HW Assignment- Creative Journal Pages (20 pts. each)
Art Major II
Assignment Goal:
Art journals are something that we create for ourselves alone— not merely a self-indulgent
activity, but something worthwhile, important, and vastly creative and self-revelatory. There is
no pressure to make them “come out right,” and the time you give to creating your personal
pages, finding your authentic voice, and letting it sing is time well spent. Think of your journal
as your soul mate.
Working in a sketchbook is an ongoing process that will help you make informed and critical
decisions about the creation of your artwork. You will experiment with new techniques you can
eventually use in a piece of artwork, and come up with ideas and concepts you may choose to
explore further. Your sketchbook is the perfect place to try a variety of concepts and
techniques as you develop your own voice and style.
Directions:
Gather art supplies that are familiar and available, and look inward. Express. Expound. Start
with the present moment. The past and future will inevitably end up in your pages, but we all
need a place to begin, and the present will serve you well. What has your day been like? Do
you want to embrace it or leave it? Put it on your page. Is there a lyric or a line of poetry that
keeps cycling through your head? Record it on your page. Trust that anything that is
threading through your mind and heart is fair game for your art journal pages. A memory…a
color…an aroma.
1. Find or purchase a book to use for your journal. It may be a sketchbook from an art
store, or an old picture book from a yard sale. Size requirements: minimum 5”x7”;
maximum 11”X14”. No matter how large your book is, you are expected to fill the entire
page! If you block off a smaller portion of the page as your composition, you will not get
full-credit.
2. Create an interesting cover. Make sure there is some way to hold it shut (think
creatively!)
3. Write your name inside the front cover of the book somewhere so it can be returned to
you if it gets misplaced.
4. You will be assigned several pages every few weeks based on a theme (or “prompt”)
chosen in class.
5. You are encouraged to experiment in your journal whenever you feel the urge. You
don’t have to wait for a page to be assigned to add to it. The more you experiment, the
more your creative juices will flow, and the more well-rounded of an artist you’ll become!
Sometimes it can be difficult to think outside the box and develop new and innovative
ideas for your journal pages. Feel free to use these resources (and other internet
resources you find on your own) to help you generate ideas. Make sure you never
directly copy an idea, which is considered artistic plagiarism!
 http://www.pinterest.com/sasochica/creative-journal-ideas/
 http://www.blacksburgbelle.com/2010/10/50-art-journal-prompts/
 http://daisyyellow.squarespace.com/abstract/art-journaling-101.html
 http://daisyyellow.squarespace.com/icad/daily-paper-prompt-intro.html
Possible journal themes we’ll explore:
 Childhood
 Follow your passions
 Celebrate!
 New Year’s Resolutions
 Family history
 Telling a story
 People of inspiration
 Playing with words- Edge to Edge
 My Goals
 Cultures
 Travels
 Months of the Year
 Dear Alice/John…A letter to a stranger or love
RULES FOR WORKING IN YOUR JOURNAL

ALWAYS FILL the page you are working on. Go off the edges whenever possible. Do not make dinky little
drawings in the center of the page. Make every square inch count for something.

Don’t start with a white page…collage, paint a wash, splatter paint, etc. to create a background to begin
with.

Do not start something and abandon it. Go back later, change it…make it into something else. Being able
to rescue bad beginning is the sign of a truly creative mind. Always finish what you start no matter how
much you don’t like it.

Put the date on every page you finish (optional, but will allow you to see your growth)

Avoid plagiarism. The use of published photographs or the work of other artists for duplication without
significant repurposing is plagiarism. DO NOT SIMPLY DRAW FROM OTHER’S PHOTOGRAPHS,
MAGAZINES, etc. Draw from observation, things you see in the world, or photos you took yourself. If
you do use someone’s photo as a reference, make sure you are significantly changing it somehow. Learn
to translate the dynamic three-dimensional world into a two-dimensional world.

Try to avoid cute, pretty, precious, adorable, or trite images. Expect your ideas about what makes good
art to be challenged. This doesn’t mean you can’t use any imagery you would describe with those
adjectives, but push yourself beyond hearts, fairies, dragons, stars, etc.

Don’t be boring with your work. Challenge us! Take risks with media and techniques!

Avoid showing your work to others unless you know they are going to understand what you are trying to
do in your sketchbook. You don’t need negative feedback when you are trying out new ideas or
experimenting. This is a place for risk taking. Don’t invite criticism unless you are confident that it won’t
derail your free spirit. You won’t have to show your classmates, only your teacher.

Make decisions about what you do based on how things look. Go for the tough look, not the easy
solution. Do not be trite (unoriginal)… say something important about the world you live in.

Express yourself! Work to develop mastery in concept, composition, and execution of your ideas.
TIPS AND TRICKS FOR BEING CREATIVE

Build a collage file of images that fascinate or provoke you to use on your pages.

Use pencils, pens, sticks, charcoal, burnt matches, pastel, watercolor, acrylic, pine straw, fingers,
basically anything that will make a mark. You have the power to make a mark.

Use gesture, line, and value in your drawings. Try to create a sense of light and depth in your images.

Use the principles of perspective to show depth in a drawing.

Glue stuff into your sketchbook, i.e., ticket stubs, gum wrappers, tin foil, lace, lists, receipts, sand, leaves,
twigs, pebbles, shells, earrings, shoe laces, whatever. Make a collage with the stuff. Add these things to
pages that you started but don’t like. Let your imagination go wild.

Use and reuse favorite stamps, images, and themes in different ways to push the boundaries of
their impact.

Build the pages up by layering things, paint on top of collage, newspaper, and drawing, Attach pieces of
fabric and photographs and paint over parts of them. What did you do? What are you trying to say?

Play around with geometric and organic forms, interlocking and overlapping to create an interesting
composition. Use color to finish the work.

Utilize photo-transfers: use gel medium to transfer photocopies from copy paper to final surface

Let splashes of color define your mood. Words are often unnecessary. Use icons and symbols
to communicate. Doodle, scribble and expressively write to create energy.

Take a news story and interpret it visually, use abstraction to express an idea.

Take a selfie, and create a self-portrait using Cubism, or Impressionism, or Minimalism, or Pop Art, etc.

Create a drawing of the interior of your room but add collage elements for the lamps, and furniture. Glue
sheer fabric over the collage. Draw an image of yourself moving around the room onto the sheer fabric.

Make gesture drawings from observation of the figure.

Make contour drawings from observation of anything around you. Remember to use the whole page! Fill
the space behind the objects you draw. Make it count for something.

Make a simple contour drawing of an arrangement of objects. Repeat the drawing four times. Explore
different color schemes in each of the four drawings. Write about how the color changes the feeling in
each image.
Creative Journal Assignment
Grading Rubric (20 pts.)
Name: ______________________________
Due: _________
Theme: _____________________________
CRITERIA
Composition
 Use of the Elements of Art: line,
shape, space, value, form,
texture, color
 Arrangement of the Principles of
Design: balance, emphasis,
contrast, movement,
rhythm/repetition, unity
 Use of the entire page
Execution
 Creativity and experimentation
with media and technique
 Communication of idea
 Variation of techniques
 Effort and time dedicated to
assignment
Lateness
 Subtract 10% of grade for each
class period the assignment is late
Total Points
SCORE
POINTS
10
10
-2 pts.
per
day
20
COMMENTS