What Supplies Do I Need For Visual Journaling As A Beginner?

2025-08-24 14:57:27 265

4 Answers

Penny
Penny
2025-08-28 09:18:16
When I started, I wanted a low-fuss kit that fits into real life. My essentials are a hardcover A5 mixed-media notebook, a mechanical pencil, a soft eraser, and a black fineliner for quick outlines. I keep a 12-colour watercolour pan set and a water brush for washes—no palettes needed. A glue stick and a small roll of washi tape make adding photos or ticket stubs painless. For texture and tone I use a cheap set of coloured pencils and an adhesive-backed pocket for receipts and ephemera. I store everything in a zipper pouch so I can grab it when I have 10–20 minutes between errands. The trick I learned is to pick one small technique to practise each week—say, colour blocking or lettering—so the kit stays useful without becoming intimidating.
Aiden
Aiden
2025-08-28 15:04:00
Sometimes I approach visual journaling with the same energy I use when reading comics or playing story-driven games: planning panels, experimenting with speech bubbles, and testing mood with colour. For that vibe I carry a slightly different mix. First, a smooth heavyweight paper sketchbook (good for ink and markers), a few fineliners in various widths, and a brush pen for expressive strokes. I like alcohol markers for vibrant fills, but if those aren’t in the budget, water-based markers or a small gouache set will do. A white gel pen is priceless for highlights and comic-style word bubbles. Collage-wise, magazines, patterned paper, and archival tape are clutch.

I also recommend learning a bit about layout: use a light pencil grid or a cheap ruler to try comic-style compositions. If you love 'Scott Pilgrim' or other graphic novels, copy a panel or two to study pacing and line weight. I sometimes pair my analogue pages with quick digital thumbnails on an app like Procreate to test colours before committing. That hybrid method saved me from ruining a page and taught me more about composition than hours of aimless doodling.
Zion
Zion
2025-08-29 07:23:21
Lately I favour a more tactile, quiet approach, so my beginner list is pared down: a small sketchbook with good paper, a soft pencil, a kneaded eraser, one quality black pen, and a tiny watercolour travel set. Size matters to me—an A6 or A5 book feels less intimidating than a huge one. I also keep a glue stick and a folding pair of scissors for small collages, plus a couple of scraps of patterned paper and some washi tape.

If you’re curious about longevity, look for acid-free paper or archival options; a fixative spray helps if you use charcoal. Start with daily five-minute pages to build the habit; the supplies are just tools to capture small moments, and that’s what keeps me coming back.
Finn
Finn
2025-08-30 06:08:37
I still get a little giddy putting a fresh journal on my desk — it's like opening a tiny world. For a beginner, start simple: a sturdy sketchbook (mixed-media paper is my go-to), a couple of pencils (HB and 2B), a decent eraser, and a sharpener. Add a black fineliner (0.3 or 0.5), a set of colored pencils, and a small watercolour set with a water brush. These basics let you try drawing, lettering, colour washes, and quick collages without feeling overwhelmed.

Once you play around, expand with a few extras: washi tape, glue stick, scissors, a ruler, and some scrap paper or magazine clippings for collage. If you want bolder marks, grab a brush pen or a cheap marker set; for texture, a charcoal stick or blending stump is fun. I like keeping a small pouch with my portable items so I can sketch in cafés or on the bus. Oh, and don't stress brands — 'Strathmore' or 'Canson' are reliable, but student-grade supplies work fine while you explore. And if you need sparks, try prompts from 'Wreck This Journal' or watch short process videos; they helped me loosen up more than expensive gear ever did.
View All Answers
Scan code to download App

