My face! A page from my art journal

Hello, stranger! 
I hope you're having a wonderful day. 

Today I wanted to talk (or write, actually...ha!) about art journaling and how it can help you overcome your fears. 

One big fear of mine, and of a lot of other artists, I think, is that of messing up and, especially, of messing up a perfect sheet of nice paper or, even worse, a new expensive journal!! Eeek! 

There's this great mini comic by one of my favorite artists, Megan Rosalarian Gedris (if you don't know her work, check her out!), where she writes about why she has "1,000,000" sketchbooks. Its this fear of messing up, that "ruining" the first page is equivalent to "ruining" the whole book. This was a serious hang up of mine for a long time. I've got tons of old sketchbooks that would have only a couple of doodles in them, then I'd move on the the next. Even worse was my habit of hoarding the really nice sketchbooks, which were usually gifts, and never using them. At my parents house I've got a small stack, one black silk one with pretty kanji letters, this one really rad Harry Potter one that was a birthday gift, a Beatles Yellow Submarine one, and a few others. That's one of the big appeals of the basic black sketchbook for me, now. It doesn't set you up for high expectations. 

Here's a link to that excellent comic, btw!

Ever since I can remember, I've always skipped the first page or two in a new sketchbook. I'd figure I'd go back to it when I got "better." The trouble was, I never felt good enough, so those first few pages would always stay blank- that's a serious waste of paper! I realized that a drawing, even an ugly one, isn't a waste of paper or supplies. The real waste is the page that goes unused. 

There are two people who helped me finally come to this realization, and got me to finally start with that first page and to not care or be too careful. 

The first was my dad, who is also an artist (I keep telling him he needs a website or blog but he's old school). He'd always give me grief about leaving pages blank or getting upset when an accident "ruined" a page. He got me into art journaling, which lead me to feel more comfortable experimenting with styles and mediums and to celebrating the imperfectness of my art and the beauty of mistakes. His art journal is just amazing, and one of the things that makes it so is his ability to be completely comfortable and free while creating. 

A quick sketch of Katherine Torrini at the Journal Jam

I also recently attended an event called "Journal Jam" at Jerry's Artarama in Austin that was hosted by this very neat lady, Katherine Torrini who runs creativelifespark.com, and boy oh boy did that get me going! On the cover of one of her big journals she had written "waste more paper," which, to me, the idea of wastefulness has always been this anxiety and deterrent, so attending her class was very inspiring. I've never been one for prompts, but she came up with some really helpful ones, like writing yourself a permission slip to do all those things you fear, like wasting paper, making messes, making mistakes, etc. She also had us draw our own inner critics, which turned out to be very therapeutic. If you're new to art journaling, she has some online classes on the subject as well which look like they could be very inspiring and helpful. 

Permission Slip prompt

Inner critic prompt

Anyways, she, and the other people attending the event, shared their art journaling fears and an overwhelmingly large percentage of them cited the fear of wasting paper/supplies, and of making mistakes, as their number one fear. And her suggestion? Just go crazy on your first page. Write the words "this is an ugly page" or just doodle like a mad person, just to get over that fear. And you know what? It works!






So here is my first page in my new journal. This is an expensive watercolor sketchbook that I had been saving for about two years. I never even took it out of the plastic! What's funny is that I didn't even buy it. It came free with a watercolor set I ordered from Daniel Smith. Then I made the mistake of looking up the regular price! Oops! 
So I had finished with my second art journal and was a bit low on funds and was complaining to my dad about it and he reminded me about this sketchbook. I was hesitant but then I worked up the courage and just said "F-it!" and ripped open the plastic and, without even thinking, just started going at it with random splashes and streaks of watercolor. I gotta tell you, it was a liberating experience!

Here's the first page of my third art journal

I just went nuts and then when it dried I started drawing myself in pen & ink, without doing a pre-sketch in pencil because I was feeling like a madwoman. And it felt amazing! No fear, just pure creative joy in its most unrefined, half hazard state. It felt wonderful. 

My messy desk & favorite supplies

So I'd like to offer you a suggestion, if you're an artist or a dabbler, or any other creative type: Just go for it. Don't fear the blank page or blank canvas or blank word document or blank slab of clay or whatever it is. Just go for it. There is a time for technical precision, and for rulers and erasers and for measuring out your life with coffee spoons (yes, T.S. Eliot!), but there is also a time for play and spontaneity. My art journal does that for me. Working in it helped me remember the importance of play and of joy, of childish abandon. So, go for it, guys! Art, the action of creation, is one of the greatest sources of true happiness and positive emotion out there, even more so than love, I'd argue, because it comes completely from within and is all about the self. 

Hello!!

Alrighty, well here is the first post in my art blog! How exciting!
I've been wanting to start a blog for ages but I've always put it off. I almost put it off again today but I kicked myself in the butt, cracked open my laptop, and started typing!

So, here is a little bit about me:

My name is Ashley Robin F. and I love art. I'm an addict, honestly. Art supplies, art books, and my own art journals litter nearly every surface in my office/studio and library (and kitchen table, and bedside table, and- well, you get the picture). My greatest passions include: drawing, painting (acrylic, oil, and especially watercolor), art journaling, collage, reading (graphic novels and fiction, mostly), and writing short stories, personal essays, poems and comics. I live just outside of Austin with my boyfriend, two dogs, and two cats!

Severus, my pooch!

Me & my guys at a rest stop!

Art journaling has become so especially essential for me these last two months. I recently started a grad program, MA in Literature, and nearly lost my mind. I didn't have time to create big paintings or write comics or any of the other things that keep me sane. Art journaling has been my lifesaver in the vast ocean of Shakespeare and deconstruction criticism and twenty-page essays and all sorts of other things that I thought I wanted to partake in but apparently I misjudged myself! Anyways, basically, having a creative outlet that I could indulge in for maybe two hours every other day not only kept me from going all Oedipus on my own eyes, but it also helped me realize just what I really want from my life. I want to be happy every day, and art is essential to that. 

Recent journal pages!

In one of my next posts I want to give you a special peek into my art journals, hopefully via a video.

Until then, stay happy and creative!


Ashley Robin