Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Alcohol Ink Painting live video

This Thursday afternoon, join me for an awesome live video where I'll show you coloring techniques, then we'll talk about how to "paint" with Copic inks. The theme is fish (because for some reason I wanted to color goldfish and koi).

To RSVP to the video, click here, or join us live on Periscope. Thursday, June 2nd, 3-3:40 pm PST

If you want to color along, you can even download the images I'll be working on:

Koi (we will color this one with inks) If you want to follow along, print this onto a glossy paper or photo paper.
Goldfish (I'll be showing some basic coloring techniques on this image) This image can be printed on your favorite marker paper (I'll be working on the Art Paper Pack, but you could print it on Blending Card as well).

I hope to see you at the live feed! If you don't make the live feed, we will be posting a video after the event as well, so stay tuned.

Friday, May 13, 2016

Thoughts from my hotel room...

I'm on the road this week, it's the middle of the night, but I had this thought that I wanted to share...

Last night, a store owner at the event I'm at made my favorite comment of the day:
"How do you manage to get those 13yr old girls coming into my store, dragging their parents, to buy them art supplies?!?"

He's not the first store to tell me that, and that makes me so happy! That 13 is a kid who sees value in creating, and has convinced their parent that making art is a core part of who they are.

Making things defines us and gives us a deep satisfaction. How do you feel when you say the words "I made that!"

I made that art, that cake, that flower arrangement, that goal, that dream, that life ambition...we celebrate and cheer, we pat each other on the back. And we learned long ago that once that was made, we move on to the next thing to make, always striving to make more.

For some people, "I made that" is much harder. I made that bed, I made that step without the use of crutches, I made it out in public for the first time in months. Celebrate!!! You might feel that those are minor things, but not to the person in those shoes.

You know what makes me sad? Giving up before trying. Deciding not to make anything because you feel that it isn't going to be amazing. Doing nothing because someone you've never met in person on the Internet can make it faster, better, prettier, or cooler than you ever could. Thinking that your best friend can make a better cake, so why should you bother, it won't be as good.

I don't know the skill of the 13yr old girl the store owner mentioned. I know my skill as a 13yr old and I see 13yr olds in my classes all the time that are way more skilled than I was at that age.

I do remember that at 13 I didn't really care what I couldn't do, I was focused on making what I could do, making what I wanted, pushing myself to make and make and make. I'd scrounge up my paper route money and bike down to the craft store for twine, beads, paints, cake stuff...whatever creative things I was experimenting with at the time.

I didn't know my future self. I didn't know I'd be typing something like this in a hotel room thousands of miles from my hometown, helping teach art techniques to store owners...not because I'm the most amazing artist ever, (I'm not). I'm here because I was the 13 year old who also felt that constantly making stuff was the coolest thing I could be doing (besides reading books) and I never told myself that I wasn't any good.

I guess my long winded conclusion is really this: Don't get hung up on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, or blogs, telling yourself you'll never be that good, so why bother trying? Everyone had to start somewhere. Be that awesome 13 year old in an art store! Celebrate everything you make!

Make what YOU want, and be proud of every bit of it....then start again, and make more.

Friday, May 6, 2016

Color along with me!

That was so much fun! This morning, we colored some awesome butterflies on our live video feed on Periscope and Google. For those of you on YouTube, you can watch the video here.

We colored the butterfly image from the Intro to Coloring with Copic Markers book, then we moved on to coloring a page from the additional Line Art Pack. You can download the individual sheet here for only $0.99! 

I really encourage you to watch the video, even if you don't have the book or line art yet.

We had such a good turnout that we're going to try and host one of these live coloring sessions again in a few weeks. This will also give us a chance to work out some kinks and make it better. So, stay tuned for our next live coloring session. If you have a time of day that you prefer watching, please leave a comment and we'll try to see what we can do better next time. Have a colorful weekend!

Monday, May 2, 2016

Live video on Friday!

Intro to Coloring With Copic Markers
Check it out! This Friday I will be hosting a live video on either Google Hangouts (click the link to send yourself an invite and info). Or, via Periscope (Periscope is an app that allows you to watch live video feeds).

I'll be showing you some tidbits from the Intro To Coloring with Copic Markers book that I wrote. If you don't have a copy yet, I strongly suggest that you pick one up so you can follow along as I color. I will be starting with the first project in the book, the big, beautiful butterfly. From there, who knows what I'll color? Whatever I color, it should be fun and hopefully you'll learn a few tricks and tips. So be sure to join us, 9am Pacific Standard Time. (Can't watch it live? Don't worry, it will be shared on YouTube).

We will be trying to host regular videos, so stay tuned for more chances to watch and interact with us live. It's the next bet thing to having us come to your town, hover over your shoulder, and teach you how to color.