Related Books

Things You Need
Things You Need
The things we want are so very rarely the things we need. Clifton Heights, a modest Adirondack town, offers many unique attractions. Arcane Delights sells both paperbacks and hard-to-find limited editions. The Skylark Diner serves the best home-cooked meals around, with friendly service and a smile. Every August, Mr. Jingo’s County Fair visits, to the delight of children and adults. In essence, Clifton Heights is the quintessential small American town. Everyone knows everyone else, and everyone is treated like family. It is quiet, simple, and peaceful. But shadows linger here. Flitting in dark corners, from the corner of the eye. If you walk down Main Street after dark, the slight scrape of shoes on asphalt whispers you're not alone, but when you look over your shoulder, no one is there. The moon shines high and bright in the night sky, but instead of throwing light, it only seems to make the shadows lengthen. Children disappear. Teens run away. Hunters get lost in the woods with frightening regularity. Husbands go mad, and wives vanish in the dead of night. And still, when the sun rises in the morning, you are greeted by townspeople with warm waves and friendly smiles, and the shivers pass as everything seems fresh and new... Until night falls once more. Handy's Pawn and Thrift sits several blocks down from Arcane Delights. Like any thrift store, its wares range from the mundane to the bizarre. By daylight, it seems just another slice of small town Americana. But in its window hangs a sign which reads: We Have Things You Need. And when a lonely traveling salesman comes looking for something he desperately wants, after normal visiting hours, after night has fallen, he will face a harsh truth among the shelves of Handy’s Pawn and Thrift: the things we want are rarely the things we need. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing
10
19 Chapters
All I Ever Need
All I Ever Need
Harris Black's sister died, which has sent his world in a spiral gloom. Having to juggle the loss of his closest family member, and high school, Harris struggles to find the light in his life. He just wants to run away with his girlfriend, Sarah, to Stonefall where they can live off their musical dreams. While Harris struggles with the darkness of grief, Sarah White deals with her own issues. Her dad is a drunk, and hardly pays attention to her, and she faces bullies at school because of what she wears. As they navigate their lives together, willing to work through their own pain to create something wonderful, secrets come out, and a loss larger than Harris's sister shakes the lives of these two teens.
8
6 Chapters
I NEED YOU, ELENA
I NEED YOU, ELENA
What happens when you find yourself addicted to your professor, willing to do whatever it takes to do just have her, not caring she is married, but then she turns out to be your aunt, meaning it's a taboo. Can you fight it or you are just going to give in?
Not enough ratings
130 Chapters
The Baby's Mother Need Love
The Baby's Mother Need Love
Prior to that day, she had never been so hopeless in her life. In any case, when she was in the most humiliating circumstance, the nonsensical man she met ended up being the legend of M city. He was rich, amazing, attractive, and he had a unique association with her… She was orchestrated to go on a prearranged meet-up. The two kids cried and called her: "Daddy beats us, help!" She hurried over in sweat, while the man was remunerating those two kids for their incredible acting abilities with huge drumsticks ... She indignantly said, "Alex, my prearranged meet-up has been obliterated by you!" The man said in a soft tone, "I'm the dad of the kid. Assuming you need to get hitched, shouldn't I be the best option?"
8.2
450 Chapters
The Devil You Need
The Devil You Need
She was set up for murder, betrayed by her ex and her best friend... Framed, broken, and left to rot in a hospital bed. Sally had no one left… Except him. Dante 'Doom' Castillo. He was feared by the underworld, worshipped by the mafia, he was her father’s brother, her forbidden obsession. The one man who swore to protect her but not out of love, he wanted something she never even knew she had. A key. To a secret so dangerous, it shattered everything she thought she knew about her life. The fake murder, the betrayal, the inheritance, and the seduction was all a carefully orchestrated game designed to make her run straight into his arms and she did but Sally was done being played, because now she knows what he’s hiding. What he became the moment she shattered the one thing he needed most... Now he’s unstoppable and unkillable. And the worst part? She still wants him.
Not enough ratings
10 Chapters
Not the Wedding I Need
Not the Wedding I Need
My fiancé wants to marry me in a pizzeria. At the same time, he promises to give his true love the rest of his life on a luxurious cruise. Our wedding is only 48 hours away, but I don't want him anymore.
8 Chapters

Related Questions

How Long Should I Spend On Visual Journaling Each Day?

4 Answers2025-08-24 04:24:53
Some days I treat visual journaling like a coffee break for my brain: short, sweet, and totally enough to reset me. I aim for 10–20 minutes most mornings or evenings—long enough to sketch an idea, glue a photo, or scribble a color swatch and a few notes about why it caught my eye. Consistency matters more than stretch-goals, so those short daily sessions build a visual vocabulary over weeks without feeling oppressive. Other times, usually once a week, I block 60–90 minutes for a deep-dive session where I experiment, tear things up, and paste new ephemera. That mix—daily mini-entries plus a longer, playful session—keeps me practicing skills while still allowing room for exploration. If I’m traveling or particularly inspired, I’ll go longer; if life’s hectic, a five-minute thumbnail sketch still keeps the habit alive. My practical tip: set a tiny timer and promise yourself just one page; habit does the heavy lifting after that.

