1. Gather Your Art Journaling Supplies

While you don’t need much to begin art journaling, you should have a few supplies handy before letting your imagination soar:

• A journal or sketchbook. If you’re planning to use paints, look for heavier paper that can support your art supplies, such as this watercolour journal.
• Paint and paintbrushes. Try watercolours if you’re new to painting since they’re accessible and easy to work with.
• Pencil crayons, especially if you prefer drawing to painting.
• Old magazines, glue, and scissors—these are essential if you’d love to add a collage element to your journal pages.
• A pen to add words to your pages.

2. Find Art Journaling Prompts

Just like with traditional journaling, prompts can help give your art journaling sessions focus and purpose, especially if you’ve never done it before. Immerse yourself in the art journaling Instagram community as an easy way to find inspiring prompts and art journaling ideas, recommends Har-Gil. Or, pull a card from a deck of tarot cards, oracle cards, or affirmation cards to help guide your journaling practice. “Let’s say the card you pulled is around intuition,” says Har-Gil. “Spend some time thinking about, ‘What does my intuition have to say about this situation?’ See what colours, what shapes, what lines come out.” Har-Gil stresses it’s all about letting your mind explore and process whatever you’ve been thinking about—and then use your creative supplies to express yourself.

3. Embrace Art Journaling as a Mindfulness Practice

Art journaling can be a powerful mindfulness practice, especially if you’re not a “sit-on-a-meditation-cushion type of person,” says After the Rain author and poet Alexandra Elle, who created her own journal for words and art. “To be able to use art as a way of getting clear, and also just having fun and allowing ourselves the space to have joy in that, it really resonated with my community and my students, and also with me.”

Har-Gil also sees art as a powerful form of mindfulness. In a traditional meditation or mindfulness practice, many use mantras or the breath to ground themselves. With a creative practice, like art journaling, working with art supplies can help anchor you in the moment.

As for those who are nervous to pick up a paintbrush or sketchpad for the first time, both Elle and Har-Gil stress the importance of eschewing perfection in favour of play of self-compassion. After all, you never know what you’ll create until you open your journal and get started.