Sunday Smiles

Happy Sunday everyone! You know what's been making me smile? New art supplies and techniques! My sister gave me a subscription to Creativebug, the online site that gives you access to great classes on video! I've loved Lisa Congdon's (I'm a big fan of her work!) Sketchbook Explorations class, and recently started Beginning Calligraphy with Maybelle Imasa-Stukuls. So this morning I thought I would combine some of those skills into a page for my sketchbook. I painted a watercolor background, and on top of that I layered a practice sheet of calligraphy on vellum, and a page from a thrift store book with some shapes cut out. It was a good exercise for me as I tend to think one dimensionally with my art as opposed to the possibilities of layering different elements.

I just love how working with new mediums gets the creative juices flowing! I'm pretty excited to continue experimenting with Koi brush pens, micron pens, watercolor paints, gouache paints and the g pen nib (which I've read is a favorite among manga artists, so there's more drawing potential with it!) that I'm using for the calligraphy course.

Are you guys playing with any new toys?