Category: Celtic Collective

How YOU Can Become a SUCCESSFUL ARTIST with NO TALENT, TIME or PASSION.

5/9/2023

Have you heard my story before?

About how I grew up with NO INTEREST IN ART, wanted to be Jane Goodall, legit studied monkeys, and went to Africa during college?!

I didn't create my first drawing, or start even thinking about art, until I was in my 30s. And to me, it felt like that was "too late" to get into a new hobby. I had tons of self-doubt, and never thought I'd be able to make something I could be proud of.

At that time, I had some seriously limiting self-beliefs. I really felt like artists were BORN with talent, and you either got that gene or didn't.

What I've learned since that first drawing, is that artists CAN be made. You don't have to be "Born with talent."

In fact, ANYONE can be an artist. You just need to learn the artsy skills you don't have yet! And then... you need to practice.

Because the more you practice, the better you'll get!

That my friend, is the recipe for success and is how to become an Awesome Artist!

Come check out today's video and see pix of exactly where I came from. If I could become an Awesome Artist - YOU CAN TOO!!

Wanna Become an Awesome Artist Too?

Yay! I have SO many resources for you. Why don't you grab one of my freebies to help you get started today?

?Learn HOW to draw proportional faces with my FREE & EASY face drawing guidelines!

?Learn HOW to mix your media & layer your supplies to create mixed media masterpieces instead of messes with my FREE Hamburger System Cheatsheet!

Want Online Art Lessons
You Can ENJOY at Your Own Pace?

There is SO much fun ready and waiting for you in the art clubs over at Awesome Art School!!

✏️Learn how to draw faces, figures, animals & basically anything in the Fun Fab Drawing Club!

?Learn about your supplies + how to paint & layer them to create art you love in the Mixed Media Society!

?Create magical fantasy art drawings and paintings like fairies, unicorns, castles, and SO much more in the Celtic Collective with Lucy Brydon & Me!

Need More Resources?

❤️ CHECK OUT ALL my art books on AMAZON
❤️ MY FAVORITE ART SUPPLIES on AMAZON (affiliate links)
❤️ MY BELOVED FACEBOOK GROUP

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PREVENT a Mixed Media MESS! THESE Art Supplies WORK with Watercolors Make a Masterpiece!

30/8/2023

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I get asked ALL the time about which mixed media art supplies can be layered ON TOP of watercolor (and other water-soluble art supplies!).

Today on my Mixed Media YouTube channel, I'm demo-ing a couple of my favorite art supply combos to use with watercolor, PLUS sharing an entire 32-page PDF full of tried-and-true mixed media art supply combos from other artists that you might want to try at home in your own projects!

As you'll in today's video, I'm referencing my FREE 32-page "Hot Dog Packet." The "hot dog system" is the EASY mixed media layering process I use when I only want to use a couple of art supplies to create a project and be done. The main way this differs from my Mixed Media Hamburger System, is fewer layers (no collage) and fewer supplies.

Since I of course don't have all the answers and love learning just as much as I love teaching - I reached out to a number of my artsy friends a while back, and asked them which mixed media art supply combos they loved.

I compiled all their answers in the "Hot Dog Packet" so you know exactly which mixed media art supplies to reach for to create a masterpiece instead of a hot mess express!

CLICK HERE or press the button below to download your own FREE copy of the "Hot Dog Packet" so you can follow along at home!

The "Hot Dog Packet" also includes BLANK "hot dog worksheets" that you can fill in with your OWN favorite mixed media art supply combos when you discover combos you love and want to use again. Enjoy!!

*All Product links are affiliate and for U.S. Residents only.*

During today's demo, you might notice I'm going to be watercoloring the "anime goddess" I drew on my YouTube drawing channel last week during my book review of How to Draw Anime and Manga for Beginners (highly recommend that book, by the way- grab it here on Amazon).

Today I'm using another cute little watercolor set by Prima called Essence. You can grab one off of Amazon here if you'd like. This is the third Prima watercolor palette I've reviewed on my Mixed Media YouTube channel. I'm not gonna lie, this particular set is not my favorite, but that's ok.

I think the Current set (blues & greens), is still my favorite (used to create this handsome dude below; watch that video here).

In case you haven't seen my other Prima watercolor set reviews, and are looking for a fine art quality palette - these little sets are NOT what you're looking for (Click here to watch How to Start Your First Daniel Smith Watercolor Collection).

