Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts

Bookbinding Class with Kristen Watson

Some women get their sisters cards for birthdays, clothing, even art supplies. I've been blessed with all those things from mine! And on top of all of that, my sister-in-law surprised me with tickets to two amazing art classes this month -- a 5-hour bookbinding class and Part 2 of the creature-drawing class that I've been dying to take, at Artists' Medium (next weekend)!

I've spent every weekend this month with one of my best friends, making art, laughing, driving in snowstorms, laughing until we cried, listening to serial killer podcasts, and dining at (sometimes fancy) restaurants (by accident). Age 32 feels a lot like 22 with this lady in my life!

The bookbinding class this weekend was phenomenal. Kristen gave us the choice of spending more time on the design and creative part (painting/illustrating covers) which would have meant making fewer books (3) versus a pretty intensive schedule focused more on binding processes but making more books (4).

As much as I love design, I wanted to get good use out of our bookbinding time. We all agreed that we wanted to create 4 books in 5 hours. Kristen said she would move us right along, and she did! I was so impressed with her time management skills. I am the type of artist (and apparently bookbinder now) who has her head stuck in the clouds, who has no concept of time when it comes to art. Kristen kindly guided us along, so that we got the most out of this incredible class.

We painted our covers and completed: a perfect-bound book, a ribbon-tied concertina book, a saddle-stitched portfolio-style book, and a Japanese-style (Asa-no-ha Toji) stitched book.

Yep! All that in 5 hours! I was so pleased with the final results. Since I've gotten home, I've gone a little crazy making the accordion, concertina books. I can't stop!

This was the second class I took with Kristen, and I highly recommend checking out any of her classes (here). She is patient and respectful of everyone's learning speeds. She skillfully offers one-on-one instruction while leading the entire class, to keep everyone on task. I can't wait to take another class with her in the future!

Free Art Books!

So, though I've had a Kindle forever, I just learned about Kindle Unlimited, and I'm hooked! I've basically promised my husband anything to keep this monthly service, as you can "check out" 10 free books at a time from the Kindle Unlimited library. The first 30 days are free (then $9.99/mo after).

In doing so, you have access to MANY great, free books! But, my favorites are, of course, the doodle and drawing ones! I then can reference them on my PC Kindle program, my real Kindle, or the Kindle app on my phone! I can carry them with me anywhere! Some of these books were on my Christmas wishlist, and they're great for reference! I think I'll keep the Whimsical Lettering book forever! So much inspiration in that book!

If you're NOT into signing up for Kindle Unlimited, most of these books will be an inexpensive addition to your digital library anyway!

Art Journaling
The Art of Whimsical Lettering
Art Journal Freedom
No Excuses Art Journaling
Raw Art Journaling
Inner Hero Creative Art Journal
Artist's Journal Workshop
Journal Spilling
The Journal Junkies Workshop
Art Journal Prompts & Points to Ponder
Journal Bliss: Creative Prompts
Dreaming from the Journal Page 

Doodling
Doodles of Life
Doodles Unleashed
Doodling in French
Doodleology
Draw What We Love 

Drawing
Drawing for the Absolute Beginner
Drawing Nature for the Absolute Beginner
Drawing Portraits for the Absolute Beginner
Drawing for Beginners
Making Faces
Secrets to Drawing Realistic Faces
How to Draw Cool Stuff
Sketchbook Confidential
Creative Thursday: Everyday Inspiration 

Zentangle
Zen Doodle: Tons of Tangles
Zentangle Art for Beginners
How to Draw Zendoodle Art
The Zentangle Untangled Workbook
Zentangle for Beginners: Ultimate Guide
Learn Zentangle FAST
Zentangle Basics
Zentangle for Beginners: Relaxing with Zentangle 

Mixed Media
Artist Trading Card Workshop
The Mixed Media Artist: Tips, Tricks
Mixed Media Self Portraits
Mixed Media Revolution
Acrylic Techniques in Mixed Media
Creating Art at the Speed of Life: 30 Days of Exploration
Art at the Speed of Life: Motivation and Inspiration 

Other searches to try:
acrylics, collage, stamping, design, creative, crafts, paper crafts, painting, kids art, journaling, etc.!

