Student Blobimals + Beckah Krahula!

Tags

Animals, artist, beckah krahula, mixed media, one zentangle a day, online class, teach, workshop, zentangle

These blobimals (“blob animals”) were created by the Thursday-Friday Little Bird NYC class last week; camera troubles put the ka-bosh on photos for Saturday-Sunday (sorry!).

I loved what Patricia Gaignat had to say about her blobimal experience at her blog, here.

Thank you, Pat, for the laugh and the beautiful work!

Finally, here is a demo piece I did for the painting class in Colorado the weekend before:

It’s an 8″x10″ mixed-media painting on wood…

My 2013 teaching seems to have come to a close (except the remainder of the giraffe class!), but I’m already looking forward to new online classes in 2014. At this time I’m only scheduled to teach one in-person workshop in 2014 (Colorado, September, details forthcoming).

EXCITING NEW TEACHER
I wanted to give you all a hint about what’s coming in December… I was able to secure mixed-media artist and teacher Beckah Krahula to teach a two-week class from December 2-14, 2013. This is Beckah’s only online class based on her phenomenally best-selling book, “A Zentangle a Day.” If you have ever wanted to learn how to Zentangle, I think Beckah’s the one to teach you!

If you would like to be the first to know details about Beckah’s forthcoming class, sign up for my newsletter here, or check back at the blog around November 5th.

To get to know Beckah a bit more, read this inspiring interview at The Good Weekly blog.

Yay!

Blue

Tags

art journaling, blue, Drawing, journal, mixed media, painting, Sonheim

 

Today was fun. Went to the zoo with Sandra M., one of the participants in The Year of the Giraffe class and saw, among other animals, the new baby giraffe!

Then I had lunch with the delightful Liesel Lund. And when I got to the office, I took a little time to paint.

A perfect day!

Day #5 • Book Release Blog Celebration • Drawing Assignment and Giveaway

Tags

Animals, art, BLIND CONTOUR DRAWING, Drawing and Painting Imaginary Creatures, drawing animals, elephants, imaginary animals, mixed media, Mixed-Media Workshop, painting animals, stylized animals

Hello! I have one more elephant for you!

One of my Facebook friends, Debbie Denton, posted this cute elephant to my fb page the other day and I thought it would make a GREAT drawing prompt for today’s assignment!

Even though the book is about drawing imaginary and stylized animals, there is a whole section on drawing from life or photo references. Why? Because I know that, for me, the more I look at, study, and draw “real” animals, the more authentic my stylized critters are.

One non-threatening way to draw from life is to do a BLIND CONTOUR DRAWING. This is a classic exercise (found in most drawing books) that is meant to start training your hands and eyes to work together. Also, since you are not allowed to look at your paper at all, you can just throw out from the beginning any stress about the outcome. (In fact, if it doesn’t look weird when you’re done, you probably peeked by accident!)

Here’s how to do it:

BLIND CONTOUR ELEPHANT DRAWING

1. Get a ballpoint pen or other permanent marker and a piece of letter-sized paper.  Scroll the blog post down so the photograph of the elephant is in sight.

2. Now, put pen to paper, take a breath, and pick a point (any point) of the elephant’s outside edge (I started mine at the top of the ear on the left). Then, very slowly, start moving your pen and your eyes at the same speed along the edge of the elephant. Keep your eyes fixed to your reference 100% of the time. Don’t forget to breathe!

3. Draw every curve and bump, and continue drawing both the contour edges and interior lines that define the main elephant parts — legs, ears, trunk, etc. — until you have drawn the entire elephant (again, without peeking!).

3. It will be so tempting to look at your paper when you finish drawing a leg, for example, but make it a game for yourself to NOT look. Just make your best guess as to where to begin again, put pen to paper, and continue.

4. When done, look at your “elephant.” Is it weird and wonky? Perfect! Here’s mine:

So what do you do with drawings like this? Well, nothing! Just set them aside, knowing that the NEXT time you try to draw an elephant from your imagination, you will have a much clearer idea of how an elephant’s foot curves, for example. Try it!

Art Giveaway!
I’m giving away these two little “Blobimals on Clouds,” below. It’s about 4″ x 5″ and created using steps from Chapter 3. Just leave a comment below for a chance to win (BONUS: If you do the above assignment, go ahead and comment twice!) I’ll pick the winner randomly on Sunday, September 30th.

And the winner was commenter #7, Carla Dixon!

Have fun drawing today! And, if you like, you can upload your elephants to the Drawing and Painting Imaginary Creatures flickr group!

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This post is part of a Two-Week Book Release Celebration for my new book, “Drawing and Painting Imaginary Animals: A Mixed-Media Workshop with Carla Sonheim.” For the schedule, which includes book and art giveaways, contributing artists features, tutorials, and assignments, click here.

