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I have SO much information to share with you in today's tutorial as we dive into layer 3 of my Hamburger System! Before we pick up where we left off to power through "the ugly stage" of my latest mixed media girl - I want to teach you EVERYTHING I know about mixed media art supplies. Artist-grade? Lightfast? Fugitive? What does it all mean? Does it matter which brands I buy and from where? The answer is 1000% YES! What you learn today may mean the difference between cracking open your art journal years from now and crying tears of shock and disappointment or tears of joy and remembrance! If you make art to give away as gifts or sell you REALLY need this information. I went a LITTLE overboard with my SUPPLIES GUIDE cheatsheet for YOU today … by about 9 pages! Don't let that scare you :) It's gonna totally help you understand what watersoluble art supplies play nicely together in mixed media projects, which brands are the best, and how they change when something liquid (like water or mod podge) is added.  Watch for my fav time-saving techniques on how to blend skin tones with acrylic paint and my other favorite water-soluble supplies! SECRET: Blending with acrylics is really tough. I actually skip the acrylics here, grab my creamy gelatos or art crayons by Marabu, and blend with my finger! It’s SUPER easy and a much faster way to blend. (Skip to 22:39 if you’re in a hurry) Today’s download will also help you save money on art supplies because I've listed brand names you can trust to deliver the best professional grade art supplies, and have explained when you can cut costs by using craft grade versions. So whether you enjoy making mixed media projects on canvas or in your art journals, the comprehensive list of the best art supplies (both artist and craft grade) that I will be going over, will help you to make the best-informed decision about what to choose when you're out shopping next week! Getting a copy of the 9 page supplies booklet is simple. Drop me a comment below the video or right here in the blog and I'll drop a link that delivers it right to your inbox! No need to give me your email address.
Stay tuned for next week's conclusion to the Hamburger Series!
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Today, I'm teaching you my FAV techniques for adding acrylic paint to the collage layer of my mixed media art projects. To get started with this layer, I look to my collage papers for direction on how to choose a color palette, and select 3 colors. At this stage of the game, I don’t have a big end result in mind and am typically still just having fun- playing with color, pulling out my stencils, stamps, and smearing paint with everything from a brayer to my finger. (You can read about these same techniques and learn about my favorite products in my Mixed Media Magic book!).  As you’ll see in the video (link below, just scroll down a wee bit)… I prefer to keep my background paints fairly transparent because I like to see my collage papers and patterns peeking through. Since I usually love to draw and paint a female face in the foreground of my mixed media work, I tend to keep my background acrylics on the outer edges of my art journal page or canvas, and add them in one color at a time (drying each color with my hair dryer before starting the next).  I often lay down a thin layer of gesso wherever I plan to draw out what will become my next mixed media girl. Once she’s penciled in, I typically add another layer of gesso to her face, followed by skin tones. Then, I incorporate THE SAME three paint colors used in the background for features like eyes, lips, and hair. Quick Tip: Keep the gesso nearby to paint over anything you don’t like! Today's vid will take you up to the "ugly stage" of my next mixed media girl (YES- we ALL have to go through this! Press play to see MINE!). And then next week I'll be showing you how to power through. Speaking of next week’s video in this series, there will be NEW CHEATSHEET about which mixed media art supplies play nicely together in Layer 3 of my “Hamburger" mixed media process. Want to watch or re-watch the "Hamburger" Mixed Media Video Series? Click this link to access the YouTube Official Playlist for these videos 👉 http://bit.ly/hamburgerseries
When I first started playing around in the world of mixed media art, I used to wonder what the point of collage was. Sure the scrapbook papers were pretty and fun to sort through, but why bother if we're just going to paint all over it later? Now that I've been at this for a while, I finally get just how many points collage has!! Starting an art journal spread or canvas with a layer of collage is like a warm up exercise for a mixed media artist! Collage can actually help you clear your head, get your creative juices flowing, help you overcome creative block and even help you figure out how to choose a color palette for your painting layer. See the texture in her cheek? That's the magic of collage!  Join me in my studio for a behind the scenes peek at my favorite collage materials from upcycled thrift store gems like vintage books and sheet music to fancy collage paper by Tim Holtz! I also demo adhesive supplies like matte medium (my FAV!), glossy medium, and gel medium (so you don't have to buy them ALL!), explain WHY you don't want to do your collage layer with mod podge, and show you my favorite mixed media collage techniques. If you've been following along in the "Hamburger Series," this is Video #3. Tuesday's at 2 pm EST is when I hang out LIVE on my YouTube channel! This past Tuesday I did a half hour lesson on how to fix the following problems with eye drawings like: * Preventing uneven Eyes! * Preventing and fixing eyes that look too huge. * Eyes that are too close together. * Eyes that aren't the correct shape. * Tips for making one eye match the other. * Why and how not to skip the important tear duct. * How to correctly size the iris and pupil. * How to make eyelashes using proper placement and directionality. * And lastly, I give you my secret cheat that both rescues bulbous eyes while making amazing makeup affects! I