How Can Visual Journaling Boost My Creative Thinking?

4 Answers2025-08-24 09:07:30
My sketchbook is basically a living thing at this point — a messy, tea-stained companion that I take everywhere. When I flip through it, I don’t just see drawings; I see connections forming between ideas I didn’t know I had. Visual journaling forces me to slow down and notice: the particular curve of a streetlamp, the weird shape my soup foam made this morning, a color combo on a stranger’s jacket. Those little observations bubble into weird mash-ups later — a character with a lamp-shaped hat, a scene that borrows that jacket color for mood. It’s like free associative thinking, but in pictures. I also love how it lowers the stakes. Scribbling sloppy thumbnails or ripping pages to glue over them gives permission to fail fast. Over weeks, patterns emerge: recurring symbols, favorite palettes, or a new way I like to frame a scene. Practically, I do timed doodles, thumbnail comics, collage strips, and palette swatches; sometimes I glue in ticket stubs or scribbled lines of a song lyric. That habit turned my creativity from a rare, dramatic event into something I can tend to daily — and that’s where the real boost comes from, slow and steady curiosity leading to richer ideas.

Which Artists Use Visual Journaling For Their Daily Practice?

4 Answers2025-08-24 16:14:07
There’s something electric about flipping through someone’s sketchbook — it feels like peeking at their secret studio. For me, a few names always pop up when I think about daily visual journaling: Leonardo da Vinci’s notebooks (those studies are practically the OG daily sketches), Frida Kahlo’s diary collected in 'The Diary of Frida Kahlo' where she mixed words, images, and private notes, and modern sketchbook legends like Kim Jung Gi whose massive daily drawings still make my jaw drop. I also look to folks who turned the practice into a movement: Danny Gregory’s 'Everyday Matters' community encouraged ordinary people to sketch daily, Austin Kleon writes about showing your work in 'Steal Like an Artist', and Keri Smith’s playful prompts in 'Wreck This Journal' get people drawing without fuss. On the more craft-driven side, animators and illustrators at Studio Ghibli and independent artists like Shaun Tan and Jean-Michel Basquiat kept constant journals of thumbnails, ideas, and experiments. I keep a little notebook in my bag and try a page a day — nothing grand, just lines and coffee stains — and those tiny rituals really add up.

How Can I Turn Visual Journaling Into A Sellable Art Product?

4 Answers2025-08-24 03:39:48
I get giddy thinking about this — visual journaling is such a raw, emotional thing and that exactly what people will pay for if you package it right. First, I’d curate. I don’t try to sell 200 random pages; I pick 12–20 pages that feel like a mini-collection: a mood, a color story, a theme (travel, grief, joy). Scan or photograph them at high resolution (300–600 dpi), clean up dust spots, and keep an ICC profile so colors stay true. From there I make multiple product formats: limited-run signed prints, a small softcover zine, sticker sheets of repeating elements, and a printable digital pack for planners. Offer a deluxe box with an original page, a numbered certificate, and a little process zine that shows thumbnails and thought notes. Then present beautifully: mockups for web, short process reels for social, clear shipping/packaging photos (kraft envelopes, wax seal, eco-fill). Price transparently: show the hours, materials, and scarcity. Finally, build a tiny funnel — an email list, an Instagram highlight with testimonials, and a simple FAQ about prints vs originals. I love celebrating each sold piece with a handwritten note; it turns a purchase into a fan who’ll come back.

How Does Visual Journaling Support Mental Health Therapy?

