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Journal Fodder 365: Daily Doses of Inspiration for the Art Addict
Art Journal Adventures! Learn how to journal your exceptional story. Life is not always extraordinary in all its details, but it is the sum of those ordinary events that add up to extraordinary lives. The journal is no different. With Journal Fodder 365 , the Journal Fodder Junkies will lead you on a year-long adventure in drawing and writing, in painting and collage, and in the flotsam and jetsam of your daily experiences. You will uncover simple strategies to make the visual journal a part of your life and you'll discover new techniques for refining your personal narrative in an authentic and unique voice. Inside You'll Find: Let your journal be a living, breathing document of your life, a personally meaningful and relevant artifact.
144 pages, Paperback
First published July 26, 2012
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285 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
November 19, 2015
2.5 stars. There's a lot of information in this book; I think it might be best for someone just starting to art journal who is trying to figure out their own style and habits. What I liked about this book were some of the ideas for how to integrate an art journal into your life and not just work on it during "studio time" (which I have a tendency to do).
November 4, 2012
This book doesn’t really have 365 daily prompts; it actually provides 48- it’s divided into twelve monthly sections and each section has four prompts. There are a lot of art techniques in each chapter, though, so you could still consider it to have 365 ideas.
The authors expect the reader to do some deep journaling. Along with the more common subjects of dreams and personal history are ones like owning your shadow self. They recommend strongly against using standard imagery- like the ever popular woman with wings or a crown- and coming up with your own- use pictures of yourself and ephemera you’ve saved. They don’t want you just creating collages; they want the collages to be personally meaningful.
Unlike many art journal projects, they don’t advise that you have to own every art supply ever made to do the job. In fact, the basic list is very short- journal, colored pencils, glue stick, scissors, water colors and a few pens, pencils and markers. These simple supplies- and a few others recommended in each chapter- are used in numerous ways to create many different looks. Each chapter shows different techniques for writing, drawing, painting, collage and more. There is even a URL you can go to for extra technique tutorials online. There is a lot to the book.
The down side is that the techniques are fairly basic. They are geared to the beginner artist. This is not a bad thing- it’s great that there is a book that won’t intimidate the beginner. But a more seasoned artist may want to seek out a more advanced book.
The authors expect the reader to do some deep journaling. Along with the more common subjects of dreams and personal history are ones like owning your shadow self. They recommend strongly against using standard imagery- like the ever popular woman with wings or a crown- and coming up with your own- use pictures of yourself and ephemera you’ve saved. They don’t want you just creating collages; they want the collages to be personally meaningful.
Unlike many art journal projects, they don’t advise that you have to own every art supply ever made to do the job. In fact, the basic list is very short- journal, colored pencils, glue stick, scissors, water colors and a few pens, pencils and markers. These simple supplies- and a few others recommended in each chapter- are used in numerous ways to create many different looks. Each chapter shows different techniques for writing, drawing, painting, collage and more. There is even a URL you can go to for extra technique tutorials online. There is a lot to the book.
The down side is that the techniques are fairly basic. They are geared to the beginner artist. This is not a bad thing- it’s great that there is a book that won’t intimidate the beginner. But a more seasoned artist may want to seek out a more advanced book.
July 5, 2018
Great idea book
Love the ideas and refreshingly new techniques that are accessible to everyone, not just the artistically talented. I’m looking forward to trying this out very soon.
Love the ideas and refreshingly new techniques that are accessible to everyone, not just the artistically talented. I’m looking forward to trying this out very soon.
August 1, 2019
Rating it as a beginner; experienced visual journal artists wouldn't be as enamoured with it. Lots of simple-to-implement ideas if you find the blank page daunting. Good to have on the shelf as a reference book from which to draw when inspiration lacks, or to learn how to employ certain techniques.
October 30, 2021
Great direction for any artist
This book is filled with lots of information and direction. One of the best Art books I have read. I would recommend to all artists, new and seasoned.
This book is filled with lots of information and direction. One of the best Art books I have read. I would recommend to all artists, new and seasoned.