Like anything, you get what you pay for. Prima watercolor sets include 12 watercolors and run around $25 or less on Amazon. They are PERFECT for beginners - especially if you've never tried watercolor, and aren't sure if you'll even enjoy it. The quality and value you'll get out of these little palettes in insane.

If you're NOT a watercolor beginner, I think these Prima palettes are are still "good enough" quality for just playing around and having a little fun. I can definitely tell the difference between these and my Daniel Smith watercolor collection. These are definitely a bit of a downgrade. But... they're an awesome size to use for travel if you enjoy art-ing on the go.

And I really do think Prima does a great job of compiling striking assortments of colors that go together well so you can sit right down and start creating a project with confidence. This is ESPECIALLY true with their Currents collection :)

If you were hanging out with me a couple of weeks ago on my Mixed Media YouTube channel, I demo'd three easy watercolor techniques for beginners. One of those techniques was wet-on-wet watercoloring, which you'll totally notice is used in the entire background for today's project.

Before I even dive into my watercolors, I prepped my watercolor paper used a little masking fluid, or frisket, so I can keep the stars in my background super white while I watercolor the rest of this project!

As you'll see in the video, after finishing my wet-on-wet background, I was feeling a little underwhelmed with the Essence palette and frankly the boldness of watercolor in general.

This is something I struggle with often about watercolor because I LOVE bold and vibrant colors. A lot of the time watercolor - even the expensive ones- can leave me wanting something more.

When I'm feeling like this, I might add in some Noodler's Ink (check this playlist out for WHY I'm OBSESSED with Fountain Pen Ink Painting) like I did in the piece below.

Other times, like today, I'll look to another mixed media supply to help me achieve the intensity I'm after!

Today, I was in the mood for gouache! In case you don't even know what the heck gouache is, check out this video. Long story short, gouache is an opaque watercolor that kinda looks like acrylic when it's dry. This is a good gouache set of 24 to try if you're in the mood to experiment with a LOT of colors for not too much cash. Spend another $20 and you can double the number of colors you get!

I learned everything I know about gouache from my Scottish bestie, Lucy Brydon! She uses it ALL the time and has some great info tucked into the Celtic Collective art club that we run together at Awesome Art School in case you're interested in trying this super fun medium with friends and diving DEEPER than you can into this world than YouTube.

Once my gouache layer was complete in today's project, I reached for my PERMANENT art supplies that I knew wouldn't reactivate either the watercolor or gouache layers. Some of my permanent favorites include posca paint markers, sharpie paint pens or acrylic paint markers.

What you want to stay away from if you want to doodle over your watercolors is water-reactive dye-based ink pens. These will bleed into your other layers and reactivate them.

I hope you found today's video helpful, and thanks for hanging out with me!!

What to Watch Next

Wanna learn MORE "hot dog style" mixed media art projects on YouTube? This playlist is for YOU!!

Wanna Create This Project With Me in Real-Time?

She's a step-by-step lesson coming up in the Celtic Collective for October! So excited!! Learn more about the Celtic Collective art club here, and join the waitlist to get notified when we're enrolling new members!

Need More Resources?

❤️ CHECK OUT ALL my art books on AMAZON
❤️ CHECK OUT ALL my online art classes @ Awesome Art School
❤️ MY FAVORITE ART SUPPLIES on AMAZON (affiliate links)
❤️ MY BELOVED FACEBOOK GROUP

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Obsessed with the CURRENT Watercolor Confections Set by Art Philosophy (PRIMA)!

24/7/2023

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If you've been following me for a while, you know how much I LOVE the Complexions Watercolor set by Prima. Since falling in love with that little palette for creating watercolor portraits, I've continued to add MORE Prima watercolor sets to my art supply stash- just like the Terrain set I reviewed last week.

While I was in Scotland for my last Scottish Castle Art Retreat, I happened to be in a little art shop and noticed the CURRENT watercolor set by Prima that I'm reviewing today.

It's kind of hilarious because I've been meaning to buy this little set forever, at home, and just hadn't. So, while in Scotland, I decided it could be an artsy keepsake from my trip, so into my suitcase, it went!

All product links are Affiliate. I may earn a small commission if you choose to order through these links but by law there is never any additional cost to the consumer for doing so. I thank you for your support.

If you aren't familiar with any of the Watercolor Confections sets by Prima, there are TONS of things to love! First off, they're SO AFFORDABLE! A cute little palette of 12 half pans will only run you about $20-25 on Amazon, or just $2 per little half pan of color!

