Horace

 

What have you been mixing up? What ideas are coming into your thoughts? Take a moment to get them down in your sketchbook (even if it's just a quick note for later)--and have fun with it! :) If you haven't settled on an idea yet, here's some inspiration from our community that might help you decide and a note about what's coming up ahead for us.

"I started playing with little shapes of color and then decided it looked like confetti! At first I was thinking I was mixing shapes but then I realized that confetti is a whole big handful of mixed stuff! 

 

When I finished my colorful shapes I added water to the crayon and then glued on some sparkly black sequin / glitter.

 

Then I repeated the whole thing with the confetti part being in blacks and grays (I added a little pen around the shapes) and I used hot pink glittery bits." - Claudia This would be such a fun print for wrapping paper!

Vanesa S utilized 3 different techniques for mix: “People who know me know that I was awkward being a kid and never really enjoyed kid things … preferring to hang out with adults. Well, at the age of 60 I’ve learned to make art using shaving cream and liquid watercolors … thanks to @theartfulparent. 🙃”

“I'm watching a cool little @strathmoreart “Spontaneous Landscape Painting” series by @mindofwatercolor and rather than toss out my background layer practice I decided to make postcards out of them … applying some distress oxide pigment to the edges for a finishing touch.” - Vanesa S

"An attempt at weaving with some leftover collage paper I made awhile back for a journaling project." - Vanesa S

Unicorn poop, cotton candy, a dreamy wonderland. Those are just some of the things these thick billowy swirls of paint remind me of! 😄 I love looking at how the colors mix, fade, disappear, and reappear. I’ve been obsessed with similar photos on Pinterest and wanted to create some of my own and thought “mix” was the perfect prompt to play with this! Here's a short process video over on Instagram.

I also had to do a black and white version! I like the dreamy unicorn colors better but also appreciate the stormy moodiness in the black, white, and greys!

The community photo album has also been updated for both April & May!

As we head into the summer months, I wanted to give you a quick update on what to expect! May and June will continue with our regular schedule of 2 prompts and 2 check-ins per month. In early July, we'll have a few weeks to rest and catch up. Then the 5 week Summer Sketchbook Un-Slump will begin in mid-July! That series will wrap up in August and will be followed by a little “summer break” before we pick up again in September :)

 

During our rest and break weeks, you can do just that! You can also use this time to catch up or work on ideas from past prompts that you didn't get to. I'll also be providing a few things you can try if you'd like!

Speaking of summer, these last few evenings have really reminded me that it's right around the corner because there's been sunlight past 7:30PM! Nothing beats natural light and I'm excited to have a little bit more of it to create in :) 

 

Happy Friday and have a great start to your weekend!
Talk to you soon,