Journaling: A Dream Catcher through Word Sketching

The Artist Journal is a personal diary for notes, sketches, and studies.

Your Journal should not be so expensive that you are afraid to use it or so cheap that it is uninspiring to work with. I recommend that you have more than one. Consider one your day-to-day traveling, studio, and plein air work for scouting and mapping out those special places and moments of inspiration.

Consider one next to your nightstand; this I call a dream catcher to note down those images and ideas that bubble up in the night.

Noting down in your journal those meaningful elements of key features as a preliminary work sketch along with your sketches and studies to increase your visual perception. Here are some words to consider using an acronym for idea generation.

Assignment: Select your own word as an acronym or add words to my examples herein.

“Sensory Awareness” Word Sketch Exercise 

Sensory

S – self

E – environment

N – now

S – source

O – open

R – reality

Y – yes

S – system

E – entity

N – natural

S – senses

O – opportunity

R – responsive

Y – you

S –

E –

N –

S –

O – 

R –

Y –

Awareness

A – ample

W – wondrous

A - artistic

R- real

E – every

N – now

E – emphasis

S – self

S – sensation

A – alive

W – wakens

A - awe

R- realization

E – elation

N – necessary

E – eternity

S – secret

S - seen

A –

W –

A -

R-

E –

N –

E –

S –

S -

“What is Art?”  Word Sketch Exercise

A  -

R -

T -

“What is Beauty” Word Sketch Exercise

B - Brilliance - (wisdom beholding radiance)

1 grandeur – awe

2 splendor - of the lovely

3 luminous - displaces darkness

E - Eternal (love abiding beyond the transient)

1 endures - now and forever

2 revelatory - glimpse of the divine spark

3 perpetual - uninterrupted blooming

A - Aesthetical (heart’s discernment of the perceptible)

1 gratitude - joyful recognition

2 pleasure - winsomeness

3 attractive - appealing qualities

U - Unity (joined in oneness) 

1 solidarity - mutual inspiration

2 wholeness - greater than the sum of its parts

3 coalesce   - integrative

T - Truth (science and poetry tango)

1 foundational - evidence of reality

2 principled - essential virtue

3 authenticity - trustworthiness

Y - Yes (be an invitation to joy)

1 response to the beloved

2  to be loved

3 gratefully so

B -

E -

A -

U -

T -

Y -