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s.p. remastered - scanned and redrawn - (mixed media on paper)

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Today we’re using a stamp pad. And our fingers!
Because after all: who needs fancy art supplies if you have your imagination and some color?

I see fruit everywhere – even in my finger prints! I guess my mind is all set on Foodie Art, since my online class ‘Draw It Like It’s Hot’ started last Friday – it’s not too late to join me in a 4-week journey of delicious artmaking fun. Click here to enroll.

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The post Draw Tip Tuesday: Finger Tip Art! appeared first on Make Awesome Art.

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Beginning a new sketchbook can be quite exciting and a little bit scary. You don’t know what the paper will be like, how it will combine with your favourite art tools, whether or not you’re going to like it as much as the previous sketchbook you just filled and got kind of attached to… and above all a lot of people fear that first blank page. WHAT to do with it? It has to be meaningful, because it’s a new beginning, it should be a great drawing because it’s the first page of many to follow. Really?

I mean, really really?

No. It’s just the first page. Go for it, if the drawing isn’t as great as you hoped, there is a whole sketchbook left to make up for that flawed drawing. And does it HAVE to be meaningful? Says who?

I got this Stillman and Birn sketchbook on a trip to New York and dived right into it. I sat on the couch and my husband was playing the banjo so I thought I’d draw him. A nice way to practice gesture drawings, hands, faces. as soon as I put the first lines onto the paper I knew things were going to be out of proportion, but I went along with it anyway. To fix things a little, I kept adding things and used hatching lines, and added a bit of blue watercolor. Then I just flipped the page and went on with the next one, not really thinking about it that much and leaving the left page blank.
Then, in Sketchbook Skool‘s kourse ‘Polishing’, we have an amazing Mixed Media artist: Juliana Coles. I am so happy for her to join the Fakulty! What she does is a different style of art journaling than we’ve covered so far in Sketchbook Skool. She layers her pages with drawings, paint, collage, lettering and anything she can find and feels the page needs. she uses writing to spill her thoughts or emotions onto the page and by adding layers of colours and lettering and photos and more paint, she builds very personal, emotional and just beautiful sketchbook pages. She keeps polishing the pages, getting back to them again and again, sometimes over the years. A page is never a finished piece – it can keep evolving and that is so interesting!
It is so different from what I do, and I need to take a big step out of my comfort zone to actually do this mixed media stuff. But outside of the comfort zone IS where the magic happens so I love that challenge! And this is one of the beautiful things about Sketchbook Skool. One week you may be completely inside my comfort zone drawing a meal following Matthew Midgley‘s lead, and a week later you’re exploring and discovering a whole new approach to making art!

So Juliana gives the Sketchbook Skool Students a piece of homework to do the same. She suggests you can look for a page in your sketchbook that you don’t like so much (or that you DO like), and start spicing it up.
So I took out lots of art tools, even ones that I hadn’t used for quite a while and dusted those off, took that page above, and this is what I made:

I also made a video to share my process with the Sketchbook Skool Students, and this is it:

 

The post How To Fix Flaws appeared first on Make Awesome Art.

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Often during sketch meet ups, I feel torn between: ‘I wanna make a ton of sketches!’, ‘I love meeting and hanging out with other sketchers!’, ‘I want a look into each everyone’s sketchbooks!’… And then I end up with one or two pages with half-hearted drawings, just because I was distracted by my own thoughts or not focusing on either hanging out with the others or my drawings….
Yesterday, though, it went well. The ‘official’ sketch crawl started at 2 in the afternoon, but I hooked up with some early bird sketchers to draw in the hall of the Rijksmuseum for a couple of hours. A perfect place to observe, study and sketch people. I stood close to where people line up for tickets, so sometimes there would be a long line of people waiting, that I could study closely, and then I would alternate that by drawing people from a bit further away when the line got shorter.

I had to ‘collage’ people (especially in the second drawing, in which I wanted to capture a scene), as they were coming and going. So I would draw someone’s coat or hairdo, combine it with someone else’s legs or posture, and use a third, fourth, or even fifth person for the hands, shoes, features…
A lot of fun!

Later we met up with a group of about 20 sketchers and hung out in Vondelpark, at ‘t Blauwe Theehuis, which is one of my favourite places because of the building, its location and the great atmosphere. Oh and pretty good coffee too. The weather was nicer than expected but very cold, so I just enjoyed drawing the bar and the people in the cafe inside.

Later we all ‘crawled’ to the next location – it had to be an inside location because it was just too cold. Great hanging out for hours with this fun mix of people who all have one thing in common: the love for drawing!

 

The post The Amsterdam Urban Sketchers – sketchcrawl appeared first on Make Awesome Art.

