Sketchbook Party: Savina Monet, Merel Djamila, and Erika Lamar Buentello

This is the fourth of five posts about Sketchbook Party. If you haven't already, I recommend reading the first, second, and third posts before you read this one. 

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The tenth class during Sketchbook Party was "The Analog Collage Crash Course."  

Savina Monet explained her process for making collages on index cards from magazines and book pages. I've never done collage that small, so I was excited to give it a try. I used the October issue of Diablo Magazine, which was full of all sorts of fun images. Savina encouraged us to find small subjects that we could place in an unexpected setting, so I started tearing out people (and a costumed dog) that caught my eye. As I was looking for settings, I found an article about the 50th anniversary of Heather Farm Park. That's where Steve and I got married, 18 years ago. I set it aside, along with other landscape photos. After I finished making the whimsical dog and the kayaker collages, I made a third (larger) collage of the scenery of the part of California I call home. I added the word HOME and a heart. 

This was one of my very favorite classes. I like each of my collages and I had so much fun making them. I definitely need to do collage more often. 

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The first class on the final day of Sketchbook Party was "Paint Mini Nature Scenes." 

The materials list mentioned paintbrushes, but not what kind of paint to use. I chose my watercolor set, which turned out to be the wrong choice. Despite working as fast as I possibly could, I simply couldn't keep up with Merel Djamila's pre-recorded session. 

As it turns out, that wasn't my fault. She mentioned in the Q&A afterward that she'd taken 3 hours to do the paintings (and dried them between layers) and had edited the footage down to 30 minutes. No wonder I couldn't do in 30 minutes what she'd done in 180 minutes!

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The next class was "Sketchbook Spreads: How to Make Them and Why You Should Create Every Day." 

Erika Lamar Buentello's materials list said we'd be using water-based markers, so that's what I got out. Until I saw the color palette we needed. I made a quick switch to my Prismacolor alcohol markers, which ended up being a good decision. She led us through drawing the casita, then started with some leaves before we ran out of time. 

I enjoyed this class a lot. I wish we'd had more time; she was planning to have us fill both pages with a variety of related images. I also wish I'd seen ahead of time that there was a reference photo. Once again, I hadn't printed it and couldn't bring it up on my iPad without losing the class, so I was drawing blind. Fortunately, Erika did an excellent job describing the skeps and demonstrating each. 

The next class turned out to be another of my favorites and common in the scrapbook world. I'll tell you about that and the last of the classes tomorrow. 

Sketchbook Party: Terry Runyan, Natalie Lundeen, and Jeanetta Gonzales

This is the third of five posts about Sketchbook Party. I recommend reading the first and second posts before you read this one. 

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The seventh class during Sketchbook Party was "Paint Watercolor Cats." 

As promised, Teri Runyan taught us how to paint watercolor cats. I used Koi watercolors, then used white, black, and grey Prismacolors to add the facial features.  

This class was one of my very favorites. I had no idea how easy, relaxing, and fun it is to paint blobs and turn them into cats! I will definitely be doing this again in the future. I'd like to play with using a similar technique to make other animals too. (Bunnies, obviously.)

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Next up was "Sketch a Lush Landscape in Mixed Media." 

I was set to use water-based markers for this project, but the first thing Natalie Lundeen told us was that we'd want 5 or 6 shades of green. I don't have anywhere close to 5 shades of green water-based markers and I don't have any water-soluble crayons, so I made a quick switch to the Faber-Castell colored pencils that were within reach. So much for mixed media.

This project was very frustrating for me. I wasn't sure what we were drawing and I was struggling to watch the instructor and draw my own with materials that were different than what she was using. I don't like my finished project at all. 

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Next was "Make Pattern Borders." 

Jeanetta Gonzales emphasized that we could use pretty much any medium we wanted to make patterned borders. I chose Sharpies for this project and it was a good choice. The gold Sharpie really pops against the bold colors. 

I don't know that I learned anything new from this class, but I really enjoyed it. Repeating patterns appeal to me and I liked working entirely with Sharpies. 

After this class, I cleared off my desk for the last class of Sketchbook Party Day 2. It was really different than anything we'd done in the previous classes. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow. 

Sketchbook Party: Elina Lukas, Sarah Renae Clark, Nicki Traikos

This is the second of five posts about Sketchbook Party. I recommend reading the first post. 

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The fourth Sketchbook Party class was called "Sketchbook Practice for the Anxious and Worried." Perfect! I frequently struggle with both anxiety and worry. 

Elina Lukas instructed us to write a word in the upper left hand corner of our paper describing our mood. I misunderstood and wrote my desired mood (peaceful) rather than my current mood (frenetic). Then she had us to pick a few colors in our chosen medium, reaching only for what felt right. For me, that was Folk Art acrylic paint and Prismacolor colored pencils in peaceful shades of blue. Then she told us to apply bits of color to the paper in a way that appealed to use while she talked in a quiet, soothing voice. 

After a while, she stopped and told us to write our current mood in the upper right hand corner. That was when I realized I'd misunderstood the original instruction. But, I'm happy to report, I felt very much at peace! Although bits of stress leaked in when I realized my paint was still too wet to apply the colored pencil I'd planned to use and that my 'finished' project did not feel finished to me. 

