Trying my hand at painting animals.
As a drawing and painting practice exercise, I customized my journal pages with forest animals and leaves!
I used calendar stamps, stamp inks, archival ink pens, gouache paints, and paintbrushes. I also used a pencil and eraser for my initial sketch.
NOTE: While the page layouts are similar to Bullet Journal (BuJo) setups you have seen online, I use this journal as a diary/memory keeper, not for productivity. The BuJo-inspired pages encourage me to make note of the good things in life, even on the worst days.
In case it's helpful, below are the main points covered in this post:
Calendar Overview Pages
Every now and then, I try to come up with original artwork to push myself and practice building my art skills. I figured this month's design was a good excuse to practice drawing and painting animals!
I painted the background with a mix of greens, yellows, and reds. I do not often color the background because it takes longer than I want to commit, but I am always happier when it is something other than white.
On these pages, I included a bird that may or may not be a Robin, a squirrel with unintentionally muscular arms, and a chipmunk that happens to look more like a squirrel. There are also acorns and leaves sprinkled on the pages.
The calendar overview is where I note important dates I want to document in my journal. For example, I will make a short note of something that happened on different days.
I also highlight the best and worst things to happen during the month. I primarily want to document positive things on the decorated pages, but I feel it is also important to document bad things, especially if it is a lesson learned.
Hobbies & Dogs' Pages
I attempted to recreate an original smiling fox drawing I did a few months ago. I also included a sleepy raccoon, sleepy skunk, and small mouse. Acorns and leaves connect these pages to the previous pages.
While many journal enthusiasts track their habits, I track my favorite hobbies as a reminder to dedicate time for fun. I also track things I want to do for my dogs to ensure their happiness and well-being.
The hobbies I track are:
art + crafts,
writing, and
gaming.
I also track the following for my dogs:
when they go for a joy ride (their favorite thing to do),
when they go for a long walk,
when I care for their coat with a brush, leave-in shampoo, or bath,
when they receive teeth care with brush chews or teeth brushing, and
when they get to relax with a picnic in the park.
I especially wanted to track my young dog's training progress. We will focus on mastering a few skills. I would love for her to become a Canine Good Citizen one day. Unfortunately, I am horrible with training. We have a long training road ahead of us.
I created another BINGO game. This is just a goofy activity to fill what would otherwise be negative space. It serves as a wish list of things I would like for the month.
Highlights and Mood Pages
On these pages, I included a sleepy rabbit and an owl perched on a branch. The leaves will be colored in throughout the month. Acorns and leaves connect these pages to the previous pages.
Every night, I write a line of text highlighting one good thing about the day on the highlights page (left). It forces me to think on the bright side, especially on the most challenging days when my depression hits hard.
I treat my mood tracker page (right) as a coloring page of sorts. Each night, I will color-in a part of an image or shape that represented my overall mood for that day.
What's Next?
Struggling to come up with a theme for your journal design? Why not challenge yourself to do something new?! You can count it as an artistic practice exercise.
Have you set up your journal design? Comment below to share what theme you went with and the materials you used.
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Thanks, and have a great day!
~Simply Jelly Jam
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