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Drawing self portraits might be considered by some people as opportunistic or selfish. I don’t agree. Self portraits are a great way to play and practice, and to also record certain feelings, emotions and thoughts. Each selfie shows a different you, because each time you will actually be different; your mood, your hair, your state of mind – they influence both your reflection in the mirror, and your drawing hand.

I like to make faces and expressions – to draw those I take pictures otherwise my face will cramp up! The pictures will be a great starting point to study features and expressions, look at shadows, colours and details.

With just 2 colour pencils, you can fill a page full of expression

Practicing hatching to create shadows and shades using a fountain pen

Playing with ink and experimenting with white space and a contrasting background

I almost forgot about the fountain pen I filled with brown ink! It had been sitting on the shelf for weeks and I am glad I picked it up! Such a different style and feel, when using coloured ink instead of plain black. I coloured the background using an HB pencil.

The post Selfies appeared first on Make Awesome Art.

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Feet. I know people who are totally grossed out by them. Well, by other people’s feet. I am on the other end of the spectrum. I think feet are intriguing.

Like drawing hands, I love drawing my own feet. They are great for drawing negative spaces, for practiciing gesture drawings, or to study shadows, to name a few things.
They are always there to model for me in many poses, and are willing to go naked; that’s when they look best.

Drawn with a Lamy Safari fountain pen, medium nib, filled with Carbon Ink, coloured with watercolours

Luckily, there are more bare feet in our household, so I get to draw them from many angles, using different art tools to play with.

Drawn with a Lamy Safari fountain pen, medium nib

Drawn with green and blue coloured pencils from prismacolor and a red Staedler ergosoft coloured pencil

The post Drawing Feet appeared first on Make Awesome Art.

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Life drawing sessions are fantastic to practice drawing people, and actually, I’d like to attend them more often. Studying proportions, shadows, staring at a person who gets paid to be stared at during 20, 10 or 5 minute poses, being surrounded by others who are also focusing on the same model… it all adds up to a wonderful experience and great practice. However, unplanned drawing and sketching is more my ‘thing’. I bring my sketchbook with me, everywhere I go, because there will be sketching opportunities on many occasions, even if it was just for a few minutes.

Lynne Chapman‘s book ‘Sketching people‘ has reminded me of how much I love drawing people, and I am enjoying filling my sketchbook pages while observing the people around me.

The best places to draw people are where people are pre-occupied, focused on their phone, ipad, laptop, waiting in line for something, or in converstaion with somebody else:

Using a bold, cheap rainbow pencil makes it easier to work quickly and the blunt tip won’t allow me to go into detail.

I often choose an aisle seat when I travel by plane or train; so I can get a good view of my fellow travelers – even when it’s from the back

When people stand in line, they will stay still for a little bit, but you know you need to be quick. Sometimes, if I am not fast enough, I just combine two, three or even four persons into one. If people are sitting down in a coffeeshop, cafe or restaurant, check if they have something to drink or eat. Usually you will then know if they will be there for a while and you can get into more detail when drawing them.

Sometimes it’s a bit scary – I feel like a stalker, watching someone intensely for a while, when I draw them. Most of the time, people don’t even notice at all, but if they do and I feel that it annoys them that they’re being watched, I stop and focus on someone or something else. It doesn’t happen often but sometimes people come up to me because they noticed me drawing (them) and they want to see. Then I may feel hesitant to show them because I often don’t go for the likeness, but rather focus on posture, shadows, gesture and line. But it doesn’t matter to them either – they will recognize something about them in the drawing and are flattered to have been the subject – they won’t judge me for not drawing them perfectly!

 

The post How To Draw People appeared first on Make Awesome Art.

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Occasionally, in my online classes or in reaction of my Draw Tip Tuesday videos, people ask me questions that start with: ‘What is the secret to…’. Or comments like ’You make it look so easy’.

Wouldn’t it be fantastic if the simple answer would be: “If you buy this pen by Brand X, you will be able to draw everything you want”. But, as you already suspected – that’s not the case.
Maybe if we were studying on Hogwarts we could make it work, but even then you would need to really search for the right wand that fitted your needs best, before even starting to learn the first small steps towards making magic happen.

 

Walking the Path
As a kid I had this image in my mind of me behind a beautiful piano, playing music as if it would flow right out of my fingers. Even though I kept hoping I would some day magically be able to play complex classical pieces, I learned that just attending class each week, wasn’t going to get me there.

Practicing every day was the only key to moving forward, learning a piece bit by bit. Eventually I gave up, believing I was lacking the talent, but in fact I was lacking the motivation, endurance, patience and, well… ‘passion’. I wanted to be that piano player, but I didn’t want to walk the path to become one. It felt like an obligation rather than something I really wanted to do, all the time – like drawing.

