Visual Journaling - Tips
Below are some things to keep in mind while visual journaling to help you enjoy it and get the most out of it.
Process over Aesthetics
The most important note to keep in mind while visually journalling is that it does not matter how your drawings look. The purpose of a visual journal is not to create nice looking drawings, but to further understand yourself and your emotions by expressing yourself in a visual form. While it can, your visual journal doesn’t need to be pretty. For this reason, don’t worry about sketching out or planning anything before committing to your drawings with ink or pastels, try instead to jump right in and feel the importance of each mark you make on the paper to your visualisation. Even stick figures or abstract marks can express your emotions and aid introspection. Personally, I find many of my ‘messy’ or ‘bad’ drawings to be more telling of my emotional patterns when reflecting on my journal than those I like because of how they look.
While journaling, attempt to place your focus on the process of creating the drawing rather than thinking of how it will look once complete. Pay attention to how your pen or other medium feels as you move it around the paper, watch as the ink seeps into the paper and slowly dries, etc. If you have ever practiced meditation, think of this in a similar way, simply being in the present moment. This will push you toward a ‘flow state’ and allow the subconscious to come through.
Removing worry about what a drawing looks like can prove to be quite freeing. After all, nobody needs to see your visual journal. You may wish to share your drawings with other people as a means of expressing yourself, or you may keep it entirely private. Both can have their benefits.
Have fun
Drawing is not inherently serious, so have fun with it! Some drawings may help you understand the toughest emotions you have to deal with, but some may just be fun to create and make you laugh. Isn’t that good too? Get in touch with your inner child and draw some silly stuff if that’s what you feel like doing on the day. Try to let go of any expectations you have and experiment with the different art supplies.
Lean into the Medium
Through my own practice and research, I have found that playing to the strengths of whichever medium I am using makes the process far more enjoyable and allows me to enter a ‘flow state’ much easier. You may for example, find yourself getting frustrated if trying to draw clean, uniform lines with a blunt pastel. Visual journaling should be a relaxing activity, so if you find this is the case, try changing up either your medium or your approach to using it.
For example, if you are using a fine liner pen, you will be more suited to making lots of slow, crisp lines; if using a pencil or ballpoint pen you may want to be quicker and sketchier, layering lots of lines. If you want to be more expressive you might use larger tipped markers or pastels, making big gestural marks. Try not to see the medium as the limiting factor between you and what you’re trying to draw, but instead let it lead the way. Thinking this way will also help you to become more mindful and intentional with the media you use.
Personally, I find that depending on my mood I will gravitate towards certain media. When I’m feeling calm, I tend to pick up a fountain pen or fine-liner, and if I’m frustrated or angry, I’m more likely to use a ballpoint pen or larger marker and get a bit scribbly. Again, this will differ from person to person, but when reflecting on your visual journal can very quickly be telling of your emotional state at the time.
Practice makes subjectively good art
As stated before, aesthetics are not important to the visual journaling process, however if you begin to draw a lot, you’re hardly going to get worse at it. Through continued visual journaling practice, you may improve your drawing skills or expand your creativity. Knowing that you do not need to share your drawings and that they don’t have to look good makes a visual journal a great place to practice. I have been creating visual art for many years now, and many of my favourite pieces have been visual journal drawings which had no planning and were completed within an hour or two.
So, while I don’t encourage you to worry about aesthetics while journaling, especially if you have little drawing experience, it can be a great way to practice and you may just surprise yourself with the work you create.
Reflection
Taking time to study and reflect on your visual journal is an important part of this practice if you want to learn more about yourself and your thought patterns. You might find that your perspective on things in your journal changes over time and the more time that passes, the meaning of your images becomes clearer.
You also may begin to develop your own kind of visual language, noticing elements that repeat throughout your journal entries. Personally, many of the symbols that I typically use in my practice have a certain meaning, or multiple, which I would struggle to express in words. This therefore gives me another way of understanding and analysing my subconscious thoughts than through language alone. When Reflecting on my own visual journal, these symbols allow me to see what I was thinking about or feeling at the time of journaling in a glance.
The reflective questions following each exercise aim to help you understand your drawings in this way. I would recommend studying your images for a little while before answering these, and to trust your intuition when answering. Try not to second-guess yourself here as only you will know what your drawings mean, and your gut feeling will almost always be right. Over time you may feel you don’t need these questions anymore and that it becomes easier for you to interpret your drawings and what they are communicating to you.
