Frame it Up!

This morning's mini-challenge is to put frames around your sketches.

Setting your artwork apart from the borders of the page makes it look finished and important, and adds a graphic design element, which creates interesting art journal pages.

Before you begin your artwork, think about a layout for the frames on your page. You can use any shape,(even a heart for Valentine's Day!) but rectangles are pleasing to the eye and are easy to draw. Do not use a ruler! You want imperfect frames, so that they fit in better with the look of your sketches. You can hold your pen or pencil as you usually do, but use the pinky and ring finger to slide along the edge of your sketchbook or journal as a guide to draw the straight sides of the rectangles. This gives you a fairly straight edge, but retains the look of being hand-drawn.

You can use more than one frame on a page, if you wish, and add text or simply put a frame around the place where you will add a sketch.

The example above was done a few years ago in a watercolor journaling workshop I attended. We drew the frames in, did a light pencil sketch inside the frame, and then used an archival pen (like the Micron Pigma .05) to ink the outlines, and then added watercolor washes to color it in.

The brand of the aketchbook is called Komtrack. It is a unique type of book that has a spiral that can be removed, and many types of papers can be put back in. I have one that is half watercolor paper, and half paper that is good for drawing on.

Whatever your paper or sketchbook, using frames is a really good idea to try!

Art Inspiration Every Day- A new art blog

This blog will be about making art and working creatively every day.

I will be posting new art themes every week, with different mini-challenges on the general theme which will be added every day. Are you looking for a little nudge to get you moving in the right direction and get you working more creatively? Check in daily, and read my blog for a little art inspiration every day!

Have you wanted to try new materials or techniques to make your work more interesting or to help open you up more to the creative process? I will also be posting articles with illustrated tutorials that will help you follow along with more confidence, and will reveal new processes that you will love!

I highly recommend the practice of keeping an art journal to record your sketches, favorite writings, and your own journaling about your feelings and experiences which relate to art and life in general. I will help you get started keeping an art journal, with articles related to the practice.

An illustrated journal is highly personal and can be very powerful for many reasons- it can be a great way to keep your work together, watch your art skills increase, and create ideas that can later turn into more developed work. You will definitely find art inspiration every day if you begin spending a little time with your journal. It is a very rewarding practice.

I will be posting new weekly themes to the blog every Monday morning before 11:30 AM EST, USA. Daily challenges will also be posted before 11:30 AM EST, USA, each day. Check back on the weekends- I will post at least once each weekend, and sometimes both days, depending on what is happening that particular weekend, but need to be a little more flexible on when and which day of the weekend.

I hope you will enjoy starting this adventure with me as we look for a little art inspiration every day together!