A background of torn tissue paper in one colour family1 page. Tear, glue and overlap the pieces. Stop before it is even; the patchy parts hold later layers.
A bottle cap pressed into paint as a circle stamp1 page. Print a row of circles with the cap, then turn each into a planet, a face or a clock.
A monoprint pulled from a painted plastic sleeve1 page. Paint on a plastic sleeve, press the page on it, peel. Draw into the print when dry.
A page built in three layers: paint, paper, pen1 page. Let each layer dry before the next. The pen goes last and only where it helps.
A page of drips, then find the figures in them1 page. Drip thin paint from the top edge, tilt the page, and turn the runs into people or trees.
A page of fingerprints turned into a crowd1 page. Press inky fingerprints in rows, then add heads, hats and legs in pen.
A page painted with coffee, then drawn in ink1 page. Brush strong coffee over the page, let it dry wavy, then draw with a fine pen on top.
A spread in only black, white and one accent colour2 pages. Choose the accent first and use it for one thing only on each page.
A spread where the paint runs off the page edges2 pages. Work to every edge. Put a sheet underneath and let it run past the paper.
Bubble wrap printing under a drawing of the sea1 page. Paint the bubble wrap, press it down, and draw a boat or a swimmer on the dry print.
Collage a figure from magazine textures, no faces1 page. Cut arms, legs and a body from pictures of fabric, wood or sky. Glue down, then outline in pen.
Draw with a stick dipped in ink1 page. A twig makes blotchy, uneven lines. Draw something small and let the blots stay.
Gesso half the page and draw only on the white half2 pages. Leave the other half raw. The edge between them becomes part of the drawing.
Glue in a paper bag flattened as a page2 pages. Open out a paper bag, glue it flat across the spread and draw on its creases and print.
Layer three stencils cut from one shape1 page. Cut a simple shape, then stencil it three times in three colours, each one shifted.
Leaves pressed into paint and lifted off1 page. Paint a leaf's underside, press it down, lift it. Draw the tree it came from above the print.
Paint over a page of old writing, leaving three words showing1 page. Cover a printed or written page with thin paint, then wipe back until only three words read.
Paint with a leaf as your only brush1 page. Dip a leaf edge in paint and print, drag and dab with it. No brush allowed.
Rip a page halfway and draw what is behind the tear2 pages. Tear a flap on the left page and draw on the right page what the flap reveals.
Salt on wet watercolour as a night sky1 page. Paint a dark wet wash, sprinkle salt, let it dry and brush the salt off. Add a moon.
Scrape paint across the page with an old card1 page. Put three blobs of paint at one edge and drag them across in one pull. Draw into the streaks.
Sew a line of thread across a painted page1 page. Pierce holes with a pin first, then stitch one straight or wandering line through them.
Stamp a pattern with the end of a cork, then draw faces in it1 page. Dip the cork in paint and stamp in rows. When dry, turn some circles into faces.
Tape a window in the middle and paint round it1 page. Mask a rectangle with tape, paint the rest freely, peel it off and fill the clean window.
Two receipts from this week woven into a strip1 page. Cut them into strips, weave them over and under, glue down and colour the gaps.
Wax crayon resist: a hidden message under a wash1 page. Write in white crayon, then paint a dark wash over it. The words appear.
Words cut from a magazine, arranged into one line1 page. Cut single words, move them round until they say something, then glue them in a row.
Moods and days 22
A letter to next month, with a drawing for a stamp1 page. An envelope shape, the address as next month, and a tiny drawing in the stamp corner.
A map of your week with the high and low points as hills2 pages. Draw a path left to right, with hills for good days and valleys for hard ones. Label each.
A mood you felt this week as a creature1 page. Give it a body, a size and a habit. Name it at the bottom.
A page for a day that went wrong, drawn as a comic1 page. Four panels. Keep the drawings tiny and let the last panel be something that went right.
A page for a song stuck in your head, drawn as shapes1 page. Draw the rhythm as marks: dots for short notes, long strokes for held ones.
A page with a question you cannot answer yet1 page. Letter the question at the top and leave the rest of the page empty, framed in a border.
A self-portrait with your eyes shut1 page. Draw your face from memory, eyes shut on the page, as you look when you are resting.
A small worry drawn tiny in one corner of a big page1 page. Draw it smaller than a fingernail, then fill the rest of the page with something bigger.
A spread of things you want less of and more of2 pages. Left page: small drawings of less. Right page: drawings of more. No words needed.
A spread that is half calm and half busy2 pages. Fill the left page with slow, spaced marks and the right with dense, fast ones. Same colours on both.
The colour of today as a single painted square1 page. Paint one square in the colour the day felt like. Under it, one word for why.
Draw the view from your bed this morning1 page. Whatever you saw first: a ceiling, a window, a cat. Draw it as it was.
Draw your hands in the position they rest in when you are tired1 page. Draw from life. Shade softly and leave the fingertips light.
The noise in your head as scribbles, then one clear line1 page. Scribble freely to fill the page, then draw one slow calm line across it in a different colour.
