7 Things You Need To Know Before Bible Journaling

It will come as no surprise to those who see my Pinterest feed, that I’ve become enamoured with Bible Journaling. As a decidedly creative soul I was very much attracted to this more artistic method of Lectio Divina.

I recently purchased my own journaling Bible, which arrived as a belated Christmas present. I did a fair amount of research into the craft and read what others had to say about their preferred markers and so forth. Some of these I already had on hand so I began my foray into the creative world of Bible journaling and these are some things I’ve learned along the way:

1. Bible pages are thin so it doesn’t matter which brand of pens or markers you use there will be some bleeding and show through.

2. Applying a layer of clear gesso before using pens and paints etc will prevent any bleeding but it will leave the pages slightly crinkled in the process and change the texture of the paper. I found diluting the gesso with water provided just as effective coverage as applying it undiluted but it wrinkled more after drying. I personally would not journal without applying gesso first – the bleeding and show through is too distracting for me. I slide a sheet of paper underneath the Bible page just in case I get too messy with the gesso and it ends up on the page edges, sticking them together.

3. You don’t have to be great at drawing or lettering to Bible Journal – there are a plethora of how-to posts in the blogosphere and some websites offer downloadable images you can trace onto your pages. That is one of the benefits of thin Bible pages, they’re easy to trace through. For the image below I drew the floral design on another page first and traced it onto the Bible page.

4. You don’t have to spend a fortune on supplies but some investment is required. I purchased the Blessed is She Catholic Journaling Bible which was around the $80 mark, primarily because it was the only Catholic journaling Bible around (plus I’m a big fan of Blessed is She). The clear, or translucent, gesso cost me $18 at a local paint shop but I would have enough to cover a good portion of the Bible. The pens and markers I had on hand from other projects but the brands I purchased are expensive. If I included all these supplies in the costs so far I’d be looking at over $125 before my pen even hits the page.

5. You will need to invest in a good waterproof pen. A regular felt tip pen will smudge if you use watercolour paints over the top of it and can bleed into markers when you colour as well. I recommend purchasing an alcohol based marker which might set you back up to $8 depending on the brand. Other names used to describe these types of markers are: pigment liners (Staedtler) which you can often purchase at a newsagents, PITT artist pens, or alcohol-based permanent markers.

6. Drawing your designs in pencil first is always helpful, even once you get the hang of Bible journaling. Unfortunately there’s no do-over with permanent ink…

7. Bible journaling is not a competition. Yes, there are some insanely beautiful pages on Pinterest (although I always shudder a little at the artwork over the top of Bible text) but the whole idea of Bible journaling is basically meditative doodling, that is, reflecting on the words from Scripture and allowing your meditation to filter through your hands and onto the page. If you’re just drawing to make your Bible pretty you’ve missed the point.