4 Answers2025-08-24 02:04:10
My sketchbook has become the thing I wind up carrying more often than my phone, and honestly that shift tells you a lot about how visual journaling heals. I use messy ink lines, color washes, and tiny sticky notes to map out feelings that were too stubborn for words. When I’m anxious I’ll draw the same looping pattern until the rhythm slows my breathing, and when I’m elated I’ll let neon colors overtake the page—both end up as clues to what my nervous system is doing. Therapeutically, this works because the images sit between memory and feeling. A drawing anchors an emotion outside my head so I can look at it without being swallowed. In sessions I bring pages to show patterns over weeks—repeating shapes, color shifts, or symbols that point to triggers. That externalization makes reframing easier: instead of arguing with a thought, I collage it, alter it, or draw over it. I've even kept a small visual mood map for months and been floored by how a particular palette predicted a rough patch. If you’re curious, try starting with five minutes of scribble every night: it’s low-pressure, and weirdly reliable at making sense of messes inside me.

Where Can I Find Visual Journaling Prompts For Self-Discovery?

4 Answers2025-08-24 13:02:43
If you're hunting for visual journaling prompts for self-discovery, start where I always do: the places people actually share their messy, beautiful work. Instagram and Pinterest are goldmines—search hashtags like #visualjournaling, #artjournal, or #journalingprompts and you'll find themed prompt challenges, weekly reels, and full-on carousel guides that spark ideas. I personally save posts to a collection so I can dip into them when I'm stuck. Beyond social media, I love digging into pocket-sized books and prompt decks. 'Wreck This Journal' is playful and disruptive, while 'Start Where You Are' has gentle watercolor prompts that coax out reflections. Etsy sellers and independent zine-makers also sell printable prompt packs and tiny prompt-card decks you can shuffle like tarot. If you want structure, try a few places that mix teaching with prompts: Skillshare and YouTube creators often pair short lessons with 30-day prompt series, and Reddit communities like r/Journaling or r/ArtPrompts post daily ideas. For something deeper, look into local art-therapy classes or community workshops—real-time feedback from others has helped me unstick more than any list ever could.

Can Visual Journaling Improve My Drawing Skills Quickly?

4 Answers2025-08-24 08:08:41
A pocket sketchbook changed my practice more than any expensive class did. I started carrying one because I got tired of waiting for the 'right' time to draw, and that tiny ritual—five minutes on a coffee cup, ten minutes copying a shop sign—compounded into visible improvement in a few weeks. Visual journaling pushes you to observe and record; that repetition trains your eye for proportion, light, and gesture without the pressure of producing a finished piece. I treat most entries like micro-experiments: one day is all about silhouettes, another is texture studies from grocery receipts, another is color tests with leftover markers. Mixing quick thumbnails, short notes (what I felt drawing it, what was tricky), and clipped photos builds a feedback loop. If you flip back after a month you see patterns of weakness and surprises of growth, which is way more motivating than a single critique. If you want speed, set constraints—three-minute gestures, five-value studies—and do them daily. It’s not magic, but it’s the fastest, least painful way I know to get better at drawing while still having fun.

What Books Teach Visual Journaling Techniques For Beginners?

4 Answers2025-08-24 07:59:50
My sketchbook is basically my brain on paper, so when I looked for books to teach visual journaling as a beginner I wanted something warm, practical, and full of prompts. Two books that totally hooked me were 'Art Before Breakfast' and 'The Creative License' by Danny Gregory — the first gives tiny daily exercises (perfect for busy days) and the second is like a pep talk + practical tips on making art regularly. I used them to carve out fifteen-minute sketch sessions that actually stuck. For technique and play, I turned to 'The Sketchbook Challenge' by Sue Bleiweiss for project ideas and layouts, and 'The Creative Journal' by Lucia Capacchione for exercises that mix drawing with emotional exploration. If you want to improve basic drawing confidence, 'Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain' by Betty Edwards is a game-changer: it helped me see shapes instead of overthinking lines. I also keep 'Journal Sparks' by Emily K. Neuburger around for mixed-media prompts and pairing words with images. My tiny ritual now is tea, a 5x8 notebook, a limited palette, and one prompt. If you’re just starting, pick one resource and do a week of tiny experiments — that low pressure makes it fun instead of intimidating.
Explore and read good novels for free
Free access to a vast number of good novels on GoodNovel app. Download the books you like and read anywhere & anytime.
Read books for free on the app
SCAN CODE TO READ ON APP
DMCA.com Protection Status