Raw Art Journaling [Paperback]

Quinn McDonald (Author), Tonia Davenport (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 20, 2011

Meaning in life is made, not found.

In a raw-art journal, you don't need to know how to draw; you don't need to know how to write well. You don't need worry about messing up techniques you've never attempted before inside your raw-art journal. You just need to be you because raw art is you and it thrives on creative play, on experimentation and even on making mistakes.

Raw Art Journaling will teach you how to embrace your art, confront negative self-talk (a.k.a., your gremlin) and make meaning with your words and with your art. Inside Raw Art Journaling you'll discover how to:

• Write meaningful thoughts with a single sentence
• Create thought-provoking poems through found poetry
• Uncover images hidden in your photos
• Make personal meaning with the simplest of lines
• Finally feel free to make mistakes
• Use clever techniques to keep your secrets secret

Quiet your gremlin, grab your permission slip (it's on page 19) and start making meaning in your own raw-art journal today!

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

Raw Art Journaling is for anyone who wants to keep an art journal but doesn't because the inner critic's loud voice: "You can't draw!" or "What makes you think that your life is interesting enough to write about?"

Journal-keeping is a powerful, soulful tool to find out who you are and explore your world. That tool belongs to anyone who wants to use it, whether or not you can draw or write.

Because I am a writer, I know that journaling creates a path for your heart, soul and mind. The path wanders through your past and keeps you grounded when life is rocky. Many journaling books don't talk a lot about writing. Most art journaling books focus on illustration. I wanted to create something different--a space for people who want some ideas they can develop.

The book helps move you from wanting to keep a journal to keeping one through 40+ exercises--both writing and drawing. None of the exercises require you to be an illustrator. They just require you to be willing to experiment. Because willingness and experimenting is art.

Many authors use well-known artists to contribute to the book. I used people who didn't know where to start in their journals, but jumped in anyway. I wanted the book to be in everyone's ability. I wanted to attract readers who thought, "I can do this!" and then did it.

New to art journaing? You'll find easy but intriguing exercises to get you hooked. Already an experienced journaler? You'll find some exercises to go deeper into your creative practice for a richer experience.

I'm working on my second journaling book now--conversations with the Inner Critic. The book will be very different and very familiar to those of us who struggle with the Inner Critic. Again, it will not require advanced art skills. It will require courage and a sense of fun.

About the Author

Quinn McDonald has experience writing for newspapers, corporations, those in need of speeches, financial firms and marketing companies, and she currently offers creativity tips on her blog. She writes two columns for Stampington: The Business of Art" in Somerset Studio and "The Raw Edge" in Art Quilt Magazine. Quinn teaches courses on writing for the web, team building, creative thinking for leadership and other custom writing courses, and she is a life and creativity coach.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: North Light Books (July 20, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1440308551
• ISBN-13: 978-1440308550
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 0.4 x 10 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #88,252 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #29 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Crafts & Hobbies > Scrapbooking
  • #60 in Books > Arts & Photography > Other Media > Mixed Media
  • #66 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Crafts & Hobbies > Mixed-Media

More About the Author

New Update: I'm so excited to announce that I'm working on the next book for North Light books! The working title--The Inner Hero Art Journal: Mixed Media Messages to Your Inner Critic.
* * *

Quinn McDonald had every intention of being an obedient child, a dutiful wife, and the mom who baked cookies for PTA meetings. Due to an unexpected wrinkle in the space/time continuum, that didn't happen.

In grade school I created a newsletter with codes and diagrams to secret places. In high school I wrote for the school newspaper. While getting my BA in biology and English, it was plain that I was hooked on the complex intersection of words and design, art that chronicled life. Then the space-time continuum wrinkled, and I woke up in graduate school, a parent fascinated with folklore--the stories, the process of change mirrored in waves of immigration, dreams, the fulfillment of dreams, and the restless pulling of the tides of change and reinvention. All steered by journals--mine and those of countless women who stepped into the unknown, armed with a sense of duty, adventure, and a pencil.

Hit by a wave of hyper-responsibility, I left graduate school and headed for the corporate world: copywriter, creative director, PR writer, newspaper editor. And always keeping journals with ideas, sketches, collages. Friends and art teachers said the same thing: "You can't mix words and concepts and call it art." But that combination made meaning for me, and I became convinced I would not find meaning in life, I would make meaning out of my life.

Years later, my last corporate boss looked at me, frowned, and said, "You are different, and seem to enjoy it." It was not a compliment. I heard the clock ticking down on my career. But the boss was right. I was different; time to admit what I was--an artist, a writer, and after completing training, a certified creativity coach. QuinnCreative--my business--allowed me to step into what I had always been, and had found the courage to do after all these years. My husband and son were happy I'd done it at all.