Process over Aesthetics
The most important note to keep in mind while visually journalling is that it does not matter how your drawings look. The purpose of a visual journal is not to create nice looking drawings, but to further understand yourself and your emotions by expressing yourself in a visual form. While it can, your visual journal doesn’t need to be pretty. For this reason, don’t worry about sketching out or planning anything before committing to your drawings with ink or pastels, try instead to jump right in and feel the importance of each mark you make on the paper to your visualisation. Even stick figures or abstract marks can express your emotions and aid introspection. Personally, I find many of my ‘messy’ or ‘bad’ drawings to be more telling of my emotional patterns when reflecting on my journal than those I like because of how they look.
While journaling, attempt to place your focus on the process of creating the drawing rather than thinking of how it will look once complete. Pay attention to how your pen or other medium feels as you move it around the paper, watch as the ink seeps into the paper and slowly dries, etc. If you have ever practiced meditation, think of this in a similar way, simply being in the present moment. This will push you toward a ‘flow state’ and allow the subconscious to come through.
Removing worry about what a drawing looks like can prove to be quite freeing. After all, nobody needs to see your visual journal. You may wish to share your drawings with other people as a means of expressing yourself, or you may keep it entirely private. Both can have their benefits.
Have fun
Drawing is not inherently serious, so have fun with it! Some drawings may help you understand the toughest emotions you have to deal with, but some may just be fun to create and make you laugh. Isn’t that good too? Get in touch with your inner child and draw some silly stuff if that’s what you feel like doing on the day. Try to let go of any expectations you have and experiment with the different art supplies.
Lean into the Medium
Through my own practice and research, I have found that playing to the strengths of whichever medium I am using makes the process far more enjoyable and allows me to enter a ‘flow state’ much easier. You may for example, find yourself getting frustrated if trying to draw clean, uniform lines with a blunt pastel. Visual journaling should be a relaxing activity, so if you find this is the case, try changing up either your medium or your approach to using it.
For example, if you are using a fine liner pen, you will be more suited to making lots of slow, crisp lines; if using a pencil or ballpoint pen you may want to be quicker and sketchier, layering lots of lines. If you want to be more expressive you might use larger tipped markers or pastels, making big gestural marks. Try not to see the medium as the limiting factor between you and what you’re trying to draw, but instead let it lead the way. Thinking this way will also help you to become more mindful and intentional with the media you use.
Personally, I find that depending on my mood I will gravitate towards certain media. When I’m feeling calm, I tend to pick up a fountain pen or fine-liner, and if I’m frustrated or angry, I’m more likely to use a ballpoint pen or larger marker and get a bit scribbly. Again, this will differ from person to person, but when reflecting on your visual journal can very quickly be telling of your emotional state at the time.
Practice makes subjectively good art
As stated before, aesthetics are not important to the visual journaling process, however if you begin to draw a lot, you’re hardly going to get worse at it. Through continued visual journaling practice, you may improve your drawing skills or expand your creativity. Knowing that you do not need to share your drawings and that they don’t have to look good makes a visual journal a great place to practice. I have been creating visual art for many years now, and many of my favourite pieces have been visual journal drawings which had no planning and were completed within an hour or two.
So, while I don’t encourage you to worry about aesthetics while journaling, especially if you have little drawing experience, it can be a great way to practice and you may just surprise yourself with the work you create.
Reflection
Taking time to study and reflect on your visual journal is an important part of this practice if you want to learn more about yourself and your thought patterns. You might find that your perspective on things in your journal changes over time and the more time that passes, the meaning of your images becomes clearer.
You also may begin to develop your own kind of visual language, noticing elements that repeat throughout your journal entries. Personally, many of the symbols that I typically use in my practice have a certain meaning, or multiple, which I would struggle to express in words. This therefore gives me another way of understanding and analysing my subconscious thoughts than through language alone. When Reflecting on my own visual journal, these symbols allow me to see what I was thinking about or feeling at the time of journaling in a glance.
The reflective questions following each exercise aim to help you understand your drawings in this way. I would recommend studying your images for a little while before answering these, and to trust your intuition when answering. Try not to second-guess yourself here as only you will know what your drawings mean, and your gut feeling will almost always be right. Over time you may feel you don’t need these questions anymore and that it becomes easier for you to interpret your drawings and what they are communicating to you.