Hi everyone, today I wanted to take you through my entire planning process and show you how
I actually start my setups!
I've heard from many of you that bullet journaling or even drawing is daunting and
you have no idea where to start.
I am hoping that I can offer you some insight to help ease your worries and inspire you
to be fearlessly creative to plan your own journals!
I haven't created such an informative video like this, especially before the final inking
stage where everything is perfect, so let me know your thoughts after you watch this video!
Before I begin sketching out my ideas for the month, I spend an insane amount of
time trying to work myself into inspiration.
And that usually involves writing ideas down in another journal and a lot of researching
on google images, instagram, and pinterest.
And if I still feel uninspired or lost, then I normally head to the gym and clear my mind
so that my ideas can flow freely, you can also do this by doing something you love,
but make sure to come back to planning.
One of the most important piece of advice I can give you on finding inspiration is to
let it flow, that's always the beauty of it.
It is normally unexpected, so don't beat yourself up if you can't think of an idea
right away, but be open to everything and like I said before, just start, anywhere,
start planning or start drawing anything.
After I have a jumping off point, and I call it a jumping off point because the idea could
still change, I start to brainstorm in mysketchbook.
This is the place where perfection does not matter and drawing preliminary blobs with
eyes are fully welcome.
So here are some preliminary sketches of my past setups and journal ideas I've done.
When I feel a little more confident, I'll start to plan out my pages in a storyboard
where I shrink down each page and the content so that I can see them all in sequence.
I normally flip through last month's spread and jot down that sequence first.
Then I go ahead and jump into sketching out my ideas for the cover page to start this
month's spread, using pinterest as my go to source for animal photographs.
I try to avoid jumping right in and looking at other illustrations because I don't want
to copy or be greatly influenced by another artist's work.
Especially to the point where there is a great resemblance.
If that happens I always feel so guilty and unoriginal and I don't like that.
Now I make it a habit to come up with my own layouts and ideas in order to continue growing
my own style.
So another tip when you don't know what draw, look up real photographs of things that
you love.
It can be a beautiful sunset or a bunny rabbit and try using that as your jumping off point.
And then, only after I have developed my own ideas and if I really need help with layout,
then I'll look at illustrations for overall positions and placement.
The wreath around the bear, was a weak point for me, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do
with it, so I looked up watercolor florals to help jolt some ideas to complete the illustration.
Once I like the cover idea, I quickly sketch that into the storyboard and continue to plan
out the rest of the spreads.
Simply figuring out where things go and working through a few different ideas.
Moving on to the actual journal, I then start to sketch in my ideas using a 2b pencil, referencing
my storyboard for my layout and image ideas.
If you guys also sketch out your ideas, make sure to sketch lightly and use a 2b pencil
if you can, the lead is perfect to draw lighter and it also erases pretty well.
Now for my mood for the month, which is determined by my actual mood or hopes as I look forward
to the month.
And that is determined by what's going on or any upcoming goals I want to achieve.
I picked emergence this month because I really want to accomplish a lot within the next 31
days, even more so than I did the past few months.
And recently I've been in a state of slight disappointment in myself and my abilities.
I am making it a goal to conquer that thought, change it, and continue moving forward.
Those thoughts which create those feelings are normal because we're surrounded by amazingly
talented and successful people and its human nature to think, I can't versus, seeing
their success as proof that you can.
And this where journaling saves me everytime and that's why I love it so much and want
to share what I've learned with you.
So as I go through these thoughts, I love using the thesaurus to find the best word
to convey the emotions I want to achieve.
It's plenty of going back and forth between a few different words and then finally choosing
one.
And in this case, it's the same exact word that I started with.
As I continue to sketch out my spreads, which normally takes about 2 to 4 hours from beginning
to storyboard to completely sketching out my plans in the journal, because I am creating
a actual story through mine, yours may take less time if you're creating a basic one,
I want to answer one question that kept coming up on instagram and on youtube and that is,
how I overcome my fear of failure and of perfectionism?
First of all, I want to say that there is no right or wrong way to bullet journal.
Journaling is a personal extension of your thoughts and basically of you, So making sure
that it works for you, is all that matters.
When I posted my very first bullet journal setup, In september of last year, I really
thought that I was going to get hateful comments about how different my journal was from the
normal, but I received the most loving ones instead.
