​We rented a rustic cabin in Asheville (which is about 4 hours from our home in the Raleigh area of North Carolina) and had fun playing board games and relaxing. We played my favorite game, Bob Ross's Art of Chill. It's a board game and sooooo freaking funny!!!! Each player has a palette and you compete for "chill points" as you race to finish various paintings before Bob does. Highly recommend!!! The game is also peppered with Bob Ross quotes (which, I ADORE wholeheartedly). In a nutshell: I LOVE BOB!

Then again...who doesn't?
But where were we? Oh yes, Christmas!
We came back in time to celebrate Christmas and relax while my husband has some rare time off. My favorite presents today are a purple vacuum cleaner (don't judge! It's not sexy but it sure is important!) 😂

Ok the purple makes it a little sexy...

My other favorite presents were a llama lamp blanket.

I know that profiles are hard for a LOT of people.  Like, a LOT a lot of people.  I hope this gives you the guidelines and method (and confidence!) to create super cute profiles like this one much more easily and with much more FUN!!!  
To watch the video click HERE or click below!  Remember, to enter the giveaway leave a comment in the video itself, that's all you have to do!

In the meantime I hope you have a very very merry and bright Christmas today!!!
From my family to yours! 

Next to hair and eyes, the most frequently asked question I get is HOW DO I DRAW A TURNED FACE???? And today is the day I teach you! Totally free, totally easy...once you learn how! In less than an hour you'll have it! So grab some paper and watercolors if you're feeling fancy and let's get to it! 
This the 7th Drawing Tutorial in the #100FunFabFaces Challenge! Come play! It's totally easy, free and FUUUUUUN!!! All you have to do is have a willingness to learn and a pencil 🥰

Sounds impossible, right?!  Well it's NOT!  Thanks to the easy method I have for drawing the male face, I will have you drawing this handsome dude in NO TIME FLAT!  Okay so now your drawing is done, think he can't be painted?  You'd be SHOCKED at how much painting you can do with only a measly little water-soluble pencil and a little Gesso! 

​Sound intriguing and want to learn more?  I got you covered!  In this weeks full length art tutorial on YouTube I'm going to start from the very very beginning.  Pick up that pencil and draw with me!  You'd be amazed at what you can do!

By the way, if you'd like to share your drawings and paintings with me, I'd love to see them!  You can join my warm Facebook community HERE!  Wanna show off those drawings on Instagram?  Tag me @karencampbellartist and use the #100FunFabFaces so all the challenge participants can check them out as well!  This is week 6 of 20 in a 100 face drawing challenge and so far there are over 1000 posts on Instagram using this hashtag.  I AM SO IMPRESSED!!!

In case you're not clear about what the challenge is, listen up!  It's so fun!

Each week I am putting a full length tutorial up on YouTube and you have a week to do 5 variations of it.  The idea is that after 20 weeks you'll learn 20 new ways to draw faces and have created 100 in all!!!!  Sounds fun, right?!  

​It is!  Come join us!  All skill levels welcome!

I hope you all had an amazing Thanksgiving week last week!
Despite being sick for the entire week 🤒 and not being with family 😢, I still managed to gain 3.5 pounds...which leaves me to believe my holiday couldn't have been all THAT bad! I was clearly still having my fill! 🤣

I recently took the time to ask my Facebook Group what their biggest drawing struggles were and a LOT of people came forward to tell me about their shading struggles. Specifically, where to put the shadows and highlights when drawing faces.

In today's free video art lesson on YouTube I put forth my best explanation to answer this question followed by a one hour, real time lesson to show you exactly how it's done. When I do these full length tutorials, my hope is that you will pick up a pencil and draw with me!!! All you need for this exercise is a grocery bag (yes, you heard me right!) and a black and white pencil. Or charcoal/conte crayons/china markers work as well!

I will teach you how to determine where your shadows and highlights fall when drawing your faces. I'll also be showing you how to draw realistic faces from a photo reference, and how doing it on toned paper is exciting and easier than you think to get great results!

