Sketchbook Party: Elina Lukas, Sarah Renae Clark, Nicki Traikos

This is the second of five posts about Sketchbook Party. I recommend reading the first post. 

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The fourth Sketchbook Party class was called "Sketchbook Practice for the Anxious and Worried." Perfect! I frequently struggle with both anxiety and worry. 

Elina Lukas instructed us to write a word in the upper left hand corner of our paper describing our mood. I misunderstood and wrote my desired mood (peaceful) rather than my current mood (frenetic). Then she had us to pick a few colors in our chosen medium, reaching only for what felt right. For me, that was Folk Art acrylic paint and Prismacolor colored pencils in peaceful shades of blue. Then she told us to apply bits of color to the paper in a way that appealed to use while she talked in a quiet, soothing voice. 

After a while, she stopped and told us to write our current mood in the upper right hand corner. That was when I realized I'd misunderstood the original instruction. But, I'm happy to report, I felt very much at peace! Although bits of stress leaked in when I realized my paint was still too wet to apply the colored pencil I'd planned to use and that my 'finished' project did not feel finished to me. 

But, as I told you in the first post, I'm sharing only what I made during the class, without adding anything after it ended. I may eventually work more on this piece, because I really do want to see what it could become. 

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The next class was "How to Draw Florals and Other Planner Doodles." I've been following Sarah Renae Clark for a little over a year and she is incredible. Of the 16 artists who taught during Sketchbook Party, she was the only one I knew before the event started, and I only heard about it because she mentioned she'd be teaching there. So I have Sarah to thank for my crazy-awesome, art-packed weekend. 

Sarah walked us through how to doodle a variety of flowers, leaves, banners, and more. This is what I made, using just a black Flair pen. 

Sarah's class was a ton of fun, just as I knew it would be. 

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The sixth class, and the first of Day 2, was "Paint Loose, Playful Pears in Watercolor." 

It was exactly as advertised. Look at my fun pears!

I used my beloved Koi travel watercolor set to make my pears. It was a lot of fun trying unconventional colors, blending colors, and just playing. 

And, as it turned out, it was a great warm-up for the class that followed. I'll tell you about it, and two other classes, tomorrow.