Years of practice
When people comment on my art and say: “you make it look so easy” or “you are so talented”, I feel quite honored and I take it as a huge compliment. But what they often don’t realize is that what I now draw in half an hour time, took me years and years of practice. And I’m never done learning – which I love!

There are no Shortcuts
Enough about me. What can you do to develop your art skills?
With any form of art, and with developing a creative habit or any habit at all, there are no shortcuts.
You need to take one step at a time, make mistakes, learn from them, explore different tools and techniques and find out if they fit you and your needs. lowering expectations helps on the one hand, but you also need to keep challenging yourself to accomplish new goals and stay motivated. You need to find the balance by not setting the bar too high.

To boil it down for you, here are 5 ‘Secrets to Success’:

1. There are no shortcuts
2. Make as many mistakes as you can – and learn from them
3. Explore tools and techniques – and find out what works best for you
4. Lower expectations – don’t set the bar too high right away
5. Keep challenging yourself

Now get your creative habit going!
Starting February 1, in my online art class ‘Awesome Art Journaling’ I will guide you through the weeks, and together we will fill our journal pages with awesome art. You can learn to make memorable daily journal entries with the practical tips and tricks I give you, and through experimenting with materials and techniques. Develop creative ideas and make every day an Awesome Art Journal day.
It’s only $69 for a whole month and at the end of class you will receive a workbook to keep nurturing your art habit for another month. If you haven’t joined already, what are you still waiting for?
Click here to join today!

Whatever you do, I hope you will enjoy walking that path – no shortcuts, just a lot of fun making awesome art!

The post Shortcuts And Secrets For Your Art Skills appeared first on Make Awesome Art.

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On my recent trip to Thailand, I brought a Moleskine, a tiny sketchbook for quick small sketches, and a Strathmore Grey toned peper sketchbook, which I dedicated a while ago to draw ‘places’ in. These can be interiors, or interesting places I visit – well anything really. For the drawings I use black pen and I hatch the colour in with colour pencils.

So I drew my view sitting in front of our hotel room in Chiang Mai City:

And I drew the most spectacular tree house in Rabaeng Pasak Treehouse Resort:

And the view from the bed right after waking up in Lhongkao Resort:

And one at the last day before flying back to Amsterdam – the view from the hotel in Chiang Mai City: I did this drawing kind of rushed and I like it the least of this series, because it has no particular focus point and it looks a bit disorganized. But still – it contains great memories, and when I look at it i feel the heat again, hear the city sounds and the chattering of the people below the balcony. And capturing the moment and the memory is what it’s all about.

The post Travel Journal Pages #3 appeared first on Make Awesome Art.

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Yesterday I showed the travel journal pages I filled before the new year started. Here’s more!

Food, of course… I just have to document it, when it’s good. Can’t help myself.

We rented a motorcycle and left Chiang Mai City. Travelling light has a lot of advantages. You don’t need to schlepp around all kinds of unnecessary things (that you won’t use anyway) all the time, and you can travel with 2 people on one motorcycle. One bag in front, one at the back and you’re good to go!
So we went up north and found a gorgeous place – a treehouse resort of which I will share a drawing later, in a different post. 

Oh and.. more food…

A page in my mini-sketchbook on a sleepy morning in Mae Ha Pra. Doing art during breakfast.

And one of those typical drawings where the hand goes and starts drawing lines and the mind goes: “What are you doing? are you really going to draw all these leaves? This is way too complex!”. Because I really loved the feeling of the black ink lines flowing onto the watercolour background I prepared the night before, it was easy to ignore that voice in my head and just go along with it, bit by bit. I am very happy how it turned out and it reminds me of the fact what a difference it can make to work on a watercolour background – the sunny yellow adds so much to this line drawing!

The post Travel Journal Pages #2 appeared first on Make Awesome Art.

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Here’s just a collection of fun foodie-art!

The post Foodie Art! appeared first on Make Awesome Art.

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It’s busy at the moment, over here; I am moving my workspace, moving my website, working on material for the new Sketchbook Skool term in January 2016, while also moving and shaking things up inside of Sketchbook Skool to make things even better. Through busy times I discovered that whether you have just five minutes or a stretch of hours to make art, it’s still important that you take your time. If it’s a busy day, that’s no reason not to take out your sketchbook for just a quick sketch, even if it was just a few lines, just before going to bed. It might actually help you take your mind off of those to do lists, worries, or any thoughts racing through your head. Making the time to draw, and then taking the time for the process, is the best treat you can give yourself!
Lately on Sundays, I often enjoy the treat of a few hours of drawing in a row. Then I will make a more elaborate drawing, like this one, in my grey Strathmore art journal, using pen and colour pencils.

The post Taking your time appeared first on Make Awesome Art.

