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Using Mixed Media Watercolor And Inks To Make A Gorgeous Face In My Altered Book Art Journal

25/1/2019

TGIF!!! Today's tutorial for the #100FunFabFaces drawing challenge was inspired by an artist I've admired for some time, Molly Harrison. I recently purchased one of her gorgeous prints on Etsy and specifically fell in love with the way she rendered the lips and sparkly eyes of this girl.

I mean, just LOOK at the way she highlighted those juicy lips and the sheen in those eyes!!! To die for, right?! I reached out to Molly and asked her permission to use this piece as a reference to inspire today's lesson. She graciously agreed! (THANKS MOLLY!!!😘)

I decided to work in my altered book art journal (which is actually a giant Alice in Wonderland coloring book from my local scrap exchange!) I started off by reinforcing the perforated pages using some decorative tape, and put down a layer of Daniel Smith Watercolor Ground (a new product to me).

If you know me at ALL, you know I'm obsessed with Daniel Smith watercolors. However, the watercolor ground - I didn't love. I'm an absorbant ground girl when it comes to watercolor surface prep, and still highly recommend that product after this experience. Lots of students ask me where to find this - your best bet is typically Amazon. I rarely see it in stores.

After my surface was prepped, I sketched the outline of my girl's face with all her features (sans one eye - to replicate the sexy Veronica Lake look!)

Actress Veronica Lake. Photo by George Hurrell, c. 1942.

Next, I squeezed a few droppers of acrylic ink, let them drip around, and pulled out a watercolor brush to drag some color where it just felt right. I totally had a blast in my creative flow, blasting George Michael in my studio, while bringing this chic to life.

When you watch the vid, you'll see I have a bit of a paintbrush malfunction while it happens to be filled with permanent ink, no less! I didn't freak out because I actually love the adventure of mixed media. When something unexpected happens, it presents an opportunity to problem solve.

I actually took a day to mull this one over. After a break, I was able to channel my inner Bob Ross, and turned my "happy little accident" into a somthing I actually love now, and would never have added to the piece if it hadn't been for that snafu.

I hope you enjoy working on this week's mixed media lesson as much as I did prepping it for YOU!

Be sure to check out the lovely Molly Harrison on Etsy & Pinterest. Her work is gorgeous!! Thanks again Molly! 😘

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How to Shade a Face and Add Expression!!!

12/1/2019

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In this week's face drawing prompt (#10 of 20 in the #100funfabfaces drawing prompt series) I will be teaching you an easy way to shade a mixed media face! Honestly, once you know where to put the shade, adding them with Tombow markers is a cinch!! Go grab some watercolor paper and let's do this! This project can also be done with Copics or colored pencils, watercolors or what-have-you! No rules in art my friends, no rules! Questions? Pop them in the comments section in the video or right here and I'll answer them, guaranteed :)

Want and easier place to access all of these free fun drawing tutorials? Enroll here for free! https://awesomeartschool.com/p/100funfabfaces

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Getting creative with guest artist James Burke!

5/1/2019

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HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
I hope you had a restful and healthy holiday time! We had a lovely time (mostly) of plenty of ups (Christmas, yaaaay!) and downs (my 11 year old car literally died and we were forced to go out and buy a new one the same day...turns out you can't have 3 kids with no working family car ). But alas, we are pushing the drama behind us and away we go into the new year!!
I am kicking off 2019 with fresh new splashes of inspiration as I begin to reach outward to other artists more and more to see what they're up to and see also if they'd be interested in sharing their talents with US!! The first artist on my list? James Burke!!! He is Australian (now living in the US), extraordinarily talented (that's an understatement) and said YES when I asked if he would share some of his ideas with us on YouTube (OMG!!!)! I can honestly say, after doing this collab, I can die a happy girl. I'M SERIOUS!

Yesterday he shared with us a REALLY FUN mixed media collage (art journal) technique on YouTube! With a fun mix of tracing paper, collage elements and Posca Pens (with a few loose watercolors thrown in for good measure) he shows us how to make some REALLY funky and FUN pieces to create on canvas in our art journals!

Click the video below to watch!

That's it for this week!! Stay tuned for more free and fun drawing tutorials coming out every Friday :)

For those who may be interested, this is week 9 of 20 in a 100 face drawing challenge that I am doing with my YouTube subscribers and within my Facebook Group and I AM SO IMPRESSED by the progress in drawing skills already!!! If you would like to join in the challenge yourself, it's never too late! CLICK HERE to be connected to the entire video series playlist on YouTube (all 9 videos so far) so you can start at the beginning. See you there!

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What Fans Are Saying

Karen, 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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I ordered your Fun Fab Faces book and loved it! I was having a little trouble getting the noses I wanted and now it's easy! Also, I love how you stressed how important having the three tones in your drawing is. Thanks a bunch!

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Thank you Karen! I never though I could do faces. You broke it down so it was understandable! And I love your book! I got it yesterday! Can't wait to start practicing! It's so much fun!!!!!

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Using Mixed Media Watercolor And Inks To Make A Gorgeous Face In My Altered Book Art Journal

How to Shade a Face and Add Expression!!!

Getting creative with guest artist James Burke!

Karen Campbell

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