Is there something that you have always wanted, but never thought you could afford or thought it was worth buying for yourself? Are you the type who has a hard time figuring out what you want when people ask you for a Christmas or birthday list? Do you have a hard time buying things for yourself when it’s just on a whim or an impulse?
Don’t worry; you are not alone in these feelings. They are actually very common. This art journal prompt is meant to help lead you toward making these wishes come to fruition one way or another.
Materials:
- Art journal
- Heavy-duty glue stick
- Black ultra-fine sharpie
- Magazine pictures of some of your favorite things
- Pictures from flyers and catalogs of your favorite things
- Scissors
- Watercolor paint
- Paintbrushes
- Small containers of water
Instructions:
- Open your art journal to the first blank page spread. Think about what you want to put into your wish list, and find appropriate pictures in magazines, flyers, and catalogs.
- Create a color wash mirroring how you feel about the wish list you are about to create. For example, do you have an energized feeling about this wish list? If so, choose vibrant colors. Do you have a mellow mood about this wish list? If so, choose muted or neutral colors. Allow this page spread to dry completely before moving on to the next step.
- Glue down the pictures cut from the magazines, flyers, and catalogs in either a random, layered fashion or in a structured pattern.
- Write down what your wish list is using the black ultra-fine sharpie. Use very neat handwriting, very messy handwriting, small writing, big writing, or whatever strikes you as interesting. Add some additional thoughts, as well as doodles and pictures along the edges of the pictures and next to the list.
Variations:
- Rather than using pictures from magazines, flyers, and catalogs consider printing out more specific pictures from the Internet. Consider adding the descriptions provided by the website.
- Use glitter gel pens, rather than the ultra-fine black sharpie. Try using a different color for each item on your list.
- Instead of doing a color wash for the background of this page spread, create a soft and muted picture depicting one or more aspects of the items on your wish list. For example, if the majority of your wish list consists hiking or camping gear than paint a picture of a nature scene.
- Create the page spread as advised above, and then further embellish it with distress ink, glitter glue, white gel pens, stickers, brads, eyelets, and anything else that might interest you.
You may want to work on this art journal prompt with a friend or family member. That way, your inner critic will not prevent you from writing things you really do want to have in your wish list. They will also serve as a great sounding board for finding ways to make some of these wishes come true, or understand the reasons why they could not possibly come true.
