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! ​

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!!!

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!

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!
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I've been so busy I haven't been able to post for the last few weeks. With my kids home for the summer and monthly travel plans, my creative schedule has been a bit all over the place. I just wanted to share my latest project, however, as this project is a special one for me.

I created her last week, I think the day before I left for Iceland. I was feeling guilt for leaving my kids and husband behind the very week they were returning to school, stressed because my Retreat is fast approaching and this trip was taking my attention away from preparing as much as I'd like to, rushed because I want to have lessons prepared for the Fun Fab Drawing Club and Mixed Media Society and angsty because I have a lot of companies breathing down my neck for reviews. All of that combined made me feel frozen and panicked all at the same time.
But I finally decided to go and practice what I preach. I know all too well how good arting is for the soul. What therapy it is!!! When I'm feeling so stressed, I don't turn to exercise, or council, I reach for my art supplies. It ALWAYS works...so why wasn't I doing that?! So I had a little come-to-Jesus-moment with myself and talked myself into creating for one day JUST FOR ME. No lesson plan, no ulterior motive, just for out-and-out therapy BECAUSE IT MAKES ME FEEL BETTER.
And you know what?! IT TOTALLY WORKED!!!
I did record it, as I like to keep a record of what I use and how I make things so I can go back and reference those ideas and supplies again.
I hope you enjoy watching this super short 4 minute process video. I also hope that this post serves as a reminder of how much art truly can heal and inspire.

​Who doesn't LOVE to play with a pile of gorgeous markers in a rainbow of colors?!

If you're anything like me, you can totally justify adding one more shade of blue to your collection, but it's not always easy to justify the cost. 

Plus, there are seriously SO many kinds of markers out there. Which brand do you choose? Which one offers the most value for the moola? And then there's alcohol based vs. water based...

Decisions! Decisions!

​Today's free YouTube video demos answers to these questions and shows you that contrary to popular belief, alcohol and water based markers actually DO play nicely with one another. Who knew?!

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Then  take a pic and post it in my FB Group  to show me how it worked for you! I'd love to see!! ​

If you need help with drawing or want an art buddy to guide you through some fun projects, check out  The Fun Fab Drawing Club  over @ AwesomeArtSchool.com.
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Just before I left for my road trip up to Boston (must have had a little seafood deliciousness on my mind!), I made this crabby crab.  His expression reminds me a little of my boys when I tell them no more screens. LOL! 

​In this project's vid, I show you my whole process from blank canvas... 

To laying down some acrylics... ​​Nope, I don't have time to wait for the paint to dry, so I use a heat gun or hair dryer basically always!

If you're a member of the Mixed Media Society at AwesomeArtSchool.com, I'm so psyched to let you know that this guy is your June lesson!!! I KNOW!!!

​So if you're looking to learn how to create this dude in REAL TIME with me, from scratch, head on over to AwesomeArtSchool.com, log into your account, and begin the paint date! The lesson is in the classroom entitled, "Official Mixed Media Society Lessons."

When you're done, show me a pic!!! I wanna see!

Summer is here, my kids are out of school as of TODAY, vacation is around the corner and I've been working like a beast to make sure that while I'm away you will still be getting awesome, educational, inspirational and (as always) totally FREE art tutorials on YouTube each and every week, 52 weeks a year.
I ALMOST got derailed from my hard work yesterday when, to my complete surprise, I had a visitor show up at my house!!! What the WHAT?!?!

It took me the greater part of the afternoon to figure who the heck sent this (AMAZING, HILARIOUS, MAGNIFICENT, HOT) present my way. After private messaging some dear friends, going LIVE in the Facebook Group, and posting on my Timeline, I figured out it was my very own SISTER!!! Ha! Well. If you love all things Scottish, Outlander or male, good news is that from now all you'll be able to tune into my YouTube art videos and get your weekly dose of my favorite fictional character as well. YUMM-O!
But I digress...
Today's video lesson seems kinda insignificant on the outside (a boring old pencil review? Really Karen??) BUT, employing the technique I teach you today can and will legitimately make a MASSIVE and immediate impact on your drawings.
And the tip I have to give you to achieve this IS SOOOOOO SIMPLE literally ANYONE can start drawing this way!!!
I'm actually kind of embarrassed I haven't taught you this before.
And...It is no coincidence that I am basing my entire new big fat drawing book on this principal, that's how simple and powerful this is.
So I hope you will take advantage of this snippet of free advice and watch the short, 10 minute video, learn and grow with me today!!!

Lastly, the full length, unedited lesson for this portrait is this months lesson in the Fun Fab Drawing Club which is available already, in the Official Drawing Club Classroom.
For more information, visit https://awesomeartschool.com/p/funfabclub
That's all for this week! Happy Drawing my friend!!