Lists

Incorporating lists in your Art Journal

Hello, It’s Julia here again to talk you through how I, as a non-lister, am tackling this season! As a dyslexic person, words are not my friends, so I would never choose to find comfort or reassurance in creating a list. To me, this is a chore, an opportunity for spelling mistakes and quite frankly, a stressful task. When this season was announced I definitely had some trepidation about it. I wasn’t sure how I could incorporate lists into my art journaling without it looking too organised. Neatness is also not my favourite! I know I can’t be the only one who feels like this, so I have created this tutorial to inspire anyone who feels like me, as well as any list lovers who want to mix things up a bit. I wanted to focus on how to be creative with our lists and how to stray away from the traditional formats.

List around an image

gm-julia-non listers-01 gm-julia-non listers-02 I like this way of listing as it isn’t your focal point when you first see the page. It is something to look at more closely, an opportunity to understand the page better without being confronted by text.

Illustrate each point

gm-julia-non listers-03 I am not very good at drawing, but it is one of my 2016 goals to improve. I think this way of creating a list is fun and playful. It makes my brain work a little bit harder when I have to think about how to bring each point to life

Pattern the page

gm-julia-non listers-04 This is one of the only lists I had art journalled prior to our current season. The mark making and patterns around the words almost distort the text. Something I am drawn to is making the reader work for your information – journalling is personal and can be difficult to share. Concealing your words like this can make it easier to share, I know it does for me.

Breaking the list up

gm-julia-non listers-05 Rather than creating in a sequence, I like this method of how things randomly come into your mind. It creates a nice, casual aesthetic and as they are personal points, can be as in depth or vague as you would like. I hope this will help anyone like me, who is slightly scared by this season. Good luck and happy listing!

Julia

Julia is a British designer and creative enthusiast. She loves to express herself through shape, colour and pattern – living by the ethos of more is more!

Learn more about Julia

18 Comments

Katie Smith on Apr 27, 2016 at 18:02

Such good ideas, Julia. I actually love listing, but I’ve been having a hard time combining lists with my art journal style.
- julia Thomas on May 16, 2016 at 18:58
  
  I’d never know you were struggling, you’ve killed this season as you always do! Xo
Meghan Deinhard on Apr 27, 2016 at 20:38

This is wonderful! Thank you so much for those ideas. Yummy.
- julia Thomas on May 16, 2016 at 18:59
  
  You’re welcome!
Gilly Welch on Apr 28, 2016 at 08:24

Definitely a challenging season this time, some really great ideas, thank you and your drawings are good I knew straight away what they were!
- julia Thomas on May 16, 2016 at 18:59
  
  Thanks Gill! You’re too kind!
Sarah Maddox on Apr 28, 2016 at 11:07

These are great ideas Julie. I was wondering how to make lists of words more creative, thank you. I am inspired madame.
- julia Thomas on May 16, 2016 at 19:00
  
  Ah, good! I’m so happy these ideas helped you!
Tricia Allen on Apr 28, 2016 at 17:42

Thanks for sharing. I love reading list but have proven to not be all that great and creating them. Thanks for these fun ideas.
- julia Thomas on May 16, 2016 at 19:01
  
  You’re welcome! The listing part was most difficult for me too and I considered any week where I journalled at least one ‘real’ list, a success!
Vanessa Oliver-lloyd on Apr 29, 2016 at 03:17

this is so good! Like Katie, this has been a challenge for me since I’m a lister but art journaling my lists is not something i usually do. These are simple and easy techniques to help loosen up! Thanks.
- julia Thomas on May 16, 2016 at 19:02
  
  You’re more than welcome V!
[email protected] on Apr 29, 2016 at 06:19

I really like the random idea, I think I do that when I brainstorm. Around and object looks fun too, looking forward to trying that one!
- julia Thomas on May 16, 2016 at 19:03
  
  Aces! Look forward to seeing your take on it! 🙂
Clare Davis Etheridge on Apr 29, 2016 at 16:21

Thanks for the great ideas, your patterns are so cool, it is amazing how effective a black pen and a splash of colour can be.
- julia Thomas on May 16, 2016 at 19:04
  
  Thank you! Listing on the go is nice too, especially when you have simplistic supplies!
Romana on May 3, 2016 at 07:03

Lots to inspire here Julia. I especially love how you have used to book pagesto make your background and the black pen, so good!
- julia Thomas on May 16, 2016 at 19:04
  
  Thanks! Magazine doodling is my first love ❤