Sketchbook blog

Recently, a friend asked me to create some hand lettered notecards for her to send to her son, who just left for his freshman year of college.   I hope these encouraging words help you through your day.   These designs are from my sketchbook and need some improvement before the finished result. As I get older, I realize that my mind, which races to find the logic in each circumstance, often comes up empty on the "why" questions.  So many of us face difficulties:  cancer, illness, loss, tragedy.   We need to remember that a little support can go a long way.   Know today that you are not alone and that I am rooting for you! 

Just a few shots from behind the scenes as we prepare for my fifth class' debut on Skillshare . This Abstract Art with a Twist class will take us through a wood craft.  As a special challenge, we will grapple with wood grain to complete a tactile art object in shimmering, iridescent hues.  The reference work, as you can see below, is Klimt's famous painting, The Kiss . Stay tuned!  Coming soon...

Today we'll talk about my adventures with the Doodle Theory Club Contest and drawing challenge but, first... (drumroll, please) New Podcast Announcement I'm so excited to announce that I'm adding a new feature to this blog.  Starting today, I have created a podcast called  Nicoletta's Sketchbook Podcast .  The mission of our podcasts is simple:   to provide you artistic inspiration in your creative journey . These short audio programs are specially meant to make our artistic community here a warmer, friendlier, more enjoyable place.  The podcast also allows me to provide more details and insight into the art resources I share here in my posts.  I will do them as often as I can.  I sincerely hope I will be able to cut at least two per month. (Note:  I will post all my podcasts on PodEngine.com , a relatively new, easy and online streaming service that provides free accounts with many hours per month for your listening plea...

Can 100 days of making art kill you?  Evidently not!  I made it -- a few days late, but I completed all 100 days.  My Klee paintings, Days 96 - 99/100 Artist and fellow Skillshare teacher Elle Luna started the idea of making art for 100 consecutive days.  Anyone on Instagram could contribute and follow along by using the hashtag #the100dayproject . Photo courtesy of Elle Luna Originally, I created the hashtag #100DaysOfLittleInspirations because I thought I could use the daily discipline to create more art for my Little Inspirations series for Art-o-mat .  This was not the case all, however, as I never created any particular design specifically to use for this series. My Miro' paintings, Days 93 - 95/100 In fact, I created some finished art for my Mini Masterpieces series for Art-o-mat.  The little Miro's above and the little Klees at the top are some pieces that doubled as daily paintings for this effort and for my Skillsh...

On Monday, we visited Camino Bakery and the Sawtooth School for Visual Art on an Art-o-mat excursion. Our purchases come from artists  Zack Rhodes  (top) and  Paige Matlock   (bottom). We got these hot little numbers from the Camino Bakery machine. "Kerplunk!  goes the art. Alex loves the Art-o-mat machine. The kids pose in front of Camino's reflective chrome machine. Next, we strolled down to the Sawtooth School to catch a glimpse of the Art-o-mat machine there. So many wonderful artists to choose from in this machine. Soon, Clarice's little BoogerBrain series will find a home in one of these Art-o-mat machines. If you would like to learn more about Art-o-mat, check this latest news coverage or join the public Facebook group .  We enjoyed the Associated Artists of Winston-Salem show in the Milton Rhodes Center before we packed up to go home. So proud of this arti...