Using mixed media art dolls in your journal

Plus a conversation on finding your art style

Welcome to part 2 of this tutorial! I hope you’ve had a chance to watch and make your collage art dolls; if you haven’t, you’ll want to do that first. I’ll wait!

So, now that you have your cool little collage doll, it’s time to add her to an art journal page. Since this project was a way for me to connect back to my artist’s journey, I decided to use some of the elements I noticed in my very first art journal {see this post for the flip through of my first art journal}.

Watch the process: Using mixed media art dolls in your art journal

One of them is collage. I don’t use collage too often in my work, so I decided to use some of the painted papers I had pulled out while making the doll to see how I could incorporate those into my art journal.

Along with that nod to my beginner artist self, I also wanted to acknowledge where I am today. I have to admit, it was a bit of a fine balance between maintaining the integrity of all the collage elements and my intuitive painting style to tell the story of this art doll, who represents my own artist’s journey.

But as I played around with the collage papers, her story started to emerge. Watch the tutorial to see the story unfold. I also talk a bit about finding your art style, so stick around until the end!

I hope you enjoyed this two-part tutorial, and that you will try making collage art dolls and adding them to a layered collage background in your art journals. I know I will — in fact, I’ve been making quite a few collage art dolls recently, as part of my 100 day project for 2023. Some will probably find their way into my written journals, but a lot more of them will be making their way into my art journals.

Here’s the finished piece; doesn’t she look gorgeous?

More art journaling inspiration

If you’re looking for more inspiration, take a look at all of the art tutorials that I’ve shared on the blog, or join me for the Inner You e-course to learn how create a beautiful, soulful portrait that embodies your I AM statements.