So you think you want to art or visual journal? Wondering where to start?

Here's a handy list of some materials to get you on your way.

#1. A good journal. The good people of the artfire community make some great journals and sketchbooks. Head over here to check them out. Size and paper are up to you. I like a smaller journal- 100 or so pages and a medium weight paper, about 90lb.

#2. Some decent pencils. Many brands put out decent pencils in a range of hardness. I'd suggest HB, 2B, 4B and 6B. Brand doesn't matter but try a variety before you settle on just one. General makes some affordable pencils. I like Palomino. Get some erasers and a good pencil sharpener to go along with them.

#3.  A black pen. Roller ball, felt tip, dip pen, etc. Pick a pen and try it out. the important thing is that you like it. I'll go ahead and suggest Pitt pens and Rapidographs. While pricey they last well and put down substantial black lines. If your going to work on plain paper treat yourself to the rapidograph. Rapidograph pens need smooth paper and plug up if used on weird materials. Great for sketching and writing not always the best for art journals.

#4.Brushes. #6 and #8 rounds I like mine to be for use with acrylic paints, they have the best spring and work well with most media I use in my journal. A 1/4 in and 1/2in flat again mine are for acrylic paints. A #3 liner brush or larger. A few bristle brushes in a variety of sizes and shapes. Buy a cheap pack of them.

#5 Gesso. I could wax philosophical about gesso all day, but I'll refrain. I use liquatex basics brand.It covers well enough and is cheap enough that I don't feel bad using it up. I use the basic white but I also have clear and I'm planing on trying the black the next trip I make to the art supply store.

#6 Glue. Plain old white PVA, it dries clear, goes on easily and can be used in a variety of techniques. Also you can try some of the other methods to glue stuff to your pages. I'm a fan of the Beacon's 3in 1 Advanced Craft Glue, it dries fast, doesn't wrinkle the paper and when I get bored I can sniff it. (Just kidding i love my brain cells, sniffing glue is a BAD idea.) I don't like glue sticks becuase after awhile they can give up their hold. Also I don't like the roll on dry glues. I had a very bad experience with a major brand name roll on glue that gave up it's hold in a book project. Luckily it was an experimental book and I still had it in my possession but that was a valuable lesson- use a known glue in places where you need it.

#7 Acrylic Paint. I like liquatex and  Grumbacher. Buy one of those 6 color sets as well as a white and black. That's it, all you'll need. No need for 700 colors or the latest special thingie. Just 6 basic colors white and black. And for gods sake don't buy apple barrel or the craft paint in the squeeze bottles. I know I know- 300 colors at 75 cents each. STOP. Step away from the pretty pretty display. PUT IT DOWN and listen. Those paints fade, peel and stick together. The set of 6 liquatex (about $10) will last you longer, never fade and thought they might stick together your pages will never fall off the paper. For your money I'd rather see you buy the set of 12 student grade Reeves paints. Made by Grumbacher they might be lower quality and might skimp on pigments but in the long run you'll be better off. Trust me on this one. Stay away from the apple barrel and other craft acrylics

That's the basics. In addition to those, look further for more stuff…

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nanojoumo- beauty
Originally uploaded by lessherger

The prompt this week was beauty.All the lines in this are made of the word beauty. I layered the words over and over to get the shades. Color was added with colored ink pens.I used red, black, green and blue ink.

I wished I'd picked a page with no oclor on it, but I wanted to fill this one.

nanojoumo- inspire
Originally uploaded by lessherger.

I had to think to myself what inspires me, then I had to think what doesn’t? This is my way of thinking about that.

I sketched out the globe behind the figure first and then sketched in the image of the face, uplifted and with a smile. The next time I decide I want to draw a face on the fold punch me in the throat.

I used my ink brush (fine koi water brush filled with india ink) and inked in the face, body and around the world. I used watercolors to add color to the world and deliberately left the face black and white. I colored in the "shirt area" with watercolor pencil. Using a brush I filled in the black background with india ink and a brush. I spritzed the shirt area with water to allow the ink to run down it.

I hit all that with my drier and dried it out. I then used my gelly roll pen to add some fine line doodles and swirls. I used a brush with liquatex silver ink to add more depth and then added some white acrylic to add more swirls and doodles.

You can’t see how awesome and neato the silver ink is in the pictures. Also the curve in the face distorts the face more than it is in reality and makes the whole thing look kinda weird in the photo. I’m not overly happy with it as a finished piece, but I tried to make this a little less complex than the last few images I did.

This one is short and pretty neat and by a neat artist on Vimeo. Love this person's work.

Sketchbook from rodrigo moreira on Vimeo.

8 days, 3700 miles
Originally uploaded by mattink

This is a fun series of drawings, head to flickr to look at the larger size.

Forgive me I have just discovered vimeo. Damn it. I didn’t need another time sink. So friends, I share it with you too. I think if I share it’s not wasting my time. This is a very fast and speedy video of art journaling. It looks less journaling to me than creating works of art but I say potato and someone write potatoe. MEH!

Tendedero…
Originally uploaded by monicatlink ♪♫

I like the layers in this image. check it out on flickr full size.