One good thing from today, drawn the size of a stamp1 page. A small box in the middle of the page and the thing inside it. Leave the rest blank.
Paint how Monday felt and how Friday felt, side by side2 pages. One page each. Use only colour and marks, no pictures.
Today's weather inside you as a sky1 page. Draw the sky that matches your mood, clear, stormy or fog, with no people in it.
Tonight's sky from your window, whatever it is1 page. Draw what is out there right now: clouds, a streetlight, one star.
What rest looks like, drawn as a place1 page. A real or made-up place you would go to rest. Draw it with no people in it.
What you are waiting for, drawn behind a closed door1 page. A door, closed. Draw what is behind it faintly through the keyhole or under the gap.
Your energy today as a battery1 page. Draw a battery shape and fill it to the level you have, with what drained it drawn beside it.
Your week as seven small windows2 pages. Draw seven windows, each showing one thing you saw through a real window that day.
Memories and places 25
A family recipe written out and drawn1 page. Letter the recipe in your own hand, with a small drawing of each ingredient beside it.
A holiday postcard you never sent, front and back2 pages. Draw the picture side on the left and write the message you would have sent on the right.
A kitchen from your past, drawn from the doorway1 page. Stand in the doorway in your memory. Draw the one thing your eyes go to first.
A map of a walk you take often2 pages. A wandering line from door to end, with small drawings of what you pass.
A meal someone cooked for you that you still remember1 page. Draw the plate from above. Write who made it along the rim.
A place you have only been once1 page. Draw only what you are sure of. Leave the parts you have forgotten as blank paper.
A room in a house you visited as a child1 page. A grandparent's, a neighbour's, a friend's. Draw the corner you remember best.
A school desk from memory, with what was carved into it1 page. Draw the desk from above and add the marks and names you remember on its lid.
A shoe you wore out, drawn from memory1 page. Draw the shoe and where it wore through. Add where you walked in it.
A song from one year of your life, with a drawing for each line2 pages. Write out a few lines of a song you choose and draw a small picture beside each.
A spread of every place you have slept this year2 pages. A small drawing of each bed or sofa or tent, in order, with the town beside it.
A torn corner of a letter you kept1 page. Glue in only a corner with a few words, and draw the sender's handwriting as a pattern.
A toy you had and lost1 page. Draw it as big as you remember it being. Add a dotted outline for how big it really was.
A tree you climbed or sat under1 page. Draw the part of the tree you knew: the branch, the roots, the bark at eye level.
An object you have kept for years, drawn from life1 page. Put it in front of you. Draw it slowly, then write when you got it along the bottom.
An old photo cut in half and finished in drawing1 page. Use a copy, not the only print. Glue in half and draw the missing half yourself.
The bus stop or station you used most1 page. Draw the sign, the bench and the view along the road from it.
Draw the moment just before a photo you have1 page. Choose an old photo. Draw what was happening a few seconds before it was taken.
The inside of a bag you carried every day years ago1 page. Draw the bag open and everything you remember that lived in it.
The street you grew up on as a row of doors2 pages. Draw each front door you can remember, in order, and one detail from each house.
Ten things from one summer, drawn as a list1 page. Number down the side and draw a tiny picture for each, no words.
The view from a car window on a trip you remember1 page. A window frame, and the landscape passing in blurred horizontal strokes.
Your childhood bedroom from memory, as a floor plan1 page. Draw it from above: bed, door, window, the place you hid things. Label what you remember.
Your first job or first class as a small scene1 page. One view of the room or the counter, and your place in it marked with an X.
Your first phone number or address as a lettered page1 page. Letter it large and fill the shapes of the numbers with the things you did there.
Words and lettering 19
A drawn inventory for a box to open in ten years1 page. Draw a box and list its contents down the side, a tiny drawing beside each.
A letter to a place, not a person1 page. Write to a town, a room or a beach. Draw the place in the corner as the letterhead.
A list of small pleasures, hand-lettered1 page. Ten short lines, each in a different lettering style, with a tiny doodle at the end.
A made-up word with its meaning and a picture1 page. Letter the word, write a dictionary line under it and draw what it means.
A page of instructions for a perfect afternoon1 page. Number the steps and draw each one in a small box beside it.
A page of speech bubbles with nothing drawn around them1 page. Fill the page with bubbles of different shapes, each with one thing someone said today.
A page of the words you say most1 page. Write your most used words in different sizes: the more you say it, the bigger.
A quote you like, with one word painted over1 page. Letter the quote, then paint over the word you would change and write your own on top.
A title page for this month1 page. The month's name in big letters and three small drawings that stand for it.
A to-do list you will never do, drawn nicely1 page. Tick boxes, neat lettering and tiny drawings for impossible tasks like fold a cloud.
A word in a language you are learning, drawn1 page. Letter the word, draw what it means, and write how you say it underneath.
An alphabet of your week2 pages. Twenty-six small boxes, each with a letter and a tiny drawing of something from the week.
Blackout poem from a page of a newspaper1 page. Circle the words you keep, then black out everything else with marker or paint.
One question per line, answered with a drawing1 page. Five questions down the left, such as what did you eat, with a small drawing for each answer.
