I am having brain challenges. These challenges make it hard for me to focus on much for very long. So I have adapted my journaling and art making approach to include short specific challenges.

I work in a book form that I keep the signatures separate until the end and then combine them to make one solid book. This allows me to do a lot of random mark making. It seems like it doesn’t make sense as  I am doing it, but in the end, I think that I am getting in touch with a more intuitive creating and  the books are cohesive.

I often take one approach and work on one page at a time in each signature. So I have six signatures going at once. They will be glued together in the end to form a book. I keep the signatures separate because it allows me to work in wet media without having to wait for everything to dry. If I have a wet page, I can just move onto another signature while that page is drying.

I love to make  marks as I go, I love to make patterns  with my handmade foam stamps. One of my most recent approaches is to use a trace monoprint kind of mark with a simple drawing, and a sheet of homemade transfer paper.

I do have my favorite motifs, which include trees, birds, other animals, faces, and houses.

I am also including Bible verses in this months book. I am trying to get in touch with the faith and healing, and it seems to help to write them out.

Collage is a another great approach as well for this layered journaling process. I can collage a piece here and there, or a word here and there, and then let the page develop as the month goes on.

I definitely still use my timer to get me through the lack of motivation. So I set a timer for 20 minutes and usually I get into the 20 minutes. Keep refreshing the timer and before I know it, I’ve spent an hour or two working in my sketchbook, which is always makes me happy.

Repetitive marks and crayons scribbles are another way that I connect disparate marks in a journal spread. It is very freeing to scribble with a crayon, and it can be mindful to just make random dots and lines.

My favorite tools for this process very simple markers, watercolor, acrylic, markers, crayons, homemade stamps, and magazine bits for collage.  So I encourage you to gather some simple supplies that you may already have and set a timer for 20 minutes and see what happens in your sketchbook.

If you need some encouragement or ideas, you could check out the creating habits workshop that is on sale this month for only $45. In that class I offer 20 different techniques to play with in your sketchbook.