hope you learn something new today! Mixed media art can feel super confusing for beginners! Am I right?! Not only do you need to learn about which art supplies "play nicely" with one another... there's the whole issue of WHAT SURFACE do you create your masterpiece on to begin with?! The surface, or substrate (think paper, canvas, wood) you choose to work on serves as the foundation for your mixed media art project or art journal, and is actually a pretty important decision that can turn your creation into a success, or a hot mess! Today I'm kidnapping you to my local Jerry's Artarama to take the guesswork out of which surfaces ARE strong enough to support your mixed media layers, and which ones just aren't gonna cut it. This is video 2 in a brand new Mixed Media Series based on my "Hamburger" layering system!! I hope you learn something new and fun today! Tippie was being my helper yesterday! She and I go over all of these awesome choices in the video!  Stay tuned for next week's video where I show you what mixed media art supplies and adhesives work best for the first layer of your project! That's right, I'll be showing you my collage techniques! I truly hope this helps you! If you have any questions, you know where to find me! This video is alllll about my layering process when doing Mixed Media work. I've broken everything down into 6 simple steps. If you've ever been lost or confused as to what mediums go where and in what order, this REAL-TIME video (40 full minutes) should eliminate any confusion!!! Hang out with me while I go through my Mixed Media Process step-by-step. This is a really good video to watch also if you're new to my lessons or if you're super confused about water-soluble materials and how to make them behave, when/how to do background, ALL OF IT!! I hope this video becomes a solid resource I can refer back to time and time again, to help people figure all this out! In today's video I am going to be creating a mermaid painting using ONLY Noodlers Ink!!!! I know! So fun! If you haven't tried these inks yet you must, they are GORGEOUS and lightfast and GORGEOUS!! Lol! You catching my drift here? Let's paint! SUBSCRIBE if you're new to my channel & click on the bell 🔔so you never miss a new video: http://bit.ly/KarensYouTube ✔️ 💜 I upload a NEW VIDEO EVERY FRIDAY and Now LIVESTREAM on Tuesdays as well! A TON of you have been asking about my supplies so here is the list for this project! to Products Used: 👉Strathmore Hardcover Watercolor Journal, 11x14 https://amzn.to/33W9bXA 👉Black Velvet Brush set for Beginners https://amzn.to/32O1JNY 👉Uniball Signo Black Pen, 1mm nib https://amzn.to/32L6mIF 👉Tombow Brush Pens (Portrait Set) https://amzn.to/2BEMf30 👉Noodler's Ink 54th Massachusetts (Bulletproof) https://amzn.to/347FmUh 👉Noodler's Ink Purple https://amzn.to/2olUBJW 👉Noodler's Ink Cactus Green https://amzn.to/365nsTW 👉Noodler's Ink Turquoise https://amzn.to/32OdZOv (these are all affiliate links but no worries, there's never any additional cost to you for purchasing through these!)  On another fun note, TONS of people are now purchasing the new book through me (autographed, of course!) because as of last Tuesday, I finally received my shipment of them! Yay! So if you've already placed your order, keep an eye out for your pink mailer!! So fun! CLICK HERE to visit my Etsy Shop to browse! All orders over $35 ship FREE! Haven't had a chance to preview the new book? Here's a flip through for you! As you know from my last email, this month brings with it the release of my 7th art book, How to Draw and Find your Style! In today's video, I give you the entire rundown of what supplies to need to actually do all the projects, as well as a page by page look into the content inside! Yes, all 260 pages you can see!!! If you're looking to improve your drawing skills of faces, facial features and hands, as well as eager to discover YOUR own personal style, then this video will show you exactly why this book is so cool! Click the play button below to watch! It's finally HERE!!!! After 6 months of writing and drawing and editing and finalizing, I am BEYOND ECSTATIC to announced that I have just successfully birthed my latest (7th) book into the world!!!  From realistic to sketchy, fashion to scribbly, whimsical to edgy, this comprehensive 260 page guide teaches artists of all levels, everything you need to know about how to accurately draw gorgeous female faces, features and hands in many fun styles, so that you can find the one that’s right for you! Through 37 step-by-step drawing exercises, you will successfully learn how to draw the face and facial features (eyes, ears, noses, mouths and hair) in different styles and mediums, angles and ethnicities. As hands often accompany faces in portraits, there is a special section on drawing hands where you can learn how to easily draw this otherwise very difficult subject. In addition, you will learn how to choose and "read" reference photos to help draw accurate highlights and shadows on realistic and whimsical faces. I also introduce a variety of different drawing tools to achieve unique results so you can begin to develop your own style! As a bonus, you get access to dozens of links to additional free online art lessons where you can continue your path to discovering your own unique style! If you are an Australian resident, sit tight because by Christmas it will also be available in your gorgeous country too :) Also in 2 months time there will be an eBook version and Hardcover option available!  Can't get enough of learning how to draw faces? Join me every Tuesday on my YouTube channel where I will be chatting, drinking coffee and LIVE STREAMING! I popped on yesterday just to mess around with some new inks I got and say hello and 50 minutes later there was this whole page thing happening!!! The best part was being able to chat LIVE with everyone who was watching, so so fun!! So set your clocks to 9 am on Tuesdays (Eastern Standard Time), grab your own cup of Joe and come meet me in my studio!! Subscribe to my youtube channel at www.youtube.com/karencampbellartist and be notified every time I post a new video or go LIVE!
