Oh! A new book is always a gift, but one created by a friend is one wrapped in beautiful paper and dashed with glitter. Dawn Sokol has really outdone herself with this, her third art journal book -- created just for YOU -- by aiming not for young girls and boys, but YOU. Yes, YOU! I know if you're reading this, you're going to LOVE her new book, Art Doodle Love.
I'm so excited to share some pages from it! I first saw it while having coffee with my darling friend about a month ago, and couldn't wait to get inside it! I just adore her backgrounds and colors (which attracted me to her and her art years ago!), but what REALLY excited me was the prompts. Oh, yes....did I mention it's full of prompts?
The first chapter is all about loosening you up! When I approached the scribble page, I was like, "Oh, I can scribble!" But it's HARD, isn't it? To just let go and make random marks across the page? I think we all scribble to a point, and then move on. Having a spread telling me to scribble and fill the whole thing was actually hard, until I just started having fun! I got a few odd looks from the sounds of my paint pens and markers jumping around on the page, but I was grinning the whole time!
There are a bunch of fun activities inside to prime the pump, like the page of drips and drops; I saw a trapeze artist when I saw one, and just doodled her. This book is full of thick, creamy paper, by the way, so your pen just glides, and you don't have to worry about the paper buckling under your work!
The prompts are amazing....look at this one! This journal REALLY gets you thinking, reflecting, and being still enough to listen to yourself. While journaling on your own is full of discovery and revelations, working through one with prompts, and ones that engage and pull you from your comfort zone, can really unlock parts of yourself you haven't engaged in years.
When was the last time YOU thought about the past you? I think many of us start over in our lives, again and again, and shed those old identities. As I was working on this page, I found myself wanting to go back and talk to the old me, give her advice, help her through the battles to come. It brought me a measure of peace, knowing how far I've come. And the background already on the page made it easy to focus on the thoughts and emotions going through my head, since I could collage and doodle right away, rather than waiting for paint to dry.
I found that the colors and backgrounds helped me focus down what materials I would use, and locked me into a color palette that took a lot of guesswork out of journaling! Instead of being overwhelmed by all my choices, I could grab a small collection of supplies and match things to the backgrounds. They're great to work over, and have those messy details I adore!
Because of the quality of the paper, I wasn't afraid to collage, paint, and doodle all over the pages. My Copic markers didn't even bleed through that much....easily thicker and nicer paper than the Moleskine sketchbook I've been playing in! And this whole book is sewn, meaning it lays flat and the pages aren't coming out any time soon. It certainly will be hanging out with my other art journals, there to pull out whenever I need to reflect, warm up, or just play. I did a lot of this stuff while watching movies on the couch, using a smaller batch of supplies.
If like me you're past how-to books and are really yearning to use your journaling for self-discovery, then you can't find a better book to invest your money in. Reasonably priced, full of color and inspiration, and prompting you to really examine your life, Art Doodle Love is amazing and perfect for ya.
Dawn will be running a give-away on her blog starting February 8th, so make sure to head over there to enter! And don't forget to visit the others in the blog-hop for more pages, inspiration, and peeks inside!
Feb. 2: Pam Carriker, http://www.pamcarriker.com/blog/
Feb. 3: Samantha Kira Harding, http://www.journalgirl.com (you're here!)
Feb. 4: Aimee Dolich, http://artsyville.blogspot.com
Feb. 5: Jane Davenport, http://www.janedavenport.com
Feb. 6: Carla Sonheim, http://www.carlasonheim.com
Feb. 7: Tracie Lyn Huskamp, http://www.thereddoor-studio.blogspot.com
Feb. 8: Tammy Garcia, http://www.daisyyellow.squarespace.com
Feb. 9: Carissa Paige, http://www.carissapaige.blogspot.com
Feb. 10: Mindy Lacefield, http://www.timssally.com
Feb. 11: Dina Wakley, http://dinastamps.typepad.com/
Feb. 12: Tamara LaPorte, http://www.willowing.org/blog/
Feb. 13: Jill K. Berry, http://jillberrydesign.com/blog/