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Loosen Up with Contour Drawing and Painterly Effects
Do you ever struggle with drawing and getting overwhelmed by the details? Contour drawing is a great way to loosen up your drawing practice. Today I will share with you how to create a contour drawing and how to create painterly effects using watercolor paints. What is Contour Drawing? Contour drawing is the practice of drawing an outline of the subject using one continuous line. When contour drawing you do not take your pen off the page as you draw. The benefit of contour drawing is that it defines the basic shape by creating a line drawing. If you tend to get stuck in the details when drawing, this technique…
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How to Create a Mixed Media Shaker Card
With Christmas just around the corner I wanted to show you how to create an easy mixed media shaker card. I love making cards around Christmastime. It is one of my favorite Christmas traditions! The process of coming up with unique designs, writing messages to my friends and family and sending them through the mail brings me great joy. I remember as a child my parents getting dozens and dozens of Christmas cards with family updates and kind messages inside. The practice of giving and receiving cards is not as popular as it used to be. But I believe it makes giving or receiving a handmade card so much more…
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Must Have Mixed Media Supplies for the Art Journal
With Christmas just around the corner, I wanted to share with you the must have mixed media supplies for the art journal. Depending on what and how you like to create, your essential mixed media art supplies may be different. Here are my recommendations for mixed media supplies for the art journal. Hop-A-Long Studio is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission at no cost to you. Learn more. Mixed Media Art Journal There are a variety of different journals that I use in my creative practice. When choosing a journal, I look for a journal with smooth paper that can take wet…
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How to Use Black Paper Backgrounds with Inks and Pens
Have you ever used black paper backgrounds in your journal or creative projects? Adding color to black paper by drawing and stamping is easy, but there are a few things to consider when applying color. Not all mediums are suitable for using on black paper, so today I will share some of my favorite mediums and techniques with you. Inks for Black Paper When using inks on black paper backgrounds, you need to consider the properties of your ink. The main consideration is whether your ink is translucent or opaque. Not all inks are the same so only certain ones will work well on black paper. Inks that I use…
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The Search for the Best Permanent Pen
Have you discovered the best permanent pen for your creative practice? If you haven’t, then you are not alone. It can be overwhelming. There are so many choices for permanent pens! When choosing the best permanent pen for you, it is a very personal decision. Today I will be sharing some of my favorites and what I consider when purchasing a pen. Permanent or Water-Soluble? For today, I will be focusing on permanent pens and will leave water-soluble pens out of the discussion. What you look for in a permanent pen versus a water-soluble pen is vastly different. If you would be interested in my thoughts on water-soluble pens, let…
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Doodling with Stencils: Using Stencils to Improve your Drawing Skills
Have you ever mixed doodling with stencils into your art journal or creative projects? Stencils can be very helpful when practicing improving drawing skills. Starting with a defined shape can be helpful and inspire creativity. Why Use Stencils? Why use stencils to improve your drawing skills? Stencils have defined shapes that can be traced onto a project. From there you can add your own drawing and doodling to add texture and dimension to an image. It’s an easy place to discover your own style and creativity. When we start learning to draw, many of us end up staring at a blank piece of paper. That’s a hard place to be.…
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Using Leaf Rubbings and Ink for Drawing Practice
Do you ever feel like learning to draw is a struggle? Using leaf rubbings and ink for drawing practice can be a fun way to gain confidence with your drawing skills. Finding Inspiration from Nature I have found so much inspiration from nature this fall. My walks in the city have been full of beautiful colors as the leave change as it gets colder. I started the habit of collecting interesting leaves on my walks and was able to even find leaves from trees that are less common in our area, like oaks and maples. Enjoying these beautiful leaves and being inspired by Inktober, I wanted to focus on the…
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Deco Foil all the Things! How to Use Deco Foil
Have you ever tried using Deco Foil or any other type of foil in your projects? Understanding a few fundamentals of how to use Deco Foil can help you get better results. Today we will focus on how to use Deco Foil with Transfer Gel Duo, the Deco Foil Adhesive Pen and with laser prints in this post. To transfer the foil to your project, we will talk about how to use a laminator, iron and dry transfer to get consistent results. What is Deco Foil? Deco Foil transfer sheets are a colored foil that has been formulated to easily be added to projects using a variety of mediums and…
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Quick Coloring Technique Using Distress Crayons
Do you ever struggle with adding color to your images? Coloring images is enjoyable but can take a lot of time and patience. Today I will be demonstrating a quick coloring technique using Distress Crayons for those moments when you want to spend less time coloring and want a very forgiving result. Fighting Against Perfectionism Using a quick coloring technique is a great way of fighting against perfectionism in our creative practice. We can be very critical about how we color and shade images. This technique is a great way of breaking out of perfectionism. I originally showed this technique at the Creative Scrapbooking Carnival last weekend when I was…
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Scribble Sticks Watercolor Technique
Have you ever tried Dina Wakley Scribble Sticks in your creative practice? Today I will show you an easy Scribble Sticks watercolor technique that can be used for a card, in a journal or on a tag. What are Scribble Sticks? Scribble Sticks are a pigment-based stick that writes similarly to a crayon. They are also water soluble, so you can use them for watercolor techniques. As these have a different binder than watercolor paints, the blending effects you can get with these sticks is unique. The benefit of the Scribble Sticks is that they can be added on surfaces that traditional watercolor paints would not work well on. You…
The Art of Self-Care
