our next creative journaling exercise is a self-portrait with a message.
start with a portrait of yourself in your journal. this can be a drawing or painting, or a collage, or a photograph of yourself. it does not need to be realistic, it’s a creative expression of who you are. add backgrounds, colour, collage, pretty papers, glitter paint, really express all of you and add anything you want to add, except words. no words in this part.
once the portrait feels complete, the message is created in a very specific way. can you find a book on a subject that speaks to you that you don’t mind cutting up? i know! it’s hard! (i found an old book about meditation and dreamwork that is too “beginner-y” for where i am right now, so i know i won’t read it again, but the subject still speaks to me.) once you’ve found your book, tear out a page or two to work with.
if cutting up a book is too much for you, you can use a magazine article. i really like the texture of book paper but a magazine will work too. find an article that really speaks to you. it is important that it be about something that speaks to you.
go through it and cut out every word or phrase that you like and place them on your self portrait wherever you feel intuitively called to place them. as you get going, you will find a rhythm with the words and you’ll just know where to put them and something really wonderful will emerge. this is a very intuitive way of working with words, when you are not consciously choosing which word to use when, but rather playing with words and phrases and arranging them to create new meanings. playing with words in this way opens up opportunities for new messages to come through.
i found a really soothing and timely message in mine and the process of making it was really enjoyable. i used mostly watercolours, with some pencil crayon, glitter paint and irridescent paint. i decided to use my watercolour moleskine for this (i really really love this journal, it’s very special), so it is very long and narrow. since it is so long, i scanned the 2 pages seperately:
top:
bottom:
and remember if you’re ever feeling creatively blocked and unsure of where to start with your creative journaling, start with the creativity meditation.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
wow this is spectacular!!!
This is AWESOME, ABC!! I’m putting together bits and pieces for a scrapbook called “All About Me”, and I would love to use something like this on the title page ~ would that be OK (I don’t want to step on toes or copyrights!)
I especially love the gold ‘ringlets’ in your hair ~ they are your fairy self!
This is fantastic! I love the idea of infusing your self portrait with messages. Great stuff, Andrea!
What a great idea! I really like your self portrait and words. Your cards are also adorable. I love my Moleskine sketch and watercolor books too. Thanks for sharing! :)
thanks bobbie.
do you mean you want to do the exercise and use it for your book? that would be awesome – i’m putting these out there so people will play along with me.
have a great day! andrea
thanks faerian! are you doing to do one? i’d love to see yours ;) andrea
thanks leah. i really enjoyed working on this one and the message was just exactly right for me.
thank you so much sharon. aren’t moleskines amazing. i don’t have a sketch one yet, i think i need one ;)