Art Supplies Subscription Boxes

At the end of last year, I unsubscribed from the Smile Create Repeat box because I thought that it wasn't very cost efficient. The amount of the content often fell 10$ short and so I stopped receiving those boxes. However, I still receive the Art Snacks boxes as wells as the ones from Scrawlrbox. You get a lot of nice supplies for your $$$. I really like them, and they keep on challenging me every month. It's such a nice way to discover new supplies and get out of my rut.
The challenge each time is to draw something with only the content of the box. The Scrawlrbox even gives a theme.


Art Snacks challenges:

























Scrawlrbox challenges:





















Smile Create Repeat challenges:

Colored Pencils on sanded paper

Continuing my experiments with colored pencils and sanded paper. These two were done on an Ampersand Pastelbord, a bit softer than the Uart 600 grade. I found it very pleasant to use, and this time, I was able to blend my layers of Pablo pencils with a bristle brush; it worked like a charm and I loved the soft, velvety finish. I will have to order more of those boards, for sure!!
The squirrel is my entry for the January Colored Pencil Magazine Challenge.



Squirrel 2 - 8x10" - Colored Pencils on Pastelbord - FOR SALE



Fox 13 - 8x10" - Colored Pencils on Pastelbord - FOR SALE


I also did this one on sanded paper, but it was Pastelmat. And the other one is a watercolor I had started last summer and finished recently.



Bulldog 1 - 7x9.5" - Colored pencils on Pastelmat - FOR SALE



Oriole - 9x12" - Watercolor on Aquabord - FOR SALE SOON...

New Technique and CPM challenge

Another  Colored Pencils Magazine challenge, another opportunity to try something new. This is my second attempt at using sanded paper, this time it's the Uart 600 grade, and I didn't use the Powder Blender. I did my first layer with the Supracolor pencils. I've been wanting to try using water soluble pencils as a base for my colored pencil drawings for a long time, so that's what I did. The Supracolor II pencils are very buttery and diluting them with water was a dream. No pencil marks left. Also, using the sanded paper allowed me to only use a few layers and still have a lot of pigments on the paper. Once my base layer was dry, I started using the Prismacolor pencils, but I found them too soft for the sanded paper ( I probably need to give them another good try to get a definite opinion, as wells as use different grade sanded papers) and had a hard time with details. So I quickly switched to my Pablo pencils which worked like a charm. I'd seen someone use a bristle paint bursh over their pencil layers on sanded paper to blend them, so I tried, but I didn't get the result I expected so I didn't do it much.
What I liked about the sanded paper: No need to add many layers. Colors blend fairly well. You can add lighter colors on top of darker ones. No need to use a white gel pen for your highlights!
What I didn't like: Some colors are harder than others so it's harder to get a soft result, I occasionally had to use mineral spirit to soften the look. Using colored pencils on sanded paper creates a LOT of dust which gets the paper (and everything else around you) dirty, even when covering the part you're not working on. I had a lot of cleaning up to do.
In conclusion, it's not the end of my relationship with sanded paper yet, and I will use water soluble colored pencils again, it's soooo much fun!
A big thank you to photographer Sally Robertson for the reference photo.
I'm happy to report that this piece won the December 2016 1st place in the advanced category. Such an honor!
It's currently in a show until the end of February, and will be for sale as soon as I get it back, so stay on the look out if you're interested.



Gumballs - 11x14" - Colored pencils on sanded paper - FOR SALE SOON...

Here's the "making of" video:

Inktober

Last October, I participated in the Inktober challenge where I had to do one ink drawing each day of the month. It really was a challenge for me as I'm not very familiar with the medium. But I'm so glad I stuck with it even when there were days I didn't have time. I had to catch up a couple of times, but I got to try many techniques of this medium. I liked it a lot and will continue learning how to use those many different ink supplies.
Here are a few of the drawings I did. I also made a video for all 31 drawings that you can watch here.

More scratch art

I'm still practicing scratching. I love being able to add all the details with the tip of my knives. I find it so satisfying.




Tabby 110 - 5x7" - Scratchboard - SOLD



Lynx 5 - 5x7" - Scratchboard - FOR SALE


French Bulldog 6 - ACEO (2.5x3.5") - Scratchboard - SOLD

Scratchboard

Playing around, trying to see how they work together, I turned some Ampersand claybord into scratchbord and created this little egret:



Egret - 1 1/4 x 2.5 x 1/8" - Scratchboard - FOR SALE












And here's how it was done:

Scratchboard

I've been meaning to try scratchboard for a long time now. I keep on drooling over my talented friend Ann Ranlett's wonderful work, and decided it was time to give it a shot. I've been doing a lot of research about tools, surfaces, techniques, watching videos, trying out different strokes... So basically there's been quite a lot of scratching involved in my life in the last month or so since I started. So much so that whenever I drive over a brand new resurfaced road, I have a bad urge to scratch something on it!
I did a few pieces on scratch paper to get used to it, but I'm now ready for the real stuff: Ampersand Scratchbord. Stay tunned for more scratchbord work. This is what I've done so far:



Tiger 56 - ACEO (3.5x3.5") - FOR SALE


Chat Noir 200 - 5x7" - FOR SALE


Wolf 8 - A5 - SOLD


Cat 28 - A5 - SOLD


Horse 11 - A5 - SOLD

Colored Pencil Magazine challenge

Here's another entry for the Colored Pencil Magazine challenge.



1929 Cord - 9x14" - Colored pencils - FOR SALE


And here's the video of how I did it:

Art subscription boxes

Along with the Art Snacks box, I decided to sign up for the Scrawlr Box as well as the Smile Create Repeat box. The Scrawlr Box is based out of the UK, but the other two are in the US. I love Art Snacks and Scrawlr Box. Smile Create Repeat is getting better in quality, but the value remains poor and I usually pay more than what's in the box. I will give it a few more tries, and if the value doesn't improve, I will most likely end my subscription.
I've been having a blast trying to create something with the limited supplies from each box.



Smile Create Repeat - June 2016


Smile Create Repeat - July 2016


ScrawlrBox - May 2016


ScrawlrBox - June 2016


Art Snacks - July 2016


Art Snacks - June 2016

Videos

I added lots of new videos to my YouTube Channel.
Here's one of them:

Art Snacks

One of the most exciting things is my discovery of subscription boxes. I signed up with Art Snacks, and each month I receive a little box with new art supplies to try. It's a lot of fun because I receive supplies I would never buy otherwise, and it forces me out of my comfort zone and helps me be more creative. If you take on the Art Snacks challenge, you have to draw/paint something with all the supplies in the box. I LOVE IT!

Here's an unboxing/speed painting video I did with this month's supplies.

Monthly challenge and another large piece

I took the time to participate in another Colored Pencils Magazine challenge where I added the baby inside the ornamental cabbage, and I drew a last piece for my March art show.



It's A Boy - 11x14" - Colored pencils - FOR SALE



Girl With Ice Skates - 11x14" - Colored pencils - FOR SALE