Love the paintbrush shown below and featured in ALL of my watercolor and fountain pen ink videos? ME TOO! It's by the lovely and talented Polina Bright. Learn more about WHY I love them in this video (or get 10% off your own brushes on her website using the coupon code KARENCAMPBELL at checkout!).

Last week on YouTube, I reviewed the Terrain watercolor set by Prima, and shared with you how much I also love the cute little swatching card Prima includes with their watercolor sets.

As you can see below, somewhere in my swatching journey over the years, I decided to DOUBLE swatch my watercolors using these cute, skinny watercolor journals - even when a swatch card is included with my set! The main reason I do this is because the little swatch cards are exactly THAT- small. It can be super easy for these little cards to fall out and slip away into oblivion when you open and close the palettes.

Because it's a LOT harder to lose an entire watercolor journal, I started doing this as a backup, just in case :) Plus- I've kinda just fallen in love with the mindless activity of swatching watercolors. It's like art therapy! There is no skill involved, and zero pressure of any kind. I simply put on whatever music suits my mood, grab a paintbrush and totally enjoy myself. Something about it feels kinda like spending time getting to know a quality, new friend to me.

In terms of the colors represented in the Current watercolor set I'm demo-ing today, I LOVED them. I did, however, feel there were a couple of shades that were SO similar to another one that they almost felt redundant.

I know!! That's if I'm being really picky. Instead of focusing on that, I tried to appreciate the subtle differences of the colors that felt alike, and challenged myself to use EACH and EVERY shade in the project you're about to watch unfold!

The project featured in today's video is from a lesson in my Celtic Collective art club over at Awesome Art School.

The Celtic Collective is ALL about fantasy art drawing and painting, all things fairies, elves, castles, unicorns, you name it!

If you'd like to learn how to draw AND paint this magical (dare I say, HOT?!) elf - hop over to the Celtic Collective for the step-by-step drawing and painting lessons in real-time (no timelapse!).

You're also in luck if you happen to be reading this in July 2023, because I'm currently taking on NEW Celtic Collective members right now (enrollment is also currently open for the Mixed Media Society and Fun Fab Drawing Club if those are more your style!).

Can't decide which club sounds more fun?! Me either!! I love them all!! There's a club for that too, called The Wonder Bundle. Buy two clubs, and get ONE ABSOLUTELY FREE!!

Enrollment for new club members only happens 3 times a year, so if you're looking for an amazing art community overflowing with FUN lessons designed to make YOU an awesome artist - I'd love to have you!!

If you're not in the mood to draw or paint along today, and would rather watch this hottie come together in minutes, meet me over on YouTube instead!

Think Swatching Art Supplies is Boring?

I used to feel exactly the same way (and at times still can if I'm doing it on a day when I can't sit still). I created the two books below to make the entire swatching process more fun! They're available on Amazons worldwide.

If you'd like to use these books for watercolor swatching, I have a little suggestion because these books have not been printed on watercolor paper. Pick a page from one of the books and use it as a reference! Draw the image(s) onto your own sheet of watercolor paper, and swatch away :)

And - in case you're a newbie here, or just need a reminder, paper is JUST AS IMPORTANT as the other art supplies in your stash (these are all my faves on Amazon). Sometimes paper is THE MOST important art supply - like in the case of watercolors and water-soluble mixed media art supplies.

Wanna learn MORE about how to choose the right paper for your mixed media art projects? This one's for YOU!

Want MORE Prima
Watercolor Confections Set Demos/ Reviews?

Here's the one from last week about the Terrain set:

The one below is about the Complexions set. I'm OBSESSED with this for creating watercolor portraits because I WAY prefer dipping my brush right into the exact color I want, instead of mixing my own skin tones!!

Enjoy!! And thanks for hanging out with me today!!

Need More Resources?

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The Celtic Collective Fantasy Art Membership with Artists Karen Campbell & Lucy Brydon

10/7/2023

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If you LOVE fantasy art drawing and painting, you're in the right place! Today on YouTube, I'm sharing a sneak peek at lessons inside the Celtic Collective art club that I run with Lucy Brydon over at Awesome Art School!

Lucy and I became instant friends on an art retreat in Scotland quite a few years ago. We kept in touch, and in 2019, decided to put our combined 30 years of art experience together to host OUR OWN art retreat at Wardhill Castle in Scotland! (Our most recent retreat was just a couple of weeks ago).

