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I JUST finished teaching how to draw realistic hands in the Fun Fab Drawing Club, and learned something HUGE… Tracing is NOT cheating.  That may sound contradictory, but CLICK HERE, and I’ll explain. I am not an advocate of cheating, let’s be clear… However, I AM an advocate of saving time and putting in the time where it’s needed most. If you’ve been watching me for a while, you know when I teach how to draw a face that’s forward facing, I talk a lot about building up muscle memory in your drawing hand and arm. I tell my students to sketch tons of ovals until a face shape begins to emerge that they like. The more often they practice face drawing, the quicker they will get at drawing a more accurate outline of a face. This is called muscle memory drawing. In our 25 hand drawing challenge, each hand we drew was in a different pose- so we weren't building muscle memory when we sketched in the outline of each hand. The MOST IMPORTANT PART of this drawing practice was actually SHADING and using the value scale to make each pose look realistic. In the case of these hand drawing exercises, I think using tracing tools for drawing is a PERFECT way to speed up a drawing project that could potentially take forever ;) CLICK HERE or Press play above and I’ll demo how to use transfer paper to trace a picture on paper. It’s a pretty amazing mixed media drawing technique for any artist, really. Especially if you’d rather spend more time bringing your subject to life via shading in your favorite art supplies … from graphite to watercolor or acrylics. Would we be better artists if we did every single drawing without tracing? ABSOLUTELY!!!! Every time you practice- your skills grow. The more you do from scratch, the better you will be at drawing freehand. That is a HUGE SKILL worth investing time into! If you’ve only got a little chunk of time to art (like I do most days!) give yourself permission to trace here and there.  And do yourself a favor by picking up some of this amazing transfer paper by Arteza. 60 sheets will literally last you FOREVER.
Now go work on your shading ;) See ya next week!!
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We’ve all got at least one page in an art journal that we’re not in love with. In today’s mixed media tutorial, I’ll show you just how EASY it is to collage, draw, and paint your way to something new, like a mysterious mistress! I covered up an old teaching page in my journal with a layer of collage, using tattered pages from a tiny, old book I found in a Scottish thrift shop last August. They’re thin and adhere beautifully to the paper in my art journal with matte medium.  This particular journal is hardcover made by Strathmore and is a favorite of mine for mixed media projects because the paper is amazing! Since it is strong enough for watercolor, it lends itself well to mixed media art journaling. This paper has literally rocked any mixed media art supply I’ve thrown at it so far. I started my mysterious mixed media girl by sketching a female face over my collage layer with a Blackwing pencil (like butter if you haven’t tried them). I decided to reserve my acrylic paint for the lips, eyes, and hat because I didn’t want to completely cover up my collage papers. Click the play button below to see the whole process unfold in the short, entertaining timelapse tutorial set to swing music...Mysterious Mistress indeed! I outlined the face using my black stabilo all pencil. If you haven’t tried it before, press play for a quick art supply demo to watch one of my favorite mixed media drawing techniques in action.
When the pencil lines are activated with mod podge, they darken, smear, and spread to naturally add shading and depth. Enjoy!!! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! I hope you had a fab celebration to ring in our new decade! I've had a blast! But between you and me, I'm ready for things to settle back down so I can get a little alone time in my studio ;) If you've got any gift cards to craft stores or amazon burning a hole in your pocket and are thinking about trying a new art supply... Check out today's tutorial! I'll teach you how to paint with NOODLER'S INK.  Ink behaves a lot like watercolor, so if you're not in the mood to ink, or just got some new watercolors for Christmas, today's tutorial is PERFECT for you too. If you need a refresher on how to draw eyes and eyelashes, or how to paint hair and lips - you guessed it! Today's tutorial is PERFECT for you, too! Grab your watercolor journal and a pencil. Then PRESS the PLAY button above or CLICK HERE to begin. See ya there!!