But, as I told you in the first post, I'm sharing only what I made during the class, without adding anything after it ended. I may eventually work more on this piece, because I really do want to see what it could become. 

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The next class was "How to Draw Florals and Other Planner Doodles." I've been following Sarah Renae Clark for a little over a year and she is incredible. Of the 16 artists who taught during Sketchbook Party, she was the only one I knew before the event started, and I only heard about it because she mentioned she'd be teaching there. So I have Sarah to thank for my crazy-awesome, art-packed weekend. 

Sarah walked us through how to doodle a variety of flowers, leaves, banners, and more. This is what I made, using just a black Flair pen. 

Sarah's class was a ton of fun, just as I knew it would be. 

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The sixth class, and the first of Day 2, was "Paint Loose, Playful Pears in Watercolor." 

It was exactly as advertised. Look at my fun pears!

I used my beloved Koi travel watercolor set to make my pears. It was a lot of fun trying unconventional colors, blending colors, and just playing. 

And, as it turned out, it was a great warm-up for the class that followed. I'll tell you about it, and two other classes, tomorrow. 

Sketchbook Party: Melissa Lakey, Lisa Congdon, and Kolbie Blume

On Thursday morning, I heard about Sketchbook Party by Pigeon Letters for the first time ever. By Thursday afternoon, I had registered and paid the $29 fee (so affordable!). Classes started Friday morning at 11:00 am. All weekend, I have been taking art classes online... sixteen hour-long classes, to be exact. It's been exhausting and exhilarating, frustrating and fabulous, all at the same time. I've learned so much and am so glad I joined!

Throughout this week, I'll tell you about each of the sixteen classes. I'll share everything I made, even the stuff that is ugly. Sketchbook Party was about experimentation and growth, not completion or perfection. I've resisted the temptation to go back and finish my projects; what you see is what I did during the live instruction. 

Each class had a supply list, which you'll see below. We were encouraged to use what we had; in my case, that didn't always match up with the supply list. I'll be using affiliate links to share what supplies I actually used for each project. 

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The first class was called "Sketch a Cozy Night Scene." 

Melissa Lakey led us through a directed drawing of a bookstore at night. I used Tombow Dual Brush Pens, a black Flair pen, and a grey Prismacolor pencil. 

I struggled with this project. Not because it was difficult to draw, but because I had technological issues at the start and was never quite able to catch up with Melissa after that. I didn't print the reference photo and wasn't able to get it to come up during the class, so I was drawing blind. Despite all that, it was a lot of fun. I would like to go back and try this project again; I know the results would be much better.

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Lisa Congdon's class was called "Make a Cut Paper Abstract Collage." 

This was right up my alley. I love patterned paper and work with it all the time. I enjoy collage and the freedom of abstract composition. 

I have a huge collection of patterned paper scraps, so I picked out 12 or so that I liked and dove in. I actually used a Pioneer glue stick for this project rather than the Tombow Mono I always use with patterned paper. 

I love how my collage turned out. It looks absolutely nothing like Lisa's (literally not a single similarity) and it is so me. I need to do more collage.  

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The third class was called "Monet's Garden." 

I used the travel watercolor set that I love. No other supplies needed! 

Kolbie began by guiding us through swatching, then moved on to mark-making. She emphasized making blobs of color to mimic the impressionist style rather than trying to recreate a shape realistically. 

It should come as no surprise that impressionism isn't my thing. I tried to make Monet's garden (top left) but was much more happy with the fall trees I painted while cleaning off my brush between colors (bottom left). 

Tomorrow I'll show you the results from the next three classes. Like these, it was really a mixed bag. They definitely stretched my creativity!

Best Cities for Tourists Without a Car

I receive a lot (A LOT) of press releases and story pitches on a huge variety of subjects. Some are a great fit for my blog; most are not. Occasionally, I receive one that seems like a miss at first, but sparks an idea for my blog. Such was the case with Lawn Starter's interesting research about the best cities in the United States to live without a car. They looked at the walkability, transit options, climate, pedestrian safety, and other factors in order to compile their ranking of 200 cities. The results are fascinating, but not exactly relevant to my blog. 

Or maybe they are. As a travel blogger, I don't particularly care which cities are best to live in without a car, but I definitely am interested in which are the best to visit without a car. When I plan trips, one of the first things I check is whether or not we will need to rent a car after we fly to our first destination. It makes no sense to rent a car to drive from the airport to the hotel, then pay to park that car at the hotel for 3 days while we walk to all the attractions. 

Below you'll find my own list of 10 cities we have visited that are great for tourists without a car. In each case, the tourist attractions are all within a reasonable (and safe) walking distance of hotels and/or the cities have convenient (and safe) public transportation options or a hop-on-hop-off bus that hits the major sites. For fun, see if you can identify the city just from its nickname and the photo. Then click the image to see if you're right and to read about our family's experience in that city. 

Best Cities for Tourists Without a Car

1. The City of Roses

2. The City of Brotherly Love

3. Music City

4. Emerald City

5. The City Different

6. Cream City

7. The Windy City

8. The Live Music Capital of the World

9. Mill City

10. The Big Easy

Were you able to guess them all? Do you know of other cities that belong on the list? Let me know in the comments!