Scenes from the Sketchbook Project Philadelphia 2012

At the end of August, I had a fantastic time attending the Philly stop of the Sketchbook Project World 2012 tour. I lost track of the number of sketchbooks I got to browse through - it was incredibly inspiring to see books with all different medias- drawings, painting, words, sewing, collage, digital and more. 

My tour buddy was super-talented Highlights illustrator, Chuck Dillon. Hi Chuck! Here he is creating some tour mail to send along to people at future destinations of the tour.

 And the first sketchbook randomly suggested for me to read was my own, lol, it was nice to get re-aquainted with it :)

One of the most clever books I checked out was "Forks & Spoons" by Steph Calinski. It was filled with Forks & spoons engaging in all types of social situations.

 

 This cool book from Spain had braille imprinted on every page

And my favorite book of all was by a woman who claimed not to be an artist, but filled her book with adorable drawings, collage, personal writings and inspiring quotes. This page says "a good book has no ending..."

See you next year, Sketchbook Project!

PS- There's still time to be part of the fun & sign up for the 2013 tour!

Brooklyn Art Library & 4x6 Exchange part 2

Last month, I was in New York city to see a show at Webster Hall and I figured I better make a quick stop at the Brooklyn Art Library and finally see the place I talk about so often.  I registered, got my library card and looked through 10 or so sketchbooks from the 2011 tour, created by artists living all over the world. It was a really intimate experience, I felt like I was snooping through people's personal diaries. I especially liked one from a college girl from Ohio, who took her time starting her sketchbook, then procrastinated working on it, then tried to hurry up and finish the entire 40 or so remaining pages in under a week (she failed, and apologized profusely to the reader for not completing it, hehe, it reminded me so much of someone I know ;)).

I highly recommend checking out some sketchbooks for yourself! If you're local to NYC, last year's books are available to be read 7 days a week at the Brooklyn Art Library on 103A North 3rd St. The 2012 books are touring the country from now until September (the Philly stop is Aug 23-24!). Check out the the complete tour schedule HERE.

I also did a little bit of quick life drawing on my trip- first I tried to draw some people from the concert - (I was by far the oldest person there - the vast majority of people were waaay under 18, that was a bit humbling, I guess I've reached the age when I'm supposed to start attending sit-down concerts, or better yet, enjoy televised ones from the comfort of my couch....?)

 

Next, I tried to draw people on the subway, but I don't recommend it, it was bumpy, hard to get a seat, and people don't seem to stay on for many stops (at least Philly is good in this aspect!). I also hate when I pick the perfect person to draw; someone who is visually interesting, is sitting in my view, and isn't likely to notice me drawing them (very important!),  then I start drawing them and they get off at the next stop, grrrrrrr....... I'm not asking for much, 4 minutes would be perfect!

(I think that last guy saw me drawing him and wasn't too happy about it...)

Last but not least, I got my art from the 4x6 exchange! ( Do you remember mine from March?) 

It's a cute collage piece done by artist Linda Peterson, who blogs at myartmylifeme.blogspot.com/. Interesting, both our pieces featured birds and have a similar color palette. If you saw them both together, you could probably guess that each artist would appreciate the other's work (or at least I hope Linda likes mine as much as I like hers!). I wonder if Art House planned this? 

(Linda's art above! She also has a lovely etsy shop Dear Hazel, with lots of cute things!)

Art House Co-op - 4x6 Exchange

In the beginning of March, I was lucky enough to snag a spot in Art House Co-op's 4x6 Exchange. Art House Co-op is the fantastic organization behind the Sketchbook Project (which I also participated in this year -can't wait for the tour!...). If you're a creative-minded person, whether it be through art or writing, I urge you to check out their website and follow them on facebook or twitter. They are constantly announcing new free projects to turn on your creative brain.

For this project, I had to create a 4” x 6” inch, flat artwork then mail it and a self-addressed, stamped envelope to Art House in Brooklyn. In return, they will exchange my work with another artist’s submission and mail it to me...ah, the element of surprise...

So for my project, I decided I would make a peacock. I think they were really "IN" last summer, so I'm operating a good 9 months behind the rest of you trend-setters. I also still wear jeggings.....and I'm considering reading Twilight.

 I made my pencil drawing on a piece of matte board, you can see my 1 and only rough sketch in the background. I wanted to color it with some really light pigments and let the pencil drawing show thorough. If I hadn't professed a deep hatred for watercolor and given away all the expensive paints I was forced to buy for school, then watercolor would have been perfect. Also, gouache would probably have been perfect, except I have no idea what that is.  

So, lacking watercolor and gouache, I decided I'd try some super-thinned acrylic paint and try to achieve the same effect. I left the drawing on the desk for a few minutes while I went to get my paints. 

When I got back, I found this.....

My 5 year old decided she needed to color in the peacock for me, even though I had asked her not to touch it. I'm not going to lie, I was mad and I yelled at her. Then I felt horrible for crushing her creative efforts and apologized. But I couldn't cover this up with thinned paint. I debated drawing a new peacock, but lack of time triumphed over my former artistic vision. So on to plan B....

Glitter Pens.

Yes, I know they look like they are made for pre-teen girls, I'm not even sure why I own them. I probably needed to write "I love Justin Bieber" on my trapperkeeper or something. But they write really nice and smooth, they covered the scribbles (can you see them?) and they *sparkle* (hard to see through the computer).

I mailed this off today and will be anxiously awaiting my exchange. You can also see it on the Art House site here.