The fun didn't stop there!! In 2020, we decided to form an art membership just for people who loved all things fantasy art and have been having a blast with our artsy community ever since.

Here we are (below) on one of our monthly zoom calls together!! We have so many awesome members, we'll never all fit on one screen together!!

Our monthly art lessons explore drawing, watercolor, acrylics, gouache, alcohol markers- you name it! We hold NOTHING back, and share ALL our tricks, tips, and SECRETS plus one-of-a-kind projects that you can BINGE away on until your heart's content!

Each lesson is FUN, filmed in real-time and step-by-step to help you create beautiful art you can be proud of from start to finish.

One of the BEST PARTS about the Celtic Collective is that you don't need ANY prior art experience to join! In fact, we have TONS of beginners.

If you've always been drawn to fantasy art but have NO IDEA where to start - we've got you covered!! As teachers, Lucy and I always take our time making sure our students feel supported with EVERY line drawn and painted - no matter what level of art experience they have.

Once youjoin the Celtic Collective, you can choose to start with the basics or refresh your knowledge if you're a returning artist who hasn't created in a while.

Or, if you've been around the block and know what you're doing, feel free to dive right in based on the projects YOU want to create!

Check out this recent unicorn lesson from Lucy! See it in progress during today's Celtic Collective sneak peek on YouTube!!

Learn how to draw a unicorn in pencil, step-by-step, and then how to watercolor your unicorn with gorgeous techniques shared by Lucy. Aren't her metallic watercolors divine?!

Not in the mood to paint? I hear ya!! Check out one of my MANY alcohol marker projects, like this gorgeous mermaid!

Loving the watercolor and want to try painting a mermaid partly underwater? Check this project out from Lucy, and enjoy the sneak peek in action over on YouTube.

These projects are beyond fabulous and SO MUCH FUN to create!

Not sure what you'll be in the mood to create from one day to another? You're gonna LOVE our Visual Project Index!! Check this out - once you're a member, simply log in, scroll through the Visual Project Index, and click on whatever floats your boat that day!! OR -- you can choose where to begin based on your level of art experience.

There's never a dull moment in the Celtic Collective, and you'll NEVER be at a loss for something FUN to create!!

We'd love to have you join us!! Learn more about the Celtic Collective and how to join, HERE at Awesome Art School.

Need Other Resources?

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blog

How YOU Can Become a SUCCESSFUL ARTIST with NO TALENT, TIME or PASSION.

Wanna Become an Awesome Artist Too?

Want Online Art Lessons
You Can ENJOY at Your Own Pace?

Need More Resources?

PREVENT a Mixed Media MESS! THESE Art Supplies WORK with Watercolors Make a Masterpiece!

What to Watch Next

Wanna Create This Project With Me in Real-Time?

Need More Resources?

Obsessed with the CURRENT Watercolor Confections Set by Art Philosophy (PRIMA)!

Think Swatching Art Supplies is Boring?

Want MORE Prima
Watercolor Confections Set Demos/ Reviews?

Need More Resources?

The Celtic Collective Fantasy Art Membership with Artists Karen Campbell & Lucy Brydon

Need Other Resources?

Karen Campbell

Archives

Categories

What Fans Are Saying

Contact ME

blog

How YOU Can Become a SUCCESSFUL ARTIST with NO TALENT, TIME or PASSION.

​Wanna Become an Awesome Artist Too?

Want Online Art Lessons You Can ENJOY at Your Own Pace?

Need More Resources?

PREVENT a Mixed Media MESS! THESE Art Supplies WORK with Watercolors Make a Masterpiece!

​What to Watch Next

​Wanna Create This Project With Me in Real-Time?

Need More Resources?

Obsessed with the CURRENT Watercolor Confections Set by Art Philosophy (PRIMA)!

​Think Swatching Art Supplies is Boring?

​Want MORE Prima ​Watercolor Confections Set Demos/ Reviews?

Need More Resources?

The Celtic Collective Fantasy Art Membership with Artists Karen Campbell & Lucy Brydon

Need Other Resources?

Karen Campbell

Archives

Categories

What Fans Are Saying

Contact ME

Wanna Become an Awesome Artist Too?

Want Online Art Lessons
You Can ENJOY at Your Own Pace?

What to Watch Next

Wanna Create This Project With Me in Real-Time?

Think Swatching Art Supplies is Boring?

Want MORE Prima
Watercolor Confections Set Demos/ Reviews?