And after a few months, I realized that everybody's journal should be different, because we are
different from each other, we're all individuals just sharing a simple love of organizing our
own lives in a notebook.
So just understanding that thought, I know that my fear of failure and the need to be
perfect back then, was coming from my own expectations of the reactions of others.
And that means that my feelings were out of my control and I was placing that control
in the what ifs.
But I wanted that control back, because I don't want fear of anything to stop me from
growing as a person.
I want to reach my goals or at least get insanely close.
So just like riding a bike, or learning something new for the first time, I knew that I just
had to fail a few times and disappoint myself in order to stop fearing that fear of the
unknown, because then it won't be unknown anymore.
This might sound funny, but I made time to fail and to not be perfect in my work, just
to doodle whatever came to mind and then I continued to build from that.
Basically, accept failure as part of the journey.
And better yet, embrace it because it is how you learn to be your best self.
To add to that about perfectionism, is there really a perfect in art?
Because, my perfect can be different than yours.
And if by perfect you mean completely aligned with what you visualize, then it's a matter
of expectations, which is also a part of the fear of not meeting those expectations, which
is again the fear of failure.
So, my two biggest tips of overcoming these thoughts is to understand them and know where
they are coming from and then to start without reserve and without expectations.
Okay, so once I have my spreads all sketched out, I need to sketch out my painting that
goes along with the mood of the month in another sketchbook that I use.
I wanted the bear to break out of his shell and open up to opportunities.
I have him walking along a rocky path with beautiful leaves that seem to defy nature
and grow even on hard surface, following the song of the bird, which represents Spring.
After I ink and complete the illustration then I'll have it to reference for the final
painting on camera.
Next in line is to find quotes that work with this set-up and that all starts with googling
the mood of the month and the word "quotes" behind it.
I love two sites the best and that is good reads and brainy quotes.
If I can't find a quote I like then I'll start searching the synonyms of the word,
in this case growth or rising.
I measure out the size I want and then create them to fit in those sizes in photoshop.
When I create my own quote, which I did for this set-up, Its just a lot writing out a
few quotes and then hopefully, coming up with one that works, all based on the how I want
to end the story or to sum it up.
Now from this cardstock pack I bought at my local craft store, I picked out my blush cardstock
and then ripped them to sizes I need, not worrying so much about perfection here, the
imperfections adds character.
Finally, It's prop picking time.
I don't have too many things to choose from so you'll see some of the same items and
florals, but I do have a few flower stems from my wedding and diys that work with the
feeling of the spread.
I then, adjust the layout and make sure that I have enough room to work in my journal on
camera.
And that's normally it.
But, this time around, I wanted to create my illustration digitally and change things
up for March, which is where I would love to gain more experience, but I was not happy
with the the direction of it.
So the next morning I had the idea to add more movement in the bear and the entire scene
with the bird.
I wanted the bear to embody the word emerging in his action, and so the idea of him rising
out of the water to connect with the chirping bird, came to mind.
Now, we're ready to shoot.
One final piece of advice about this whole creative process of starting a setup and bullet
journaling in general is that, it's okay to take time to plan before you're ready
to jump right into setting it up.
I don't really know anyone else's planning process, but this is what I have to do to
come up with my layouts and I love it.
Throughout each month, I can actually see my work evolve and improve.
And I sincerely wish that for all of you.
I am so thankful for Audible for sponsoring today's video!
They have an unmatched selection of audiobooks, original audio shows, news, comedy, and so
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You can listen while your driving, doing chores, or even as you're journaling.
I personally love listening to empowering content, especially while I create because
it motivates me to keep making and to keep moving forward.
An amazing book that I am listening to right now is called Big Magic by Elizabeth GIlbert.
She believes that we all have hidden treasures within us and explores why we might not have
the courage to find and live this treasure.
She touches upon all of my doubts and fears and explains how we can handle fear, along
side of creativity.
It is one of my most highly recommended books that is helping me to open my mind to new
ideas and to help me live my best life.
Audible is offering an exclusive 30 day free trial, so all you need to do is go to www.audible.com/christinemylinh
or text 'christinemylinh' to 500-500 to start listening to Big Magic or another book
of your choice for free!
I'll also have this linked below for you!
If you guys want to see any of my work in progress or join me on my life's adventures,
come find me on Instagram!
Thank you so much for watching and I hope you have a wonderful and meaningful day.
I'll see you next time, bye!
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