Here in my neck of the woods this is our final week of summer break. What? How? It’s true! So this week here on my blog I am going to be sharing some crafty ideas inspired by school. Today I begin inspired by learning to write…
When we learn to write we are given worksheets and made to practice over and over. Yet one of the things I see so often in crafting is people expecting to simply get a skill right away – myself included.
I challenged myself to first use a number of color mediums on a new (affiliate link used) Pink Ink Pumpkin stamp. I tried everything from clean color pens to watercolor pencils to distress ink as watercolor and my KOI watercolor set too. I played with minimal colors and blending styles water vs no water and so on.
I didn’t learn anything new exactly – but I did get a lot of good practice in and reminded myself of some details such as I really like clean color pens “color blended” and with little to no water. Or that my KOI watercolors are a bit opaque. With some practice down I stamped a bit in my current art journal and made a few notes.
I believe an art journal should be a place to be 100% free to write. doodle. test. play. There should be ZERO expectation of a “good” page or what it might look like.
My challenge to you today is to practice a technique or idea for at least 10 minutes. NO expectations – just “homework worksheet” practice!
This is a great idea. Definitely inspired to get into my art journal. Michelle t
Good reminder, May! That pumpkin stamp is adorable. I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of it in your projects.
Since learning to color is my #1 goal this year, I’m going to do the same thing you did. Don’t have a pumpkin so I’m going to start with a simple flower. thank you for a great tip.
Thanks, May. Great reminder!
Thanks for this post. I really needed this reminder this past weekend when I was trying to color some stamped images and things were not turning out how I wanted them to look. I needed to stop being so hard on myself and just think of it as practice and learning what I like and don’t like on my final project. Thanks May!
I really should do this!
Great idea. All the art journals I have seen look too perfect. I guess I never took the time to find out what they were all about. If it’s just a place to practice new techniques, I can totally do that! And I guess I have been without knowing it, come to think of it.
Water colouring is such a struggle for me! I really need to remember to try water colour pencils, the last time they seemed to work great with a water brush.
I have the perfect stamp for this… wow- pumpkins and fall already??? Man this year is zipping by sooo fast
Great idea. I find my self practicing on my project when in real I should practice on a practice sheet. I will give this a try. I like the idea same stamped image done with different mediums. How do you like your KOI? I have been looking at portable/travel paints vs. my Kuretake Gansi big box.. Been watching lots of U-tube videos see comparisons. Would like your thought on what is a good water color travel set.. Thanks
I love how you constantly experiment May – I need to do more of that
I love this idea of playing with different mediums on the same page with the same image.