Think you’re not “creative” enough to do Bible art journaling? I beg to differ! These five simple ideas of Bible journaling for non artists prove that you can still study God’s Word creatively, even if you feel you’re lacking in artistic skills.
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More than likely, you’ve seen gorgeous images of Bible journaling, and wished you could do that too. Perhaps you’ve seen the posts on Pinterest or Instagram. Maybe you even have a friend who’s really into it, and seeing her journaling Bible makes you long to do that yourself.
“But, I’m not creative”, you say. Maybe you wish you could be all crafty, but that’s just not your thing. And if that’s the case, I have good news for you!
There is no “one size fits all” approach to Bible journaling! There are many ways to journal; the key is to find what works for YOU.
When it comes to Bible journaling for non artists, it’s not about how ARTISTIC you are, it’s how creative you CAN be. Let me explain. God made each of us creative in unique ways: the crafty ones, the science geeks, the writers and speakers, teachers, and everything in-between.
And thankfully, there are many creative ways to spend time in God’s word, that don’t require any prior artistic skill. You just need to find what works for you, and then do that.
How DO you do creative Bible journaling?
So, then, you might ask, ‘how do I find what works for me’? You just need to start exploring your options, try out a few things, and see what works. Start with some Bible journaling basics, and if you want to stick with just that, it’s totally okay. But if you want to try something a bit more advanced, go for it! If it doesn’t work for you, you can always go back to basics.
The key is to discover the Bible journaling techniques that will help you to study God’s Word on a deeper level. If it helps you focus, and it helps you to process and record what God is teaching you as you study His Word, then that’s all that matters! The whole point of Bible art journaling is not just to make pretty pages, but to grow closer to God. Creativity is simply one of many tools in your toolbox, to learn and understand the Scriptures.
5 Ways to Do Bible Journaling for Non Artists
Like I said, there are plenty of Bible journaling for beginners options. Just because you’re not an “artist”, doesn’t mean you can’t use journaling as means to study the Bible! Here are five simple Bible journaling ideas you can try, starting with the easiest, and ending with a few more ambitious (but still easy) options. You can watch in video format below, or keep scrolling to read and see the photos of each idea!
1) Take Notes With Simple Lines and Shapes!
I remember being in church as a youth, and seeing some older lady’s Bible that was all marked up with highlighters and post-it notes. At the time, I thought it was an abomination. Who writes in their Bible?! But of course, now I see the benefit of journaling. Before artistic Bible journaling became so popular, Christians everywhere were simply highlighting verses and scribbling notes in the margins.
This most basic kind of journaling is something anyone can do. And, you can do it however you like. Use one color of highlighter, or get a set of 10 colors and designate a different color for each subject. (For example, yellow for wisdom, blue for prayer, etc.)
And, as I’ve mentioned many times before, colored pencils make excellent highlighters as well! They don’t ever bleed through the page, and they come in an even greater array of colors than traditional highlighters. (You can see in the Psalm 19:1 example above, how I used a Gelly Roll metallic pen and Arteza colored pencil to emphasize the verse.)
2) Get a Coloring Bible!
Speaking of colored pencils, did you know you can purchase a journaling Bible with pre-printed art in the margins, such as this Beautiful Word Bible? It’s like a coloring book built right in! This is by far the “easiest” way to start Bible journaling as a beginner. You can just color the art that’s already provided, easy peasy.
The Bible pictured above is the Beautiful Word Coloring Bible (NIV), but I also love the Inspire Praise Bible (which is NLT). There are also many other coloring Bibles in other translations like KJV and ESV.
Colored pencils are my #1 recommended item to start Bible journaling for beginners (besides the Bible itself, of course!). They don’t bleed, are easy to use, and come in so many colors! My current fave brand is Arteza, but I also use Prismacolor Premiere too.
TIP: If you decide to go with a coloring Bible, don’t be afraid to add your own notes and highlights! In other words, don’t get so absorbed in coloring the art that’s already printed on the page, that you forget to really study and meditate on God’s word.
3) Use Bible Journaling Printables!
One more way to do Bible journaling for non artists, is by downloading printable artwork that you can then trace onto your Bible page. There are many great artists out there who provide these (some free and some paid); I offer several different ones on my Freebies page. I also wrote a whole post about where to get Bible journaling printables!
In the example above, I used one of my own free printables to do this 2 Corinthians 5:17 page. Notice how I used the colored pencils to highlight with as well! They really are versatile in that way.
4) Use Stencils!
Another way to bring simple art into your Bible journaling with very little effort, is by using stencils! This Faith Stencil Set in particular has hundreds of Biblical symbols, words, and art that you can easily add to your journaling. You can see in the example above how I used it to add some loaves and a fish to the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 (from Matthew 14:13-21).
5) Use Stamps!
Want to go to the next level, and add more elaborate art to your Bible? Stamps are an excellent way to do it! The art is already created, all you have to do is put it on the page. I can’t say enough great things about Creative Worship Stamps—they have tons of amazing stamps that are specifically for Bible journaling, and most of the stamps I own are from them. (You can also find Bible journaling stamps on Amazon, or on Scrapbook.com, but the ones from CWS are the best quality.) For more on how to get started with stamps, check out my stamping for beginners post.
For the Isaiah 55:11 page pictured above, I used the “His Book” set from CWS, as well as a stencil for the background.
✝️ I do hope these simple Bible journaling techniques help you to dive in, and get started journaling! The whole point of journaling is to get deeper in God’s word, study the Scriptures, and record your thoughts and/or insights that God is giving you as you study. The method you use to do that, is much less important than the purpose.
Hi! Thank you so much for visiting Divine Creative Love. I’m a Jesus-lovin’ girl, lettering artist, designer, and general creative-at-heart. And, I have narcolepsy. I blog about faith in God, overcoming challenges, and creative topics such as Bible journaling. If you’re new here, be sure and subscribe to my list so you won’t miss anything!
I do a lot of tracing. I just got a light box so I am not always having to use graphite paper and I’m so excited to try it out. People ask me if I’ve considered illustrating children’s books. I say. No. This is traced in here lol. But I love the art expression and the time I get to spend on the word and studying the one passage I’m working on
That’s awesome! I love my light pad, it does make tracing so much easier. 🙂