How to Start an Art Journal (Even If You Can't Draw)

If you want to know how to start an art journal but you're sure you can't draw, this post is for you. This is the page you'll make today, and there isn't a single drawing on it.

For years I believed that art which wasn't realistic wasn't really art. I tried so hard to be a "proper" artist, painting landscapes in oil, and it made me miserable. Then I found art journaling and everything changed. Nobody was marking it. It didn't have to look like anything. It just had to be honest.

That's what I want for you, too.

What you need to start an art journal

Much less than you think:

• A journal with heavy paper. Look for "mixed media" or "watercolour" on the cover, so it can take glue and paint.

• A glue stick or pva glue (the liquid kind that kids use at school, milky when wet, clear when dry).

• Scrap paper: old book pages, envelopes, tickets, wrapping paper, magazine pages and cut outs

• Two or three acrylic paints, or a small watercolour set

• An old bank card or loyalty card for spreading paint.

• A pencil and a black pen.

That's it. You don't need a single thing more to begin.

How to start an art journal: your first page, step by step

1. Glue down some scraps

Tear up four or five pieces of paper and glue them across the page, overlapping. Leave some gaps. Just like that, the page isn't blank any more, and the scariest moment is over.

2. Scrape on a little paint

Put a blob of paint on the old card and drag it across the page. Let some of the paper show through. If you don't love the colour, add another one on top.

3. Make some marks

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Dip the end of your brush in paint and make dots. Scribble with the pencil. Print lines with the edge of the card. These marks are your handwriting in paint, and there's no wrong way to make them.

4. Add one focal point

Give the eye somewhere to rest: a circle traced round a jar lid, a cut-out shape, a photo, a flower from a magazine. One is enough, on one page.

5. Make a space and write a few words

On the other page make a little white space for your writing. It will help your writing stand out on a busy background. Apply a little bit of white paint with a brush or your finger. Once it's dry write the date, how you feel, or one line you want to remember. Your handwriting is part of the art, and nobody else needs to be able to read it.

6. Stop a little early

When you think "just one more thing", that's usually the moment to stop. Close the journal and come back tomorrow with fresh eyes.

When you're ready for the next page, and the one after that, Wanderlust 2027 will walk the whole year with you: a guided art journaling lesson every Friday, from me and 40 guest artists. Complete beginners are exactly who it was made for.

People often ask me whether they're good enough to join Wanderlust. I always give the same answer: Wanderlust isn't about being good. It's about turning up, week after week, and letting the pages teach you.

One of our Adventurers, Teri, told us she signed up "not knowing if I would be 'good enough' to make something beautiful." And then: "I discovered that I AM an Artist!"

Every lesson in Wanderlust 2027 is guided from the very first mark to the last, so there's never a blank-page moment.

Kasia x