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This week's free lesson is part 4 of 4 in a free comprehensive series that covers art journaling...well...everything under the sun having to do with art journaling! I'm covering a TON of art journaling tips with you today including a full art journal cover tutorial PLUS 7 easy ways to save (and how to fix) an art journal page using mixed media collage, gesso, and black gesso techniques and so so much more! To recap the other videos in the series: Video 1 is a full hour-long video addressing ALL of the fears you may be experiencing that may be holding you back and keeping you from diving into art journaling! I put together a 5 page pdf with helpful suggestions that goes with this episode as well as advice from myself and close (cardboard) friend, Bob Ross PLUS 5 easy ways to get you kick-started into art journaling! Video 2 was also a full-length tutorial that covered... So the background is done.... NOW WHAT?! I included my 10 BEST tips and tricks about choosing a color scheme and how to plan out successful composition in your art journals! I even made a free pdf for you that covers those points! Check out the second in the series right here now! Video 3 was then a full length tutorial using one of the backgrounds we created in Episode 1!!! We made a trio of ridiculously funny Emus and I show you the truth behind that art journal mixed media page; the doubts, the frustrations, and then how I was able to power through to complete it using the pdf I handed out in Episode 1 as well! To rewatch Episode 3 click to watch here! Video 4 is 7 Easy Ways to Save an Art Journal page you destroyed (or to fix on you hate!!) as well as my favorite way to cover an art journal!! Link to watch Episode 4 is below! And yes, I have a cheatsheet for you too! Look how cute my journal cover came out!! And it only takes a few minutes! Have any further questions on any of this? Leave me a comment below!
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Each Friday I publish a free video on YouTube related to drawing, mixed media or art journaling. Well in today's video I am going the extra mile and bringing you a full blown, 1 hour, real time lesson on how to paint this ridiculously absurd trio of....EMU's!!!  I'm so proud to say that the page was painted with paints from my Signature Collection over at Jerry's Artarama. Even though I have 2 kits (one for Fairy Faces and one for Whimsical Animals), these Silly Emus were painted with paints from the Fairy Faces collection, lol!! That's the beauty of art I guess, at the end of the day, can you REALLY put paints into a single category?!  But back to the "emus"...I know what you're thinking..."What in the WHAT?!" In addition to laughing my head off while painting this (for obvious reasons, I mean, look at the guys little face!!!), I ALSO ALMOST did not pull this off!! I really didn't!! Do you know how much pressure there is to teach online? Knowing that thousands of people may be laughing hysterically and NOT with you? But AT YOU? I know we ALL struggle with feelings of not being good enough or talented or creative enough to finish our art pieces from time to time.  Today you can see me struggle as well. I hope by watching you'll know that you're not alone!!! I don't want to spoil too much of the ending but suffice it to say I do get some help... Thanks to the 5 page sheet of Bob Ross encouraging words, and my own Kick-in-the-Pants suggestions (and if you're lost, it'll make sense when you watch the video), I was able to - mid way through (minute 41 to be exact!) - get back on track and keep going until this ridiculously fun art journal page was created!! PHEW!! THANK GOD! lol! Don't believe that I almost can't finish this?? And that I'm totally mortified? I kept all of that on the video so you can see THAT I STRUGGLE TOO!!! And oh man, did I struggle. And laugh!!! But yeah, struggled.  Hope you get lots and lots of great takeaways from today's lesson, but mostly I hope you take away that we are all students, it's okay to laugh at your own struggles and that it's important to give yourself permission to mess up and HAVE FUN! Like I did!! Press Play below to get your weekly dose of inspiration and FUN!!! I'm giving you my best 10 tips on Color, Composition and art journaling techniques today!!! That's my little way of wishing you a Happy Valentine's Day today❤️ Chocolate isn't awesome for our waistline and flowers will wilt and die but Art Journaling and Mixed Media techniques?? Those are things that will never get old or die!! AND they'll make the time you spend at your art table or easel effortless and downright FUN! Happy Valentine's Day indeed my friend😘  The BEST part about what I'm teaching you today is that there is so much you can do without have ANY art experience whatsoever!! I think for a lot of people, color schemes are really challenging. Today I share with you super easy ways to figure out your color scheme...tricks that I hope help you with your art schemes for years to come!  