As per usual, I've been a busy beaver! Since 7 short days ago I've released 3 brand new, real-time tutorials and one fun timelapse! I've also been to Seattle and Vancouver with my husband and 3 kids, and as I write this, am nursing my sick 13 year old back to health excruciatingly slowly! We landed from the airport at 1 a.m. this morning and my poor boy, Billy, has been throwing up every hour on the hour, since 3 a.m. Oh the joys of parenting. Oh my poor poor boo. On a brighter note, here's a pic from our trip!  In Seattle, we spent a day forging knives from horseshoes...how cool is that?! Its so much harder than it looks, but our knives actually came out really well! In the art land of my life, and prior to this 10 day long trip, I was scurrying to complete all the videos and lessons that would be released in my absence. Lessons for the Mixed Media Society and Fun Fab Drawing Club are released the first of every month, so those lessons were all done and edited before we departed on the 24th of September. Mixed Media Society members this month got a real-time whimsical girl lesson!! This is hands-down, my favorite type of project to teach! Awesomely enough, I picked out (what I thought was) a really cool color scheme made up entirely of Lukas Cryl Studio acrylic paints. Not a member of the Society at AwesomeArtSchool.com but still want to peek at the lesson? No problem! Today's free YouTube video is a time-lapse of this very same project. The Fun Fab Drawing Club members learned how to use the Stabilo All pencil to make really, seriously, layered and dimensional faces! (psst...there will be a timelapse version coming up on that one too if you want a sneakier peek!)  But wait there's more! I WAS vacationing last week as well and didn't have time to churn out a fresh new blog post so I'm including last week's project here now. It is similar to that of the Stabilo All project because the entire portrait is rendered with only a single instrument and water. This time, instead of the Stabilo All pencil, I drew with an Elegant Writer. (affiliate link) If you haven't heard of this before, it is a Calligraphy marker you buy at your local crafts store or online. While made specifically for lettering, the chisel tip (available in quite a few different nibs) is filled with the most unusual ink inside! It goes on black like a regular pen, but when you add water to it, it somehow magically melts into a gorgeous array of blues, grays, purples, greens and even pink!! You'll want to watch this video for sure if you've never seen this pen in action! The beauty of THIS tutorial is that it is Real-Time so no sneak peeks here! Yep, you'll be getting the full monty of fun. Click play to enjoy! Better yet, pick up a pen and draw with me! To say the summer has been a busy one, may just be the understatement of the century!! lol! While I've still been posting free tutorials every single week on YouTube, my opportunities to blog about them are slim to none these days. Thought I'd catch you up just a tiny wee bit, just for the last few months or so since there's been a huge, repeated request for me to do more whimsical animals, and now there are two more tutorials taking you through the process of just that!  First, I have to give a HUGE shout out to Jerry's Artarama! They've asked me to become a Jerry's Ambassador, and have supplied me with some super cool colors from their Lukas Cryl Studio collection. Little did they know I own every single color as it is! This is a small collection of my existing one! Jerry's has been my local go-to since 2007, so it's a natural fit that we should work together!! I genuinely love that store and these products!!!  But I digress! Back to the projects at hand. Feeling summer inspired, I created this super cute crab project for my Mixed Media Society students over at AwesomeArtSchool.com. But I didn't want my YouTube audience to miss out on the inspiration so they get a version too! It's not in real time, but you can absolutely see my entire process from beginning to end and if you wanted to, you can 100% complete this project based on the YouTube tutorial!! Trust me! I've seen it, and the results are AWESOME!!! Fast forward a few weeks, now we are fully ensconced in September and wouldn't ya know it, down here in North Carolina it's still in the mid-90's!! OVER IT! So I busted out my Lukas Cryl Studio paints and brushes one more time and painted this adorable fall squirrel to get me in the mood for fall!! And you know what?? IT WORKED!! Stay tuned on my YouTube Channel for more whimsical mixed media tutorials like this one! Or if you're more into painting faces, I have loads of those too! Like this one! This coming Friday I'll be teaching a real time lesson on how to draw with the Elegant Writer!! So make sure you subscribe so you don't miss out!!! See you Friday!  |
Karen CampbellFounder of Awesome Art School. Mixed Media Artist. Author of the How to Draw Fun, Fab Faces series and Mixed Media Magic!  
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What Fans Are SayingKaren, you are absolutely fabulous! You make me feel like I can draw anything. I have recently retired and finally have the time to do some of the art that I have loved since I was in school. I am really at the beginning of my art journey and I hope to learn as much as I can. Thank you for all you do. |
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