One sentence from a book you are reading, framed1 page. Letter the sentence in the middle and draw a frame round it from the book's world.
One word for this year, lettered huge2 pages. Letter one word across both pages and fill each letter with a different pattern.
Something you overheard, lettered on a painted background1 page. Paint a loose background first, then letter the sentence across it in black.
Your handwriting then and now1 page. Copy a line from an old note, then write the same line in your hand today beside it.
Your name in the letters of the things you like1 page. Build each letter of your name from objects you like: a bike for B, an apple for A.
Found and gathered 27
A bus timetable page with your stops drawn as pictures1 page. Glue in the timetable and replace each stop name you use with a tiny drawing.
A feather glued in, with its bird drawn beside it1 page. Tape the feather down and draw the bird you think it came from, or the one you imagine.
A fortune from a cracker or a cookie, drawn as a scene1 page. Glue in the slip and draw the scene it promises, as if it already happened.
A label cut from a piece of clothing you wore out1 page. Glue in the label and draw the clothing it came from round it.
A map torn from a leaflet, with your own route drawn on1 page. Glue in the map and draw the path you took on it in a bright pen.
A napkin from a café, drawn on where you sat1 page. Doodle on the napkin at the table, then glue it in at home.
A page of doors photographed on a walk, drawn from the phone2 pages. Draw six doors you passed in a grid, each with its colour noted beside it.
A page of every button in a drawer1 page. Draw each button life size. Put them in a grid or scatter them as they fell.
A page of paper scraps from the bottom of your bag1 page. Empty the bag, glue in every scrap flat, and connect them with pen lines.
A page of tape strips from every roll you own1 page. One strip from each roll, in rows, labelled with what you use it for.
A page of the stamps from your post this month1 page. Cut stamps from envelopes and glue them in. Draw the sender's town beside each.
A rubbing of every coin in your pocket1 page. Put each coin under the paper and rub with pencil. Draw what each one bought.
A sand or soil smudge from a place you visited1 page. Rub a little into a glue patch, let it set, and draw the place above it.
A shopping list, glued in and drawn over1 page. Stick in an old list and draw each item beside the word for it.
A string from a parcel, glued down as a line to follow2 pages. Glue the string across both pages as a wandering line and draw along it.
A tea bag, dried and opened, used as a page patch1 page. Empty a used tea bag, dry the paper, glue it flat and draw on its stained surface.
A ticket, with the journey drawn around it1 page. Glue the ticket in the middle and draw the route out from both ends of it.
A wrapper from something you ate today, glued in1 page. Flatten it, glue it down and draw where you were when you ate it.
An envelope glued in as a pocket for small things1 page. Glue an envelope with the flap open. Draw a label on it for what goes inside.
The labels from a week of fruit1 page. Stick in the small stickers and draw the fruit each one came from.
Paint samples from a shop turned into a landscape1 page. Cut free colour cards into strips and glue them as hills, sky and water.
Pencil shavings arranged as flower petals1 page. Glue the curly shavings in a ring and draw a stem and leaves under them.
Pressed flowers from the side of the road2 pages. Press them for a week under books, then glue them in and label where each grew.
The price tags from a week of small buys1 page. Glue them in a row and draw each thing above its tag.
Sticky notes from your desk, arranged into a quilt1 page. Stick the old notes edge to edge and draw a stitch line round each.
Tape a seed packet in and draw the plant it became1 page. Glue the empty packet down and draw the plant as it grew, or as you hope it will.
Three leaves from one walk, traced and coloured1 page. Trace round each leaf, then colour the tracings in the colours of the leaves.
How it works
Art journal prompts mix paint, paper, words and things you keep. Each of the 120 says how many pages it takes and what goes down first. Filter by kind, or tap Quick for one small page.
Read the full guide
An art journal prompts list by kind
Mixed media holds 27, from salt on wet watercolour as a night sky to a monoprint pulled from a painted plastic sleeve. Found and gathered holds 31 that start with something real: a ticket, a wrapper, a rubbing of every coin in your pocket.
Drawing journal prompts for words and memories
Memories and places holds 25, such as your childhood bedroom from memory, as a floor plan. Words and lettering holds 23, from one word for this year, lettered huge, to a blackout poem. Draw only what you are sure of and leave the rest blank.
Use a glue stick, not wet glue, on thin pages. Wet glue wrinkles the paper.
A coat of gesso or white acrylic stops paint soaking through to the next page.
For daily art journal prompts, press once a day and keep the page small.
Questions and answers
What are art journaling prompts?
A starting point for one journal page that mixes pictures and words: a mood, a memory, a found scrap. Each prompt here says what to use and how many pages, not what the page should mean.
What do I need to start an art journal?
A sketchbook with thick pages, a glue stick, a black pen and one set of paints or crayons. Quick holds 26 prompts that need no more, such as the colour of today as a single painted square.
Are these art journal prompts for adults?
They are written for grown-ups and teens, with nothing childish in the wording, but most suit anyone who can hold a glue stick. Moods and days holds 22 for looking back on a week.