The Confidence Boost You’ve Been Looking For

An Art Journal Warm-Up to Enhance Your Creativity

Finding a way to get a “quick win” will allow you to get in the creative zone faster.

This vintage journal is compact, which means I don’t have to deal with the intimidation of a large, blank canvas staring back at me. I have found that working on a small scale like this is a great way to warm up before diving into other bigger projects.

For this journal, I haven’t been setting a timer for myself, but I make the conscious effort to make quicker decisions. This combats my instinct to overthink my next steps. This intentional practice allows me to work more intuitively. The spreads in this journal usually take me 10 minutes or less and I use only a few supplies. I find that giving myself this victory before I start working on other things, is just the confidence boost that I need!

I kicked off today’s spread knowing I'd play around with red—a dominant, captivating color that always adds an energetic burst. Layering and texture play huge roles in my work, so today, I decided to juxtapose bold red with subtle white and stark black to create depth and intrigue. I started with red and added white gesso on top, not to cover up but to allow glimpses of the red underneath to peek through. This technique builds richness and complexity. For added texture, I pulled in a Gelli print scrap with machine stitching from my stash—already loving its grungy vibe, it seemed destined to highlight today’s piece. I opted for simple stitches and a snippet of text on a contrasting white background, elevating the visual interest of the spread. Working within the confines of a theme or a limited color palette, like today’s focus on red, pushes my creativity and often leads to unexpected and delightful results. It's all about experimenting and letting your creative instincts take the lead without overthinking the process.