Sketchbook Revival 2024: Collage + Drawing

Here's my final project from Sketchbook Revival 2024. The mug on the left was done with collage first and then drawing, while the mug on the right was drawing first and then collage. 

This workshop was taught by Julie Fei-Fan Balzer. You may remember other artwork I've made inspired by her unique style. 

This was an outstanding session, my second favorite from the entire 30+ lineup for Sketchbook Revival. (My favorite was Lucie Duclous' Modern Collage Bouquet. Out of everything, two collage classes were my favorites? Interesting!) Doing the two mug projects back-to-back, I learned that I greatly prefer to collage first and draw second. I totally would have guessed it would be the other way around. 

I watched the rest of the sessions without creating along. 

The second-to-last session was an introduction to Crayon Collection. What a wonderful organization! I love this amazing resource of crayon-based art projects for kids. 

The final session was by Karen Abend, organizer and host of Sketchbook Revival. After watching her host and create along during the 32 previous sessions, it was a lot of fun to see her teach her own. 

I had so much fun with Sketchbook Revival 2024 and learned a lot. I will definitely be on the lookout for next year's event. 

Sketchbook Revival 2024: Cut-Out Couture

The best part about a workshop like Sketchbook Revival is how far it can take you out of your comfort zone. Nothing about this project, which I made for the class called Cut-Out Couture, is typical Cindy. At all. 

I'm not sure how I feel about my finished piece, but no matter. It was really fun to make and I learned some new things along the way. 

Instructor Allison Wells started with a page in a completed gratitude journal, turned it upside down, cut out a model from a fashion magazine, and glued it to the journal. Then she added paints and scribbles and more paint and other marks before finally adding printed text on top. 

I started with a completed page that I didn't like in my sketchbook, squirted paint randomly on top, and dragged a scrap piece of cardstock through it in different directions until the page was mostly covered. Like the instructor, I left bits of the original showing through. 

She cut her image of a woman from a fashion magazine; my image of an elk came from the California Visitors Guide. When my background was dry, I glued the elk in place, then did some dry brushing to blend it in. I scribbled on the page, then colored in some of the found shapes with the same blue I used for a border. 

Time for marks! I used a Posca pen and colored pencils to add some details, then glued my text in place. It also came from the California Visitors Guide. There is indeed so much to love here in California, including our abundant wildlife. 

I was really tempted to do the next project, which was filling a page with watercolor rectangles. Instructor Wendy Solganik shared a cool tip, which is to put a little bit of the previous color you used into a well and mix it with the next color to ensure a cohesive palette. 

I watched the next 8 sessions without creating along. 

Even when I don't make the project, I learn a lot from just watching the instructors. I've been having so much fun with Sketchbook Revival!

Sketchbook Revival 2024: Colorful Tangles

Check out the tangle I made during the first session on Day 6 of Sketchbook Revival 2024. So much fun!

Certified Zentangle Teacher Anica Gabrovec demonstrated the simple, relaxing method of creating a beautiful and colorful design using the Zentangle method. 

We started by dripping water-based ink onto hot press watercolor paper (affiliate links here and below), overing it with plastic (I used a sandwich bag), and smooshing the ink to create a colorful design. 

When it was dry, we added a tangle on top. I used a Micron pen. 

The last step was adding shading and highlighting with black and white colored pencils. 

I enjoyed the process so much that I made another. It's amazing how different same pattern looks on a different inky background. 

Up to this point, I wasn't familiar with any of the Sketchbook Revival instructors. That changed with Charlie O'Shields. His Sketching Stuff books are fantastic. His workshop was great also and I learned a lot, even though I wasn't able to craft along. 

The next two sessions were also very informative. So far, I've been impressed with the wide variety of workshops offered during Sketchbook Revival 2024. 

The next project I made during Sketchbook Revival is way outside of my normal style, which is what makes workshops like this so much fun. I'll tell you about it on Friday; tomorrow I'll be sharing my latest edible craft.  

Sketchbook Revival 2024: Happy Watercolor Flowers and Modern Collage Bouquet

Here are the next two projects I made during Sketchbook Revival 2024. I love how they look together!

