5 Art Journaling Prompts for the New Year

The new year is upon us, and on this blog sometimes I like to write about art journaling prompts because art journaling can be a fun, creative hobby. Think about it- curling up on the couch with your art journal, sipping tea, binge watching LOST on Netflix. It's a good day, if this is what you're doing- so here are 5 prompts if you're stuck on what to do next~

1. If you could have an unlimited, INFINITE amount of ONE thing- what would it be? 99% of people are gonna say money, but you gotta be different. What is it that you're thinking? Try to make a collage of things you would consider. Write the question in big bold letters at the top of the page, then in the bottom right corner, make a little box big enough to write an answer in. If you can't answer it today, then don't- answer it another day of another week of another month. 

2. Make a list of A to Z. This list needs to have a theme, and that theme is up to you! Maybe places you want to go (Australia to Zimbabwe!) or things that inspire you, or maybe even your favorite things to do on a rainy day. There are endless possibilities, and you don't have to pick just one- make a whole chapter of A to Z lists in your book!




3. Grab a heart stencil. If you don't have one, then make one out of card stock by cutting out a heart and using the paper with the heart-shaped hole in it. Tape this piece of paper to a page in your art journal, and then get your watercolors out because now you're gonna paint the inside of this heart! Use all of your favorite colors, and let them bleed, let them run, do whatever you want with them. Now let them dry for a couple of minutes while you get another cuppa because you drank the last one. Finally, get either an ultra fine tipped Sharpie or a fine liner, and fill in the heart with all of the people, things and places that you LOVE! 

4. For this one you're gonna need a cup of coffee. Not for drinking, so no cream and sugar, just plain black coffee, and let it cool because the heat could damage either your brush or your paper. That's right, we're gonna be painting with coffee! Just grab a brush and some watercolor paper in addition to the coffee, and try painting something with it. Don't use any other watercolors, just the coffee. Are there any subtle differences in texture, etc? When you're done, let it dry and go over it with ink, I would use India Ink but a fine liner/Sharpie would work just fine. Now you have a caffeinated masterpiece~

5. This one is another watercolor-stencil thing, but with India ink? Get out a stencil, of anything, it doesn't matter- just pick out your favorite one. Tape the stencil down to the paper. Now, wet your brush heavily and fill a certain part with water, like at the tip of something (if you were doing a cat, the tips of their ears). Now dip your nib/brush in the jar of ink and then touch the very tip to the part of the page with the water. See what happened? Doesn't that look cool? Now experiment with it on other parts of the paper. Have fun!

I can't wait to try a couple of these out for myself, and leave a comment below if you've done one of these! Which one was your favorite? Any suggestions? 

xx Savannah