Junk Mail Journal : Skulls

This is a page in my junk mail journal. Awhile back I made a little art journal from my junk mail. I gathered all the little postcards and cardstock weight ads that collected near my computer, cut the larger ones down to size, and punched and bound them into a little book.

I started cutting skulls from magazines and catalogs, and pasted them on the page. I added a layer of gesso tinted with a drop of blue acrylic paint to blend the background layer. I then drew skulls with pens and markers on pieces of junk mail and paper scraps, and pasted them all over the page

I count 61 skulls ... but I may add a few more if the mood strikes.

Through the Trees

Trees doodled in my little moleskine notebook.

Most of my disposable pens are used up, so I thought I would give one of my old Rapidograph pens a whirl.   The Rapidograph pens do give me finer lines, but I always manage to end up making a mess with the ink.   (This time I added a new ink splotch to an old pair of jeans.)

I used my Faber Castell ink pens to add color.   I like the way this one turned out.

Lab 38 : Sidewalk Crack Drawings

Inspired by Drawing Lab for Mixed-Media Artists: Lab 38
"Little Bear Takes a Nap"

Flipping through my copy of the book, I saw the Lab on sidewalk crack drawings - and the photo on page 102 of the sidewalk cracks.   This image immediately jumped out at me & I had to capture it right away!

Here is the drawing at the finished stage.   I colored it with Indian ink pens and scanned it.   I then added a digital "texture" to the fur.
*To see all of my work inspired by Drawing Lab for Mixed-Media Artists just click the label "Drawing Lab" below.

Lab 2 : Blind Contour

Inspired by Drawing Lab for Mixed-Media Artistsby Carla Sonheim : Lab 2

I drew the giraffes as 2 separate drawings with black fine point sharpie on sketchbook papers, and combined them during scanning (because they make such a cute little family).

I drew these blind contour. I did not look at the paper as I drew, only when I repositioned the pen. I repositioned the pen for the eyes, ears, start of the spot groupings, start of the manes, and the tail on the tall giraffe.

I must have had beginner's luck with these - I am happy with how well they turned out. I tried to draw blind contour elephants later in the day and it was a complete disaster! ha-ha!


This is my "take it further" drawing for the chapter. I drew these three octopi blind contour. I did not look at the paper as I drew, only when I repositioned the pen at the start of each octopus. Drawn with micron pen, colored with Indian ink pens and colored pencil.

*To see all of my work inspired by Drawing Lab for Mixed-Media Artists just click the label "Drawing Lab" below.

Drawing Lab 1 : 30 cats

I finally got a copy of Drawing Lab for Mixed-Media Artists and started working on the assignments.   I will be posting my progress through the book here.

I draw cats all the time ... I wanted these to be different, so I used my non-dominant hand to draw all of them.   (The linework is much shakier in full size.)   The cats were drawn separately over the course of a week.   I then pasted them all together in one image for posting.

The cat marked with the purple arrow was the one I selected to "take further".   I took that tiny cat drawing and recreated it into an 8" x 8" mixed media piece.   I glued scrapbook paper onto a piece of cardboard, and used gesso, acrylic paint, ink, and colored pencil to finish it off.

"Ghost Cat with Bubbles"

I am enjoying the book so far & will post more soon!   If you are working through this book, feel free to post a link in the comments.   I would love to see what you're up to!

Crazy Rabbit

The 75th page completed in my little moleskine notebook. Indian ink pens, watercolor pencils, colored pencils, and white gel pen.

This was another piece inspired by a Carla Sonheim Tutorial.   My first piece inspired by her tutorial was a 6" x 8" lion, which I posted on my other blog.

I just got my copy of Carla's book: Drawing Lab for Mixed-Media Artists, so I will likely post results from some of the assignments here as I go.

Pen & Ink Tree

Drawn with Faber Castell Indian ink pen in my little moleskine notebook.   I haven't decided if I will add color to this page or not.