Day 2 of Sketchbook Revival started with Happy Watercolor Flowers, which is what you see on the right-hand side above. 

I was really excited for this class because I used masking fluid for the first time (affiliate link). I can't wait to play with it again! We started by painting flower-shaped blobs of masking fluid in our sketchbook, then used watercolors to add a sky and meadow right over the dried masking fluid. We added a bunch of splatters and let that dry. It was so much fun peeling away the masking fluid to reveal perfectly white flowers!

Then we painted, drew, splattered, and painted some more. Repeat, repeat, repeat. The project was fun, but I struggled. The instructor pre-recorded herself making the project, then put it on double speed to do the voiceover, cutting out the (MANY) times when she stopped for drying time. She switched back and forth between paints and pencils multiple times. It was impossible to keep up (literally, since it was double time) and a real nuisance to have to pause 30+ times during the 1- hour class. Despite the frustration, I learned a lot and I did have fun. If I did this project again, it would be a thousand times better, since now I know what all the steps are and I could just do them instead of trying to follow along.  

I watched the next six sessions without crafting along. Obviously, you learn a lot when you try things yourself, but there's still plenty to learn by watching others. 

I was especially inspired by Salli Swindell's session about Crafting a Colorfully Cohesive Sketchbook. She took 30+ colored pencils and picked them up randomly to color a triangle tessellation, then chose a set of 5 adjacent colors to draw in her sketchbook. I thought that was a really fun way to branch out beyond your favorite color palettes. I gravitate toward the same color combinations, so I'd like to give this a try. 

I loved loved loved Lucie Duclos' session called Modern Collage Bouquet. I played along with this one; that's what you see on the left-hand side at the top of my post. I want to make hundreds more of these vases and explore different shapes, patterns, and colors. This class reminded me of how much I love collage. I really need to do it more often, given how much I enjoy it. 

Tomorrow I'll share the next project I made during Sketchbook Revival. I enjoyed it so much and it was such a simple project that I did it twice!

Sketchbook Revival 2024: An Inventory of Inspiration

One of my resolutions for 2024 was to take two creative classes. I'm happy to report that I've (significantly!) exceeded that goal by participating in Sketchbook Revival. Sketchbook Revival is an annual online workshop, organized by Karen Abend, with classes from over 30 practicing artists. It is completely free, with an option to upgrade if you need more time to get through all the classes. This is the 7th annual event. I wish I had found it sooner because I love it so much!

I went into Sketchbook Revival knowing I was not going to create along with all 30+ artists. Instead, I decided that I would watch as many of the classes as I could (not always at a place where I could do the project), then pick a handful of the most inspiring classes to guide my own creations. I'll be telling you about each class and, when applicable, I'll show you what I made.

Before Sketchbook Revival officially started, there were three Pre-Workshop sessions. All three were very interesting and completely different from each other. From the get-go, I loved the diversity of instructors, styles, materials, and topics. These sessions gave me an idea of what to expect from the rest of Sketchbook Revival. 

Day 1 began with a session called Lazy Line Drawings. The exercises in the session were largely things I'd done before, but with a fresh way of doing them. 

The second session of the first day was about creating an inventory of inspiration - basically, digging through your art materials to remind you what you have and how those things interact. 

Since I've been playing with using different art materials on coloring pages, I was eager to give this a try. Maybe I'd find more media I could use for my next sets of coloring pages. I was inspired by the class, but took the project in my own direction. I ended up with this: 

I started by taping off the edges of the spread. I mentally divided the space into six rectangles, then added swashes of paint in each in rainbow order. I used a bunch of different types of paints (acrylic, watercolor, gouache) in different colors, playing with how they looked layered on each other.

When everything was dry, I added marks on top of the paint, using everything I could think of that might color over paint. I didn't pay any attention to creating a pretty sketchbook spread; instead the focus was on trial and error. This process was a lot of fun and very informative. 

After I took off the tape, I added various glitter glues in small areas. They didn't photograph well, but they're easy to see in real life. 

Want to see more of what I've done so far with Sketchbook Revival? Tomorrow I'll tell you about my next two projects.