November 22, 2024
Interesting prompts and techniques. It has given me a few ideas. Overall it was good. Even though the artists weren't my style i can really appreciate their style and also their instruction for us to use this more as a springboard to find our own style.
Read
October 26, 2019WoW! This book was jam packed with techniques and inspiration. I can't wait to do some of the projects!
December 17, 2024
Awesome book. Excellent ideas. Read it again and again, but be sure to DO IT!
February 21, 2013
I really liked this book. I wasn't sure about it, and was happy when I saw it at the library, so I put it on reserve. I wasn't sure if this was a book I would refer to again. But...I want this for my shelves now because I don't want to give it back!
I have seen somewhere, someone mention that there were not 365 prompts, but I think that was taking using a narrow sense of "prompt", and the authors don't actually say there is 365 prompts but ideas, and because I have too much time on my hands clearly (!) I went through and roughly counted and there is that many ideas. But more than that, I think that there is more than enough here to occupy one for a year if they really want to dive into the book. There are so many directions presented, it is like one of those pick-a-path books (do they still have those??).
There was a lot I liked. The book is split into 12 sections covering aspects of your life in a broader sense, from your personal mythologies, to dealing with the unexpected, seeking solitude and then connection, dealing with fears and mistakes, dreams and awareness. I really liked the way it was set out. For each chapter there are four writing prompts and then different drawing and painting techniques and ideas for taking it further. There are also sections on observations and ideas for taking your journal out and about and extending your comfort zone.
I know that some of the techniques and ideas were a little basic, for instance one of the ideas was to use gel medium as an adhesive, but I think that makes it good for the absolute beginner. However, it is not the techniques that blew me away, although there were some things that I thought were incredibly clever and I am going to try. The best part for me was what they called "Anatomy of a Journal Spread", where the authors present finished spreads combining the different techniques and analysing what they did. I was very inspired by their finished pages and loved seeing ow they integrated techniques to help pages come together.
As opposed to creating works of fine art in a book the emphasis was very much on turning your life into art, the smaller details and recording those smaller details artfully. There is an emphasis on your personal journey, and I really like that.
There is also an emphasis on using supplies that are easily accessible and everyday sorts of items, like ball point pens. You are not going to have to spend a fortune at Dick Blick to try out their ideas. :)
Something that I completely geeked out about, and I haven't noticed before was the clever use of QR codes which takes you to extra tutorials. I loved that idea, and the clever use of technology.
If I was stretched to say what I didn't like I would say that some of the techniques and ideas were very basic, but I think taking that view disregards the genius of the book which is looking at the finished spreads as a whole and seeing new ideas for using different techniques. It is not about the individual techniques but there are so many layers that bring spreads together, like there are many layers of our lives, and so it is seeing the ways the techniques are put together that excited me.
For instance on its own I have wondered about the wax crayon/watercolour resist (I just didn't get it), but there is a spread that uses that technique as lettering fill and it looked amazing. I saw the benefits. I love their art style, the rawness, and stylised imagery, and how the finished pages were so reflective of them.
There are no "projects" as such, but it is just not that sort of book, and wouldn't work considering that the point of this book is to be about you making your own pages and being inspired to try new things, not copying what the authors did.
All in all, I think you could say I very highly recommend this gem.
I have seen somewhere, someone mention that there were not 365 prompts, but I think that was taking using a narrow sense of "prompt", and the authors don't actually say there is 365 prompts but ideas, and because I have too much time on my hands clearly (!) I went through and roughly counted and there is that many ideas. But more than that, I think that there is more than enough here to occupy one for a year if they really want to dive into the book. There are so many directions presented, it is like one of those pick-a-path books (do they still have those??).
There was a lot I liked. The book is split into 12 sections covering aspects of your life in a broader sense, from your personal mythologies, to dealing with the unexpected, seeking solitude and then connection, dealing with fears and mistakes, dreams and awareness. I really liked the way it was set out. For each chapter there are four writing prompts and then different drawing and painting techniques and ideas for taking it further. There are also sections on observations and ideas for taking your journal out and about and extending your comfort zone.
