Sketchbook revival – get inspired

book arts, sketchbook ideas / /

I am happy to share, that I am one of guest artists in this year’s sketchbook revival. It’s free so sign up today.

There are 30+ FREE art lessons over the course of two weeks. Some will resonate. You decide. I have participated as  student for the last few years and always got new ideas for my art practice.

Once you register you have access to three welcome lessons. I just enjoyed the French Link book binding tutorial by Chanel Ly. I have made a little french link sketchbook and I am waiting for the glue to dry.

french link binding

The daily lessons will start on September 23rd.

I am sharing the Upside Down Thumbnails exercise on October 1st.

thumbnail studies

There are extended bonus options available too. Hope to “see” you in class.

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Soft plate relief Printmaking class on sale

foam plate printmaking, relief prints / /

This month you can save 25%  on the Soft Plate Relief Printmaking class. This is a 6 lesson self study with 24 short videos.

foam relief prints

We use foam plates to create a series of printing plates that can be layered to make interesting prints.

foam plates for relief printing

These prints are made with water based block printing inks and hand pressure.

soft foam relief printing plates

We even explore tips for printing on fabric.

foam plate printing on fabric

Read all the details on the workshop page and be sure to enter the coupon code to save 25%.

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Letting sketchbooks evolve

combined techniques, drawings, mark making, sketchbook ideas / /

I have been working in 6 sketchbooks at once for the last few weeks. I started working this way so I could let wet marks  dry and still be in the flow.

working in multiple sketchbooks

I  do like having multiple books going at once but it can get a bit scattered too. So I started using a theme and that seemed to help the mark making flow.

letting sketches dry

Some of the “themes” that I have used:

  • draw 30 trees
  • add 20 flowers
  • fill in with birds

loose watercolor flowers

This gave me a goal that I could work across several sketchbooks at once. These 3 subjects were easy to add to my existing marks.

stylized horse drawing

Most recently I have been playing with stylized horses. These drawings are a work in progress. It is a challenge to work through ugly renderings. I find I like the simple loose line drawings best. A horse sketch needs more of a whole page compared to birds, flowers and trees.

fill in with bird drawings

If you are looking for a little sketchbook inspiration and instruction then check out the self-study online classes available now.

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Dig out your art books

sketchbook ideas / /

I usually get my books from the library. But I do have a few that I purchased.

Art books for inspiration

Today I pulled out a few in search for sketchbook inspiration. I got a few ideas right away and did not get through the whole stack.  So I encourage you to gather a few art books that have been on the shelf for a while and flip through them for fresh ideas.

Poetry

I was reminded that I like to do black out poems and collage poems.

collage poem

I am not sure I should even call them “poems”. They are a collection of words that moved me and they may not make sense. But they are fun to do.

found words poem

I like to do black out poems in large print books. It is easier to highlight the words.

black out poem

REX RAY

inspired collage was project number 2 that I chose to do. I really love his early magazine collage project.

REX RAY

I like the simple shapes and non-precious material. I think the sheer volume of his collages is part of the impact. I did a couple of simple collages. I tried to embrace the less is more approach.

rex ray inspired collage

So I encourage you to gather a few art books and look for sketchbook ideas. And as soon as you have one idea stop looking through the books and execute the idea. Jump right into action. Or you can check out the classes that I have available as self-study. Enjoy!

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Get the most from your drawings

drawings / /

Lately I have been using my older sketchbooks as reference for drawings in my current sketchbooks. This works well for me since I don’t love to draw and often I am searching for a subject.

photocopy drawings and add to sketchbook

In the example above I simply glued in a photocopy of the original sketch. I printed it on cream colored paper.

copy your own drawings into your current sketchbook

I this second example I drew a fresh copy of the original sketchbook entries. I am not aiming for exact duplicates, just inspired replicas.

tea bag and sharpie drawingsBut I am most excited to share with you the tea bag and sharpie process that I used above. I get 2 new “originals” for the effort of one.

  • My reference drawing is then in the middle with pink cheeks.
  • I layered and taped the tea bag to the small piece of white drawing paper.
  • Then drew the face with a black sharpie.
  • The sharpie bleeds through, with varies intensity to the white paper and
  • I get the second copy for free!

A couple of tips:

  • Use an ultra fine tip sharpie or a fine tip for bolder marks
  • Don’t pause or you will get heavy spots of ink
  • Add color after
  • Use fresh tea bag for a white drawing

Check out the current classes available online.

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