I also share my tips on how to figure out your layout or composition!! It's so much easier than you'd think! Wishing you had a cheatsheet to keep track of all these tips and tricks? Well I got you there too! Just let me know in the comments section if you'd like one and I'll drop you the link to download it!  This week's video is a doozy!! I will also be sharing with you some SUPER EASY ways to make marks with tools that you can buy OR make yourself (and yes, I will show you that too!). Remember: Art journals are safe spaces. They are your visual diary! You don't have to share them ANYONE if you don't want to. This video will help you get past the backgrounds and onto some fun and simple things that you can do NEXT. Again, no skills required.  Art journals don't have to be filled with your best talents (although they certainly can!). But they can most definitely (and SHOULD BE) filled with images and text and colors that inspire and comfort you. Let me help make it super easy for you!! Nothing should get in the way of you making an incredibly special journal. Press the play button below and let's get started. I got you. Earlier this week, I polled my Facebook group to get some perspective on everyone's feelings about art journaling. Just as I suspected, there are many feeling SCARED because they have no idea how to start an art journal, they're intimidated by the talents of others and think they won't measure up, they're afraid of the blank page, and of wasting a beautiful new journal and/or art supplies! What???!!! First of all, you are NOT alone, but... it's time for a kick in the pants... Art is supposed to be FUN you guys!!!! Art journaling is like the DEFINITION OF FUN because there are absolutely NO rules. Better yet- it's private. Really! Think about it- it's a book with a cover. The word "journal" basically means diary. So that means an art journal is YOUR PRIVATE SPACE to experiment and play creatively however you want to. You don't have to show a soul. Isn't that freeing??? Lots of people choose to do art journaling for mental health or stress relief. It's also a great release if you need to distract yourself while healing physically. In today's video I'll share 4 ideas on kinds of journals you might like to try- ranging from my current fave (a strathmore 11"x 14" watercolor journal), to how to art journal from an old book, and how to make an art journal from scratch. We'll also go over art supplies for beginners (all you REALLY need is a pencil!). Then I'll teach you 5 quick and easy ways to start an art journal page with various techniques to create interesting art journal backgrounds. I often use duct tape or masking tape to add texture. I also love collage and will share a fun acrylic painting idea for all the perfectionists out there!  Definitely, by far though, is spray painting through stencils...say wha??? You heard me! And in today's video you can watch me too!  I've got not one, but THREE special guests today who are waiting for you, so go ahead and CLICK HERE to start the video because we have A LOT to cover as we start our Art Journal Challenge together!
This week I also have a FREE 4-page guide full of art journal ideas, inspiration & encouragement to help you BREAK THAT BLANK PAGE & start having fun, fast!! 👇 Scroll to the bottom and tell me in the comments if you want a copy so I can send ya the link!! Come art journal with me! I'm about to get started on an art journaling challenge on YouTube, and thought it would be fun to show you a flip through of the mixed media art journal I just completed.  If you're new to my channel or haven't tried art journaling before, it's an amazing outlet. I feel like it's super personal. It's my place to go have FUN, be weird, try out new art supplies - and get creative. For me, it's a place I often go to for stress relief to let go of my day and whatever's bothering me emotionally or physically, so in a way I also art journal for mental health.  You'll see lots of watercolor in this journal because I used this sketchbook to prepare for my lesson day on my Scotland Castle Art Retreat last August. So lots of fun botanical watercolor doodles as well as some faces I did while I was in Scotland and after I got home. I've also got some graphite drawings and mixed media girl lessons I taught in the in the Fun Fab Drawing Club and Mixed Media Society recently. Stay with me till the end because I've also got an intimate peek at my FIRST project in my new 2020 art journal. We recently had a gorgeous day here in NC and I decided to paint on my back porch with my black cat Zoe! So you'll see her walk across my page ;) I kinda love how this girlie turned out and think you'll enjoy watching me sketch and paint her with watercolor pencils, noodler's ink and some chill music.  I'm addicted to my strathmore watercolor journal at the moment for art journaling, but always love trying out new supplies, so PLEASE leave me a comment and let me know what YOU LOVE to journal in :) CLICK HERE to see my ART JOURNAL FLIP through or PRESS the play button below! See ya on YouTube! 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!! 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!!!!  |
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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