This lesson also acts as prompt 5/20 for the #100FunFabFaces  challenge I am running with my Facebook Group and on Instagram. 

If you'd like to draw along with me for all of my weekly challenges (all include a free video lesson) and start at the beginning, use this link to see them all in once place http://bit.ly/100FunFabFacesPlaylist

You actually save this Playlist to your own YouTube account and it will automatically get updated with new lessons each week as I share them there.  Isn't that cool?  Oh technology.  Sometimes you are my foe, but in this case you are a most definite FRIEND!

Now let's go DRAW!

Scribble art is a really relaxing way to create!  It's the most fun to grab a pen (so nooooo you cannot erase!) and just get movin' and groovin' on your paper!  Don't worry you can still draw your faces guidelines and draw everything the way you normally would BUT with extra pizzazz and scribbly, crazy FUN!  Put extra scribbles where the areas should be shaded and get outlandish with your shapes and features!  Throw all caution to the wind and JUST. GO.  Ready?  Let's do it!  

For those playing along in the #100FunFabFaces challenge this is week 4 of 20!  I LOVE looking at your creations on Instagram and also in the Facebook Group!  Also this week, in addition to the challenge is a giveaway! To enter the giveaway simply leave a comment in the YouTube video below!  The winner will receive FREE enrollment to my Drawing Daze course (a $99 value) as well as free watercolors from Xanadu Art Studio!  There's nothing to lose so watch the video and enter to win!  Winner will be announce one week from tomorrow!  Let's play!
​

(This is drawing prompt 3/20 of the #100FunFabFaces Challenge now happening on Instagram!)

As I get to know more and more of my students through Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and email (thank you to all those that email me back! I really enjoy our offline chats!) I am getting a better picture of what drawing and painting struggles you are having.
I think the most frequently talked about challenge has to do with shading on the face.
With all those sockets and bumps, lumps and curves, where the heck does the shading go?
And how do you blend out the different mediums to even make that happen?
And what if the light source moves?
(Speaking of light sources, have you downloaded my free shading guide yet?)
Well I am listening hard to your concerns and am taking active steps to address these questions in both my classes and on YouTube.
Yesterday I posted a free video on YouTube that teaches you how to correctly shade a face using only graphite and a blending tool.
The video is just under an hour but is in 100% real time so I walk you through EXACTLY how to blend and navigate around all of the facial features as well as how to draw the nose, eyes, ears, lips ... the whole sha-bang!
So when you're ready to learn, I got you.
Just press the play button below to start the tutorial.
And don't forget to have fun!

So...I started this 100 faces challenge last week and...let's just say that a LOT of people came out to watch and play (and post and share!!).  After just 7 days there are already 171 posts (and so therefore DRAWINGS!!) on Instagram of the #100FunFabFaces challenge!  Check it out!

I literally can't wait to see what unfolds over the course of the next 18 weeks!!!  If you want to jump aboard the fun train, it's NEVER too late to start!  Today's prompt I go over eyelashes (2 fun ways) and give you a sneak peak into the world of Mixed Media!  I also do one version, hate it so much that I chop off all her hair and give her a completely new lease on life (ha!  Cuz why not?!) . Come play with us!!!  

Join me in this fun, real time tutorial going over How To Draw An Easy Face Step By Step In Marker!  This is the very first drawing prompt of a 20 week drawing faces challenge that I am running in my Facebook Group!  
Click here to grab your Fun Fab Faces Shading Cheatsheet!!
Not in my Facebook group?  Join here!
New prompts every Friday - you may 5-7 more during the week!  Change a facial feature, change your medium, and lets gooooo!!!

Halloween is my FAVORITE time of the year!!!  Why?  Well, because:  Candy.  Hahahah only joking!  I actually genuinely love it because the crafts are sooooo easy and sooooo fun and sooooo spooky!!  Here's on of my all time favorites!!!