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Welcome to Draw Tip Tuesday!
Here’s a fun tip to mix media:
When you made a drawing using watercolors, you can add a little extra by hatching with colour pencils.

There’s more where this came from! Follow me on YouTube by clicking here

The post Draw Tip Tuesday: Mixing Media appeared first on Make Awesome Art.

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“Never underestimate the importance of staying caffeinated”

It’s a quote I have framed, hand lettered by Aimee from Artsyville. Not that I need to be reminded – I am quite a coffee addict. I love sitting down in one of the many coffee places here in Amsterdam. And what I enjoy then is not always about the taste of coffee or the caffeine rush – it’s the time I take to make a drawing, 

The post Artist on Caffeine appeared first on Make Awesome Art.

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My online drawing course "Just Draw It!" has been running over the past 6 weeks.
The group of participants has been awesome! They worked on their assignments with a lot of excitement, putting a lot of time and effort in practicing the techniques they were learning.
They're energy sparked on to me each time I logged in to the course platform, to give them feedback and help them to take their drawings onto the next level. It's fantastic to see people's skills grow, and seeing the drawings develop in such a short amount of time!
"Just Draw It" is designed to make you more confident about drawing by taking small steps at a time. Quite a lot of participants have mentioned in their introductions that they would love to try drawing in public, but they just feel it's too scary or intimidating, they don't feel confident enough.
To take that step out of the comfort zone, at the end of this course I declared today to be 'Just Draw It Sketchcrawl Day'.
All participants of the online drawing class were heading outside on the same day, and sketch in public. We may all live in different parts of the globe, but still, we're doing it together. It's a comforting and empowering thought that while you are putting your lines on paper, your class mates are doing the same thing in their own corner of the world.
So that's what I did. I headed out with my sketchbook, made sure to stay caffeinated, and drew. I had a fantastic morning!

I started my 'sketchcrawl' at one of the many Saturday markets in Amsterdam. I sat on stone steps, on a folded cardboard box from the flower market stall so I wouldn't get super cold quickly.

Of course I DID get cold but that was a great excuse to 'crawl' towards a nice and warm place to sip a cappuccino while sketching the people around me. I used a multi coloured colour pencil.

I really enjoyed doing those quick people sketches so I filled another page and used coloured pencils and a grey brush marker to add a bit of colour. Then I needed a change of scenery so I 'crawled' to the busy indoor market, and used colour pencils to sketch people there.

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You may or may not remember I blogged about the discovery I made once I reached the end of my toned paper sketchbook... Well, I have another one of those, but with grey paper.
I promised myself to dedicate this journal to draw places and interiors in. I haven't done much of that yet, since summer was fabulous and I basically didn't want to sit inside to dedicate a chunk of time studying and drawing my living room, or whatever else kind of interior.
Now that the sunny autumn days seem to be replaced by grey and cold days; I may revisit the Strathmore grey paper sketchbook a bit more often.
Here's a corner of our kitchen.

If you're curious to read the blog article about my toned paper discoveries, click here and here.

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No thanks I don't feel like talking about the above. Still, I wanted to share this art journal page with you, and give you a few draw tips:

Tip 1
Whatever is going on in your life - draw anyway.
It will make you feel better, even if it's just a little - it'll get your mind off of things for a moment.

Tip 2
Hanging out with other sketchers is also very helpful - I felt lucky to join the latest Amsterdam Sketchcrawl. Lots of chatting plus some sketching - both of Amsterdam and of my fellow sketchers:

The Prinsengracht (canal) and some fellow sketchers at the quai side

Sipping fresh mint tea, chatting about art supplies, drawing, and sketching each other

Sitting at the bar - I am still planning to add a bit of text (a conversatiuon I overheard while I was sitting there) in the white area on the right page

In case you're concerned: I am feeling much better now.

Tip 3
Buy yourself a little art supply present - it'll want you try it and before you know it, you are experimenting and playing... which will make you feel so good!
I bought a bottle of brown ink, filled my fountain pen with it and did a selfie - I enjoyed every minute of it.

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 So finally, almost at the end of the sketchbook, Ifound the right approach for this toned paper background! Such a revelation!
I discovered not just the technique that worked best for me, but also the subject that works best: rather than drawing an object, I should draw (part of an) interior!
So I made another interior drawing, of the living room (in the back, you can see the blue kitchen table I made the kitchen-drawing at).
At the last day, I sat myself down on a tree trunk in the front garden to draw the cottage again and played around a little more with my coloure pencils.
Boy am I glad I bought another one of those sketchbooks: I have one with grey paper and I might just dedicate it to drawing interiors only. It'll take a while to fill it because these drawings are quite elaborate, but that's okay - it may be a great project for winter!

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...and an early morning sketch I did while soaking up some vitamin D in the early morning sun 

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