Art Journal About Current Events

There is Breaking News Surrounding Us Daily! Create Art With It!

Apr 25, 2008 Jenn Greenleaf

Keeping track of current events can be tedious. This art journal prompt is an attempt to make news a bit more interesting.

Even though a lot of people would rather hide from the news, it is still very much a part of everyone’s reality. Rather than hiding from current events, try making them a bit more interesting (or less dismal) by turning them into art.

For this mixed-media art journal prompt, you will need the following materials:

  • Art journal
  • Waxed paper
  • Acrylic or watercolor paint
  • Paint or sponge brushes
  • Small containers of water
  • Heavy-duty glue stick
  • Scissors
  • Straight edge ruler
  • Magazines containing current events
  • Newspapers
  • Printouts from news websites
  • Black ultra-fine sharpie
  • Black construction paper
  • White milk gel pen

Follow these simple instructions to complete this mixed-media art journal prompt:

  1. Open your art journal to the first blank page spread and place a piece of waxed paper beneath each page to protect the rest in your book.
  2. Create a brown or a gray (or a swirling or blotchy combination of the two) color wash on both sides of the page spread using acrylic or watercolor paint. Allow the page spread to dry completely. Speed drying time through use of a heat gun or hair dryer.
  3. While the paint is drying, flip through the current event materials gathered. Cut out every article and picture that is interesting to you (or that you feel would be more interesting “arted” up.).
  4. Using the black construction paper and a straight edge ruler, cut mattes out about a half-inch larger than each of the clippings you just cut. Affix each clipping to the black matte using the heavy-duty glue stick.
  5. Create a layered collage on the painted page spread using the heavy-duty glue stick. This collage can mirror a newspaper set up or a random design of your choosing.
  6. With white milk-gel pen, write thoughts on the black matte borders for each clip you cut out. These can be quotes that stand out to you in an article, your opposition to the article, what thoughts are evoked when viewing a photograph, your agreement with an opinion, and so on.
  7. Take out the black ultra-fine sharpie and, on the painted areas of the page spread write out why you chose to cut out each clipping, further thoughts about the clippings, and so on. You can also create simple drawings, doodles, and things like that.

Further ideas for page alteration:

  • Add swirls of glitter glue in various colors to give the page spread some pop and movement.
  • Mask out sections of the newspaper clippings or photographs using gesso or thinned out white acrylic paint.
  • Rubber stamp using alpha-letters to create bold statements, rather than handwriting (or in addition to handwriting).

Have fun with this. Do not censor your thoughts or reactions to any of the news being portrayed on the page spread. Continue to repeat this art journal prompt until you have conveyed your thoughts completely about as many current events as possible.

The copyright of the article Art Journal About Current Events in Mixed Media Arts is owned by Jenn Greenleaf. Permission to republish Art Journal About Current Events in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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Apr 25, 2008 9:41 AM
Jenn Greenleaf :
If you have completed this art journal prompt, or have plans to work on this art journal prompt listed in your blog, feel free to post a link to your blog here. I'm interested in seeing your work or reading about your plans to do so!
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