When is a journal not a journal?

When it's a notebook,reading book,diary or pile of loose paper just waiting to be used 'as' a journal..

I have recently been having discussions about which journals are best for arting..and where to get them.

So here are a few of mine. Not a comprehensive review by any means, just a few quick photos and my thoughts on them.

I have bought lots..LOTS of these journal from Asda, my local supermarket. They are just over £2 each for the A5 size, not that much more for the A4 size. They come in plain paper and also graph paper.

They have an off white paper inside, a hard cover with a faux leather finish, and an elastic band that keeps them closed. The paper really is a decent weight, but I use a lot of heavy wet media and choose to glue 2 pages together for strength. it's not a problem as there are lots of pages. 80 of them.

Here is a journal page I did in my Asda book.

Next up are my moleskines, I bought these..from The Book Depository They measure approx 5inches by 8.25inches. The paper is a creamy colour and is quite thin. I do like the paper but it really is no good for a lot of wet media, however it stands up pretty well to paint when you glue 2 pages together. They are good value as you get 3 in a pack and being smaller than A5 they are a handy size. They come in 4 colours.

here is a page I made in my moleskine..

Now we have Seawhites journals. See your local stockist HERE... these are AMAZING value, the A5 is £1.08 and the A4 is £1.49. The paper is just off white and is 140gsm. It specifically says on the back that is is for extra wet media. I found them so cheap I actually bought one to cut up and make pages for a different book.

Next is a sketchbook, it was from Sainsburys..another uk supermarket, and was around £5. The paper is off white and is a decent weight cartridge paper. it takes wet media just fine. The only drawback is that it is spiral bound...great for opening the book wide but not so great if you want to do a double spread.

This is a page I made in mine, using gesso, water soluble neocolours and prisma pencils

Another journal I bought recently is this one. I wanted one that specifically had very smooth paper inside, as I wanted to use it with my markers. I believe I paid around £2.25 for this one, just in a local stationery shop(WHSmiths). it is not a branded one. It has a plastic cover back and front, but inside the back cover is a piece of sturdy card which gives you something to rest on.

The paper is white and smooth enough for markers.The only drawback with markers is that they do bleed through to the reverse, for this reason after each page is complete I glue it back to back to the next page. if I was using a different medium I probably wouldn't need to do that as these pages are a pretty good weight.

I just loved the look of this next one, it is from PAPERCHASE... I love it because of the size/shape. It is just under 10inches square, and was only £4.50. The paper is so lovely, really smooth ..but is thin. I would say the same as the Moleskine paper. I haven't used this yet, but I know I will definitely have to glue pages together for strength.

Now we have the charity shop book. I  think this was 20p. it is just an old book, approx 8x5inches and hard backed. The paper is really thick and very matte. it takes all kinds of media. 

I love that you can still see the text of the pages through the artwork. 

Lastly I have a load of these old diaries..These were completely free, hard backed and full of interesting pages such as lists and maps. The paper is a really decent heavy weight and I am sure it will make a great journal. 

Of course you can just make a journal...from anything. I have glued sheets of newspaper together and gessoed over them to make journal pages, you can use watercolour paper, corrugated card, acrylic sheets, leaflets,junk mail, anything and everything...

Here are pages of newspaper glued together and covered in gesso...

and here is a page I made on one of them 

Don't feel all your pages have to be the same size..... 

have a look AT THIS...blog post to see how I made it.... 

Starting to art journal DOES NOT mean you have to rush out and buy an expensive book....

I hope that helps you get started.