“The Sketchbook Challenge” Book Blog Hop & Giveaway

Tags

Fabriano, hot press watercolor paper, mixed media, mixed-media artist, Sketchbook, Sue Bleiweiss, The Sketchbook Challenge, The Sketchbook Challenge Giveaway

Last year I was part of The Sketchbook Challenge, a blog created by Sue Bleiweiss devoted to challenging its readers to keep a sketchbook. You probably already know that Sue took her concept and authored a great little book (recently released by Potter Craft), and I was included!

The bulk of this book features sketchbook pages of 24 mixed-media artists, each working to a theme, and then taking the sketchbook pages to a finished painting, quilt, or artist book. It also includes text which each participant contributed to walk the reader through their process.

My theme was “symbols,” and I ended up choosing the rabbit as my symbol. The finished piece was this painting, which is titled “Sad Bunny” and now hangs in little Liam’s bedroom:

Sad Bunny, watercolor, gesso, pencil on wood.

Before painting, though, I made a 12-page medium-sized sketchbook with Fabriano hot press watercolor paper (140#), and filled the whole thing with different interpretations of rabbits. I was just trying to explore different media and ideas mostly, as well as draw from photo references so that I could get a better feel for how rabbits really look!

Here are a few spreads that made it into the book:

And, for fun, a few spreads that didn’t make it in (click to enlarge):

It was really fun to work with a theme in mind over so many pages — a way of working I don’t usually attempt (thanks, Sue, for the challenge!).

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The Sketchbook Challenge Book Blog Hop:

Sue (a.k.a. “Sueperwoman”) has lined up a list of very generous sponsors who have donated prize packages (worth over $1100!) to give away during the hop.

Comment on this blog now for your chance to win

a $25 gift certificate to Joggles.com

(Joggles.com is a site which hosts online classes.) I will choose a winner randomly on Sunday, July 8th.

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And the winner out of 170 commenters is #168 — artexpectations!

Thanks to everyone who commented (and said such nice things about my rabbits)!!

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And don’t forget to check out these other blogs, where giveaways are already happening!

June 26:
Jill Berry  http://jillberrydesign.com/blog/
Sue Bleiweiss http://www.suebleiweiss.com/blog

June 27:
Violette   http://www.violette.ca/
Kathyanne White http://kathyanneart.blogspot.com/

June 28:
Kathy Sperino http://finishinglinesbyksperino.blogspot.com/
Leslie Tucker Jenison  http://leslietuckerjenison.blogspot.com/

June 29:
Jamie Fingal http://jamiefingaldesigns.blogspot.com/
Lynn Krawczyk  http://fibraartysta.blogspot.com/

July 2:
Jackie Bowcutt http://stitchworks-jackie.blogspot.com/
Lyric Kinard http://lyrickinard.blogspot.com/

July 3:
Jane Davies http://janedavies-collagejourneys.blogspot.com/
Kim Rae Nugent http://kimraenugent.blogspot.com/

July 5:
Carla Sonheim  www.carlasonheim.wordpress.com/
Carol Sloan  www.carolbsloan.blogspot.com/

July 6:
Susan Brubaker Knapp  http://www.bluemoonriver.blogspot.com/
Diana Trout http://www.dianatrout.typepad.com

July 9:
Tracie Lyn Huskamp  http://www.thereddoor-studio.blogspot.com/
Judi Hurwitt  http://www.approachable-art.blogspot.com

July 10:
Jane LaFazio http://janeville.blogspot.com/
Kelli Nina Perkins: http://ephemeralalchemy.blogspot.com/

__________________________

The Sketchbook Challenge Book blog hop is sponsored by:

Mistyfuse http://www.mistyfuse.com
My Creative Classroom http://www.mycreativeclassroom.com
ArtPlantae Today http://artplantaetoday.com/
Gelli Arts http://www.gelliarts.com/
Joggles http://www.joggles.com
Sue Pelland Designs http://suepellanddesigns.com/
ProChemical and Dye http://prochemicalanddye.com/home.php
The Thread Studio http://www.thethreadstudio.com/
Blue Twig Studio http://www.bluetwigstudio.com/
The Artist Cellar http://artistcellar.com/

And you can purchase a copy at any local bookstore or the following online outlets:

Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Sketchbook-Challenge-Techniques-Inspiration-Achieving/dp/0307796558
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-sketchbook-challenge-sue-bleiweiss/1106242576
ArtPlantae: http://www.artplantaebooks.com/book/9780307796554

Watercolor Transfer Paintings • ONLINE CLASS • Registration Now Open!