I know that some of the techniques and ideas were a little basic, for instance one of the ideas was to use gel medium as an adhesive, but I think that makes it good for the absolute beginner. However, it is not the techniques that blew me away, although there were some things that I thought were incredibly clever and I am going to try. The best part for me was what they called "Anatomy of a Journal Spread", where the authors present finished spreads combining the different techniques and analysing what they did. I was very inspired by their finished pages and loved seeing ow they integrated techniques to help pages come together.
As opposed to creating works of fine art in a book the emphasis was very much on turning your life into art, the smaller details and recording those smaller details artfully. There is an emphasis on your personal journey, and I really like that.
There is also an emphasis on using supplies that are easily accessible and everyday sorts of items, like ball point pens. You are not going to have to spend a fortune at Dick Blick to try out their ideas. :)
Something that I completely geeked out about, and I haven't noticed before was the clever use of QR codes which takes you to extra tutorials. I loved that idea, and the clever use of technology.
If I was stretched to say what I didn't like I would say that some of the techniques and ideas were very basic, but I think taking that view disregards the genius of the book which is looking at the finished spreads as a whole and seeing new ideas for using different techniques. It is not about the individual techniques but there are so many layers that bring spreads together, like there are many layers of our lives, and so it is seeing the ways the techniques are put together that excited me.
For instance on its own I have wondered about the wax crayon/watercolour resist (I just didn't get it), but there is a spread that uses that technique as lettering fill and it looked amazing. I saw the benefits. I love their art style, the rawness, and stylised imagery, and how the finished pages were so reflective of them.
There are no "projects" as such, but it is just not that sort of book, and wouldn't work considering that the point of this book is to be about you making your own pages and being inspired to try new things, not copying what the authors did.
All in all, I think you could say I very highly recommend this gem.
January 1, 2016
The book doesn't have 365 days of daily inspiration or "prompts" as the title suggests, but is broken down into 12 chapters with themes to help you open your journal and develop good journaling habits so you can work in your journal on a daily basis.
This book is more of visual art journaling style rather than a mixed media style of journaling. Though not a style of journaling I normally work in, it definitely is a book that has introduced me to a different way to journal. It's a worthy book to add to journaling arsenal.
This book is more of visual art journaling style rather than a mixed media style of journaling. Though not a style of journaling I normally work in, it definitely is a book that has introduced me to a different way to journal. It's a worthy book to add to journaling arsenal.
December 10, 2012
As person who has kept a visual journal for years, I found the art prompts rather basic. The most interesting part of this book for me were the writing prompts. If however, you are new to visual journaling, and that blank white page freaks you out, this would be a good book for you.
January 15, 2016
Thought Stimulating
I enjoyed this book. It gave me some topics and ideas to think about while providing some wonderful artwork to inspire me. I foresee myself utilizing this book in the upcoming year.
I enjoyed this book. It gave me some topics and ideas to think about while providing some wonderful artwork to inspire me. I foresee myself utilizing this book in the upcoming year.
January 5, 2016
was getting a bit overdosed on you-tubes for "art journals", this gives a different perspective calling them "visual journals", seems much more journal focused and less product intense. Glad I took time with it.
November 5, 2012
This book provides great prompts. Good for beginners or advanced art journalist. You can skip around in the book and not have to start with the first chapter.
August 20, 2013
A really good resource for anyone looking for art journaling prompts and ideas - both for writing and art.
March 6, 2014
really helped to inspire with my art journaling adventure!
January 11, 2015
Good. Not great. I really liked their first book, though.
July 3, 2015
The best art journal book I've seen! Inspirational.......gets the creative juices moving!
March 22, 2016
Brilliant!
October 6, 2016
Journal Fodder
It was a okay book. Repetitive. The first half of the book was better than next. We all like different things. It was not for me.
It was a okay book. Repetitive. The first half of the book was better than next. We all like different things. It was not for me.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews