How I Got Stated Bible Art Journaling

I really like Bible art journaling. It’s a way for me to combine Bible study and quiet time and my love of crafting while I actually use some of the craft supplies I have laying everywhere (and occasionally buy new ones). It wasn’t easy for me to get started though.

I had been seeing pictures of artwork in Bibles popping up more and more frequently while on Pinterest and Randy had been showing me ones that where showing up in the various Bible groups he belonged to on Facebook. I was intrigued right at the start, but kept putting off actually trying it myself.

I’ve always been nervous about writing in my Bible. I’ve done a lot of it (color coding verses, adding references and definitions in Bibles that didn’t have them) but I was very careful about what I wrote and tried to get everything as perfect as I could. Looking at other’s peoples detailed drawings and perfect lettering intimidated me a bit because I was afraid my attempts wouldn’t be good enough. But I kept looking at all of the artwork, reading a blog post every now and then, and slowly talking myself into it. Then I read the thinking closet’s permission pages and something clicked. I had to let go of perfectionism and let it be about the effort and the experience.

Even after that I was scared to draw in my Bible so I went out, bought a inexpensive journal, decorated it up with stickers, and made myself start. Here is my (still unfinished) first attempt.

How I Got Started Bible Art Journaling 2

I had started though and wanted to learn more and get better. I kept reading, kept working at it, writing down verses that spoke to me, coming up with ideas on how I would illustrate them, doing rough sketches, getting sidetracked and not working on it for a while, coming back and trying again.

If you are new to all this I recommend reading Bible Journaling for the Beginner at big family BLESSINGS.

Some of the other blogs and websites I found most helpful when I was getting stated are:

Blogs with lots of articles about Bible journaling

A couple of specific posts I found helpful. I haven’t done anything like these (yet) but seeing what they were capable of (and willing to try) helped me be more willing to try new things.

I found these useful for learning lettering

As these useful for learning to draw certain things

I also wanted to be able to contribute to Bible Buying Guide beyond an occasional review and this seemed like a perfect fit. I kept looking at the journaling Bibles we had been sent for review and wondering how well gel pens, and paints, and so forth would work in them. If I was wondering surely other people were too. And if I’m going to be making a regular post I have to set time aside for my journaling projects. I’m not an expert of any kind but hopefully most of my posts will be helpful to someone and encourage people to try new things.

Has there been a blog or an illustrated Bible page that was helpful in getting you started? Is there one you keep going back to? Are you the hesitant type or do you quickly jump in to new things? What type of posts would you find most helpful? most encouraging? Let us know in the comments