Be on the hunt for ephemera through out your day, collect things you use to re-purpose in your journal at a later date. You could scour second hand and antique shops for pieces too. If you don’t have this type of resource near you there are plenty of options online for downloadable and printable ephemera - checkout our unique kits.

I hope this list of essential supplies is helpful in starting your creative journaling journey, if you have any questions or would like to share your own insights, be sure to leave a comment below.