Back to school is fun for some, and dreaded by others. Explore these thoughts in a creative way using your art journal.
Many are on the cusp of returning to school and, no matter what grade is impending, feelings are ever present. These feelings can range from uneasiness to excitement. Exploring and experimenting with these feelings is a fun (or therapeutic) way of entering into the new school year.
Materials:
- Art journal
- Waxed paper
- Receipts from back to school shopping
- Tags from clothing
- Flat packages from supplies
- Filler paper
- Notepad paper
- Post-it notes
- Watercolor paint, multiple colors
- Sponge brush or paintbrush
- Small containers of water
- Heavy-duty glue sticks
- Ultra-fine tipped black sharpies
- Distress ink
Instructions:
- Open your art journal to the first blank page spread. Protect the other pages by using waxed paper underneath each page in the spread.
- Create a color wash on both sides of the page spread using several different colors. Don’t be afraid to make a mess, mix colors, and work using darker shades in areas that interest you.
- Allow the page spread to dry completely before moving on to the next step. Speed drying time through use of a hair dryer or heat gun. Once the page spread has dried, add distress ink to their edges.
- Tear up the filler paper into smaller pieces, and rub distress ink along their edges. Collage them into to the page spread, in addition to using the receipts, tags, and packaging. Build the layers up, but be sure to bring the glue stick right up to the edges of each piece before adding it to the page spread.
- Add the notepad paper and post-it notes as the last layer of the collage. Let the collage sit for about an hour (place the art journal under a heavy stack of books to help it dry flat if desired) before moving on to the next step.
- Write out thoughts, feelings, quotations, song lyrics, poetry, and whatever else that may come to mind about returning to school this fall. Write on the notepaper, the post-it notes, and on areas of the page spread that hasn’t been collaged. Don’t worry about using neat handwriting. This is more about expression than presentation.
Variations:
- Use a composition book, and create page spreads as well as text only entries about school.
- Parents: encourage your children at any age to create back to school pages in their journals, diaries, handmade books, and altered book projects.
- Use a small notepad to create mini-art journal pages about going back to school.
- Parents: Alter a calendar book from last year, rather than purchasing something new, and include a brief lesson about recycling in with the project.
However this project is approached, the emphasis should focus on thoughts and feelings surrounding going back to school. This exercise is meant to help students (and parents) deal with any anxiety that may come along, or to explore goals students may have for the coming year. As you can see, this project can be approached in numerous ways depending on the student’s own perspective.
The copyright of the article Art Journal About Back To School in Art Journals is owned by Jenn Greenleaf. Permission to republish Art Journal About Back To School in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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