Sketchbook Revival 2024: Cut-Out Couture

The best part about a workshop like Sketchbook Revival is how far it can take you out of your comfort zone. Nothing about this project, which I made for the class called Cut-Out Couture, is typical Cindy. At all. 

I'm not sure how I feel about my finished piece, but no matter. It was really fun to make and I learned some new things along the way. 

Instructor Allison Wells started with a page in a completed gratitude journal, turned it upside down, cut out a model from a fashion magazine, and glued it to the journal. Then she added paints and scribbles and more paint and other marks before finally adding printed text on top. 

I started with a completed page that I didn't like in my sketchbook, squirted paint randomly on top, and dragged a scrap piece of cardstock through it in different directions until the page was mostly covered. Like the instructor, I left bits of the original showing through. 

She cut her image of a woman from a fashion magazine; my image of an elk came from the California Visitors Guide. When my background was dry, I glued the elk in place, then did some dry brushing to blend it in. I scribbled on the page, then colored in some of the found shapes with the same blue I used for a border. 

Time for marks! I used a Posca pen and colored pencils to add some details, then glued my text in place. It also came from the California Visitors Guide. There is indeed so much to love here in California, including our abundant wildlife. 

I was really tempted to do the next project, which was filling a page with watercolor rectangles. Instructor Wendy Solganik shared a cool tip, which is to put a little bit of the previous color you used into a well and mix it with the next color to ensure a cohesive palette. 

I watched the next 8 sessions without creating along. 

Even when I don't make the project, I learn a lot from just watching the instructors. I've been having so much fun with Sketchbook Revival!