Craft a Doodle

I'm really in love with this Craft a Doodle book by Jenny Doh. It has doodle exercises from some of my favorite artists in it, including Carla Sonheim! You can find it in most bookstores and on Amazon, of course (here)! To be honest, I went out in search of another creative illustration book and stumbled upon this one. And I love this one more!

The doodle prompts are fun, and I'm reminded that everyone is talented enough to do these doodles, including me! It just takes time and practice!

Though my day wasn't super exciting, I had fun trying out the Visual Diary prompt, at left, on Sunday!



Hidden Poems

I bought a few old books at the bookstore to do this with (and dollar store books!), but I haven't picked them up lately.

Now I'm feeling inspired by these Hidden Poems by artist Miriam Paternoster. She has a video tutorial on YouTube (here). Christmas-time project!



Kristen M. Watson Classes

Check out these fabulous classes with local artist Kristen M. Watson! I'm super excited about the Book Arts December classes!
  • Her website is here: kristenmwatson.com
  • The class list, for adults and children, is here.
  • More pictures of her beautiful hand-made books here.
And, of course, she does plenty of other fabulous artwork that you'll find on her site! We saw her artwork at Art Hop this year, and she was our instructor for the BVTMomsBlog Moms' Night Out "Paint the Town" event! She is a wonderful teacher!

Oh So Beautiful Paper

Remember when I said we'd be celebrating lettering this month...? Um, THIS SITE! *swoon*

Oh So Beautiful Paper. I'm going to go get lost in that site now. TTYL.

This lettering tutorial lives on the site, here, and I'll keep a reference link on our web resources page!




Lettering

**Kids Art Source is On Vacation Until Nov. 18th!**

I'm excited to spend November focusing on Lettering! We're going to be practicing copying various fonts and letter styles. Check out our Lettering board on Pinterest (here).

While we're on vacation... 
  • Don't forget to check out the One Arts Toddler Time Classes starting this week!
  • Share your artwork with us in Our Gallery via Instagram using #kasvtgallery.
  • Want to follow our travel journal, E's first plane ride, and our visits to Disney World and Universal Studios? Follow our adventure on Instagram.

DIY Acrylic Spraypaints

OMG yoo guyz!! ..... So, even though it's mid-Halloween-candy-art week, I had to share this! I found this idea while browsing the web and the wonderful world of art journaling!

DIY acrylic spray-paints! I grabbed a couple of old spray bottles -- the ones that our optometrist gives away with glasses cleaner in them (or an old perfume bottle would work). And:
  1. Rinse them out.
  2. Spray the sprayer a few times using only water, to rinse it.
  3. Fill the bottle with about 1 part acrylic paint to 5 parts water.
    Or experiment with the ratio. Too much paint may gunk up the sprayer.
  4. Add warm water, and shake to mix!
  5. Spray away. Warning, it is messy!*
  6. Add stamps, like I did with the "G" below, or doodles/tangles.

*This can easily be adapted to a toddler art project, with supervision. I'd just recommend using age-appropriate non-toxic paints, of course. You also may want to do this activity outside or with a lot of newspaper on your art table. The spray gets everywhere.

You can spray stencils, cut out your own shapes to put on the page, etc.! Today, I also picked up some supplies at The Art Store. I talked to the woman working there, and she recommended 2 new pens: a white gel pen (Uniball Signo) and a black artist pen (Staedtler Triplus Fineliner) for doodling/tangling on top of watercolors/watered-down acrylics. Both are working fabulously so far, though the Staedtler takes a little while to dry. I recommend propping up your finished pages in front of a fan while working on other pages. I love my Micron pens and will continue to use them for basic doodling, but the Staedtler is the first pen I've found that lets me draw over dried watercolor without picking up any of the pigment.

The Art of Clean Up

My co-worker and artsy friend, Rachel, just introduced me to this fantastic book! It's called The Art of Clean Up: Life Made Neat and Tidy, and you can find it on Amazon (here).

Also, I've been in touch with 2 businesses that currently have October Art Classes. I know specifically that The Art Store, in Stowe is doing a neat class that brings parents and kids together to create art collaboratively! Check out our Local Events & Classes Page for more.