You made it to the Hamburger Series Finale! I’m assuming you know what that means by now 😂 😂 😂 I know, it MAY have felt like we were done last week. We already sealed the beautifully detailed pitt pen doodling layer with mod podge. That should be it right? Not quite… You know I’m a HUGE mod podge fan, but as the final layer in mixed media painting on paper, canvas, or wood… this isn’t gonna seal the deal.  In today’s video, I’ll demo not one, but NINE artist vs. craft grade varnishes to show you which ones will do the trick, and which ones will last a lifetime when you are ready to protect all the layers of your mixed media your finished masterpieces. One amazing product will EVEN make your artwork look more vibrant than it already does (I know - I didn’t think that was possible either!). This same product (hint: by Liquitex), EVEN got me to fall in love with a gloss finish, when I’m typically a matte girl. Just check out this project, soooooooo smooth and shiny with it's final coat on!  In today's video we will try out 5 products you can pour and brush on, and 4 that come as spray varnish. I’ll teach you how to apply varnish to protect your art journal pages to keep them from sticking together, and how to varnish a painting, when it's done. Which varnishes are stinky? Which one takes forever to dry? Which one is JUST right? Watch the video and find out! I know I am!! This is week 7 of 8 in my Mixed Media Hamburger System series on YouTube! In today's video I'm teaching you the EXACT method I use for adding shading, drama AND details to ALL of my mixed media projects! AND we're gonna FINALLY help the mixed media girl I left sitting on my art table last week to grow out of her ugly phase! 😂😂 And sweet Jesus she was ugly so how nice it is to make her beautiful after all this time! lol! This was her after last week...  And this is her now!  A little bit of transformation there, AMIRIIIIGHT?! And, magically, the ONLY product I used to make her go from ugh to aaaaaaaaah! Are these Pitt Pens by Faber-Castell.  And, of course, my favorite product in the whole wide world, Mod Podge. They come in a variety of nibs. Personally I love the big brush version - but the nibs don't matter as much because all of these babies are filled with the same, juicy india ink. It's glorious for mixed media painting and glides beautifully over a dry coat of mod podge. In this video, I'll demo blending skin tones with faber castell pitt pens, and will show you two of their most MAGICAL features: they are easy to blend, and are actually ERASEABLE (for about 30 seconds!). If you lay down color you don't like or if you feel like your mark didn't land in the right spot, you can wipe it away with your finger or a baby wipe while the mark is still glistening! But that's not all!! This mixed media "Hamburger" series has already been so helpful and fun for so many people, that I've compiled ALL my brains and tricks and tips and techniques into a 70 page published paperback!!! And yep, it's now available on Amazon (affiliate link).  So if you've ever craved a little bit of a plan, something to take away the mystery of mixed media. I got you. Stay tuned for next week's final episode (number 8) all on varnishes!! See you then and Merry Christmas!!!!  I have an OBSESSION with Mod Podge. It’s one of my absolute fav mixed media art supplies, and I buy it by the gallon and use it in 99% of my mixed media projects!  Even though I use it all the time tons of students still ask me if there are artist grade equivalents to Mod Podge that can be used to seal the acrylic layers in their mixed media art journal pages and canvases. And THAT is a GREAT question!! Especially if you are creating art to last the decades or even centuries! I thought I’d answer with an art supply demonstration of 7 ADDITIONAL sealants and mediums so you can decide for yourself which looks like the best fit for you! To demo the differences, I created 8 mini canvases using my tried and true mixed media “Hamburger System.” I must confess, I LOVE THEM!! Here you can see them after I completed the first layer of ink and made them ready for their first layer of sealant!  After my ink layer, I added a few scribbles with my Stabilo All pencil (so I could test how well the sealant reacted with a super watersoluble supply like the Stabilo!), then tested one of the following on each canvas:
 Here you can see the full line up! Any products you recognize? Any that you don't? What do you think will work as well as Mod Podge? Here's the line up of vases after having been tested with each product! I must confess, I love them!  I'll give you a hint... One of these mediums TOTALLY surprised me and one I was COMPLETED DISGUSTED by. Watch the full video to see! Stay tuned for next week's conclusion to the Hamburger Series!
Happy art-ing! 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! 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! |
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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