Tags

mixed media, multi-layered paintings, online art class, watercolor transfer, watercolor transfer painting

NOTE: This class has started, but you are welcome to still sign up at any time and catch up at your own pace!

August 6-10, 2012 • Watercolor Transfer Paintings

August 13-17, 2012 • Cereal Box Paper Dolls

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W a t e r c o l o r   T r a n s f e r   P a i n t i n g s

Summer Camp is back! One-Week intensive workshop: August 6-10, 2012

In this class we’ll experiment with this easy and quick technique that creates some of the loveliest watercolor textures I’ve seen… if you love the intricate patterns found in a single rock, for example, you will love this class.

Using only t-shirt transfer paper and watercolors, we’ll first just play with brush techniques, working in layers and experimenting with fabric. (Watercolor on fabric? Yes!!)

Later in the week we will add other media to the mix: charcoal, ballpoint pen, crayon, and pastel to add even more texture and depth to these unique paintings.

And use cut and torn bits and pieces of the painted transfers to create fun and unique pieces of art:

We’ll also work with “plates” to create multi-layered paintings:

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To Sign Up, Click HERE

Supply List: 

– Several watercolor brushes – brushes that you have on hand, medium to large, round or flat

– Small set of watercolors (cake or tube is fine)

– One 30” x 40” sheet of hot press, 140# watercolor paper, torn down to eight 7.5” x 10” pieces; save remaining paper for extra paintings.

– One package (6 or 12 sheets) of regular t-shirt transfer paper for white fabric (Avery, etc.)

– white paper for drawing exercises (can be regular computer paper)

– ballpoint pen

– small set of water soluble markers (can be cheap)

– parchment paper (to protect your iron)

– iron

Optional items (I will demo these things but are not necessary to participate in the class):

– white cotton Fabric or t-shirt

– soft vine charcoal

– chalk pastels

Summer Online Art Classes

Tags

gesso, junk mail art, mixed media, online art class, online art classes, watercolor

Here is the line-up of my summer online classes (one week each):

Early Summer Repeat Sessions ($35 each, $65 for two, or $85 for all three classes)
June 11-15, 2012 • Junk Mail Artist’s Book (Repeat Session)
June 25-29 • Imaginary Creatures (Repeat Session)
July 9-13, 2012 • Faces 101 (Repeat Session)

2013 Dog Days of Summer Camp (class details forthcoming July 1):
August 6-10, 2012 • Watercolor Transfer Paintings (New!)
August 13-17, 2012 • Cereal Box Paper Dolls (New!)

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And, since this one is just around the corner (begins June 11th):

J u n k   M a i l   A r t i s t ‘ s   B o o k

Repeat Session: June 11-15, 2012

This is a mixed-media-junkie’s dream project! Junk mail combined with gesso, watercolor, a little swirly technique here, some packing tape there, creates beautiful and complicated textures that you can use as backgrounds for any mixed media projects you currently have going. In this class we’ll use our pages to create an irregularly shaped book. Then, we’ll DRAW! You will begin a drawing on one spread, with the goal of having each image connect to and work with the images from other spreads. The drawing exercises throughout the week will build up to you being able to see more creatively and embrace the “puzzle” nature of this beautiful artist’s book.

Take this class if you love textures, layers, and everything mixed media. This one is just FUN!
Note: This is a repeat of the class held in August 2011 (by popular demand!).

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Just $35!

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Here’s the scoop for this class:

• Be ready for a week jam-packed with creativity! (Update: If you do all the assignments each day, I estimate it will take about 1 – 1.5 hours each day.)

• Each day you’ll wake up to a morning peptalk email with links to your daily schedule, warm-up PDF worksheet, drawing assignment, demonstration videos and painting assignment. (Five days; five warm-up worksheets; five drawing assignments; nine videos; five painting assignments.)

• A password-protected blog dedicated to each class will serve as our clubhouse and will be our meeting place for all of the above, as well as special goodie bag materials and other surprises (including bug spray).

• A flickr group will be created for each session so you can (optionally) share your worksheets, drawings, paintings, and enjoy and learn from the artwork of others. (However, if you are shy about posting your art, I am always available to look at your work via email.)

• A perfect activity to do with your kids.

• The class materials will be up and available for download until “forever,” if for some reason you need to miss a day (or the week).

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Sign Up Here!

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• Upon registration, you will receive an email within 48 hours confirming your sign-up. On the Wednesday before your session begins, you will receive a “test” email to make sure you can receive/view everything.

• What you will need: You will be able to read acrobat pdf files and view videos.

• Class fee is good for participants living in a single household.

QUESTIONS? carla@carlasonheim.com

Thank you for your interest!