So now I am what I was meant to be--curious about life, restless but content. All that shows up in this book. I'm curious what shows up for you when you read it.


NOTES and LINKS

To see more about Raw Art Journaling and links to the Webinar and podcasts visit the Raw Art Journaling page on my blog: http://wp.me/P2H1i-Dg

More Monsoon Papers: http://wp.me/p2H1i-1Xx

More about creativity coaching: http://www.quinncreative.com/coaching/

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

83 of 83 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect for us non-artists July 10, 2011

By Peter J. Harbeson

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book is full of projects that are fun, easy to try, and don't need a closet full of special materials and tools. I don't really "do art" and don't have anything like "art supplies", but even I can find things like index cards, scissors, glue, a marker, and a pen. Who knew what you could do on a notebook page with that stuff? Not me, at least. Or maybe I did but forgot!

The best thing about this book is you can open it to any page and see something you can try right away and turn out something better than you expected. It's very visual, the ideas and projects mostly take just a two-page spread, and it's organized just the way you need -- if you need materials, there's a list. If you need something to start with, there are pictures and examples galore.

I usually feel put off by books about art projects because they show results that are beautiful but need long practice, a studio full of specialized stuff, and weeks of dedication. THESE projects I can actually do with the things already available, reasonable amounts of time, and, in my case, little or no practice since Mrs. Johnson's second grade class.

60 of 60 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars No Matter How Creative You Think You Are, This Book is for YOU! July 8, 2011

By Bo Mackison

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Are you creative? Are you a blocked creative? Do you think you have zero creativity, but wish you did? This book is for you, and you, and you.

This is a great book to spark creativity in anyone, and as an added bonus you will find yourself having fun and making meaning in your life at the same time.

The overall intent of Quinn McDonald in her new book,Raw Art Journaling is to give anyone the confidence to begin, and continue, an art journal. But I found idea after idea that I simply wanted to try for the fun of it. So whether you want to begin your very first art journal, add new ideas and techniques to an already existing art journal, or simply play with words and creative techniques, this is the book for YOU.

I am a creative person -- I am a photographer -- but I do not consider myself accomplished, or even average, at drawing. Yet, when I write, I often find myself wanting to add color and designs to my pages. Quinn offers ideas to add a spark and sparkle to any page without needed any drawing ability, but this book is so much more than just cool ideas for decorating journal pages.

Quinn is a certified creativity coach and her training comes through loud and clear in her writing. She provides support, encouragement, and permission to try without fear of failure. Every project in this book is doable for anyone, because even mistakes become creative and meaningful.

Quinn begins the book by encouraging all to "create imperfectly," then defines raw art. Raw art is what you "create because you love the act of creation, the fun of problem solving and seeing the project move ahead...creating personal, powerful art." She then goes on to explain what a raw-art journal is - "a way to keep track of your life--the journey you experience as you decide what you want to be when you grow up (even if you are physically grown up already.)"

In easy to understand chapters, Quinn gives dozens of ideas for playing with words. She gives you directions for composing "found poems" from magazines, playing with a "box of words", and how to use words themselves as the art on your page. She explains how to journal with one sentence or use hidden images in a photograph. And that is just a start.

If you love the idea of combining words with designs, color, patterns, hidden meanings, and much more, you will love this book. I'm keeping Raw Art Journaling on a nearby shelf in my studio for those times when I want inspiration for a 5 minute project or a half day splurge into the world of creativity, raw art, and journaling.

Highly recommended!

35 of 35 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Art Journaling Book I Have Been Looking For! July 13, 2011

By Lynn

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Quinn McDonald's book, Raw Art Journaling is such a refreshing addition to the collection of art journaling books that fill our shelves. She starts out giving us permission to be imperfect in our journals. She reminds us that our journals are places to experiment, to be raw, and that we don't need to be creating pages that look like works of art (as many of the other art journaling books lead us to believe). She shows us that indeed art journaling can be done without a studio filled with expensive supplies. We can journal with pencil, pen and paper - who knew? <grin>

I love that most of the exercises can be completed quickly and with just a writing instrument of choice, journal or other paper and perhaps a colored pencil or two. We can expand and use scissors, a clipping from an old book page and a glue stick. All things that pretty much everyone already has!

How refreshing to be reminded that my lines don't need to be perfectly straight, my letters don't all have to slant in the same direction or even be the same size! This is the book I have been looking for! Quinn encourages us to make our own marks - imperfect as they may look to anyone else. The techniques can all be done by anyone, any place.

I'm buying copies for friends who have been missing out on art journaling because they insist they aren't creative, can't draw or don't know what to write. This book is just what they need and it's just what experienced art journalers can use time and time again to try something different.