My Sketchbook: Recent Art

| Allison

Hello, dears!

Happy summer – officially! Are you excited? This summer I plan on making lots and lots of art, so I wanted to show you some of my recent drawings before I made too much to fit in one post. šŸ˜‰

ALSO, in honor of summer, everything on my Etsy shop is 30% off through this weekend only! So yeah, definitely check that out, especially if you’ve been eyeing some of my products for a while and were waiting for the right time to purchase them. šŸ˜‰

Now, ready for some art? Let’s do this!

featured image 100

We shall start with the sketchbook itself. I painted the front because it was originally a textured rusty color I didn’t find very inspiring. šŸ˜› I like how it turned out!

art 1

The first page is always a little scary, am I right? I figure it’s a good place to put a favorite quote, so I did. I’m not super proud of the hand lettering here, but ah well.

art 2

Okay, be prepared for a LOT of flowers in this sketchbook. šŸ˜› On the left I just sketched several different types of flowers for inspiration. On the right I made a simple watercolor of poppies which I think is pretty cute. šŸ™‚

art 3

Left: I drew this for a coloring page contest that Girl Defined was hosting. I was one of the winners – yay! I might color it in myself eventually. It’s awfully tempting. XD

Right: Gouache wildflowers, page 1 of 2. I made these for an art print which turned out great, but OH MY. It took forever!

art 22

Left: Sketches for future Narnia envelopes. I’ll show you the real art for them later in the post. šŸ˜‰

Right: Gouache wildflowers, page 2 of 2. See the finished print here.

art 4

Left: Various face sketches, ranging from horrible to okay. XD I’m trying to get better at making up faces and characters without looking at a reference. IT’S HARD, GUYS. Not my strong suite, but I’m working on it!

Right: I’m much more pleased with this handlettering. šŸ™‚ In fact, I made it into a printable for the shop! You can see it here.

art 5

Left: a quick little watercolor self-portrait for a “meet the artist” post on my Etsy Instagram account. (The handle is @thecolorboxstudio if you’d like to follow along!)

Right: Narnia envelope design, 1 of 3. Featuring Lucy and Mr. Tumnus’ first meeting. šŸ˜€

art 6

Left: Random watercolor doodles with some excellent new brushes I got from Rosemary & Co.

Right: Narnia envelope design, 2 of 3. Featuring the iconic lamppost of Narnia. šŸ˜€

art 7

Left: A sad looking alphabet + a few numbers. HAHA. I was trying out some new brush pens and did this instead of a swatch page to test the colors.

Right: Narnia envelope design, 3 of 3. This is probably my favorite of the series! ā¤ You can see the finished envelopes here.

art 8

Left: More people practice. I’m actually quite pleased with how these girls turned out. Tasha is my favorite – what about you?

Right: Some summery graphics for an e-magazine I contribute to. šŸ™‚

art 9

Left: For some reason I was really in the mood to use my new Tombow Fudenosuke brush pens, so I picked this great but long quote by Charles Spurgeon to hand-letter. šŸ™‚ I created the drawing at the bottom with the Tombows + my other brush pens.

Right: A pretty watercolor cosmos for the gallery wall in our bedroom. (Room tour coming soon!) I made this into a printable, which you can see here.

art 10

Left: Even more people practice. šŸ˜› We’d just bought a big pack of colored G-2 Pilot Pens, so I used them to practice sketching with pens instead of pencils. I actually like how at least some of the faces turned out!

Right: Another pretty flower for our gallery wall. šŸ™‚ You can find a printable for it here.

art 11

Left: Another piece for the e-magazine. I really like my new brush pens, hee hee!

Right: I painted these two gouache pieces after watching a video on Aliki Karkoulia’s YouTube channel, which I highly recommend. She makes such colorful, unique gouache paintings that I was inspired to paint a couple of my own. Which one is your favorite?

art 12

Left: Are you surprised? :’D Apparently the theme of this sketchbook is people and flowers. I really like the two characters I created here, especially the top one. I used some off-brand alcohol ink markers to color their shirts, but since markers bleed through this paper, I drew the characters on two index cards and then taped them into my sketchbook with washi tape. I think it looks really neat! I’ll have to do it more often.

Right: Ooh, I like this one! Yep, it’s another piece for our gallery wall, and yep, I also made it into a printable. XD

art 13

Left: A quote for our gallery wall, but I didn’t make this into a printable… yet. šŸ˜‰

Right: For some reason I really felt like painting barn swallows which fly around our house all the time. But I didn’t feel like painting realistically, so they ended looked more like bluebirds… and I just went with it. XD

art 14

Left: Another page for my Instagram account. šŸ™‚ Also, I’m planning to post a summer playlist on here very soon, so keep an eye open for that!

Right: I painted this random band-aid-shaped pattern when I was feeling rather demotivated and uninspired, to try and get back into the groove. :’D I couldn’t decide whether I should outline the pattern or not, so I did both. šŸ˜› Which side do you prefer?

art 15

Left: I’m not finished with this page, but so far these are some sketches for a possible sticker design! I’m thinking about adding stickers to my shop. What do you guys think? Would you (hypothetically) want to buy that sort of thing?

Right: This is the first design in my newest envelope art series which I still haven’t finished. I think it turned out lovely and I look forward to painting the other designs!

art 16

Now we’re caught up with my sketchbook, so I shall end with a few random art pieces I’ve created recently. This one is a sort of sample for a watercolor art class I’m planning to teach at a local homeschool co-op next school year! I’m really excited but also really nervous. :[] Prayers would be appreciated. ā¤

art 18

Blech, sorry for the terrible picture. O.o Anyway, I painted this for Enni’s birthday a while ago, since she really likes LOTR. XD Good ol’ Gandalf.

art 21

I’m really excited about this project! I’m working on a Bible verse card set for my Etsy shop which will include twelve watercolor prints. I haven’t got the cards all ordered yet, but I hope to soon!

art 17

This was a really fun and challenging custom order I got to paint from a photo. How sweet is this?? ā¤

art 20

And last but not least, my friend Aria commissioned me to do this painting of their cows. I think it turned out so cute!

cow portrait completed

Phew, that was a lot of art! I hope this post inspired you to get out your own sketchbook; I know art posts often do that to me! If you enjoyed my art, I’d be delighted if you followed my Etsy account, @thecolorboxstudio, to see fun art videos, progress shots, the newest products, and other artsy things. šŸ™‚ You can also find it by going to my blog sidebar and scrolling down to the Instagram section. Much obliged, my friends!

Which piece of art was your favorite? Do you like drawing made-up characters, or do you prefer drawing from a photo reference? Do you have an art account I can check out too?

Thanks so much for reading, dears, and have a lovely day!

***Allison***

78 thoughts on “My Sketchbook: Recent Art”

  1. OH MY GRACIOUS Allison….you have soooo inspired me with my art. I want to sell it but havenā€™t really known where to yet. Your work is SO cute and breathtakingly beautiful!!! I LOVE the Narnia set (huge fan)ā¤ļøā¤ļøā¤ļø And ALL of those flowers……šŸ˜šŸ˜ Doodles are such fun! As are people……Iā€™m right there with yašŸ’•ā¤ļøšŸ’•
    If you donā€™t mind, Iā€™d really like to pick your brain on how you got started selling your artwork and why you chose Etsy as your outlet……Iā€™ve gotten ambitious and depressed by turns on exactly how to get the ball rolling with thatā¤ļøā¤ļøā¤ļø
    KEEP GOING!!! Your work is AMAZING and keep using it to honor the Lord!!šŸ’•šŸ˜‰šŸ’•

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    1. Thank you SO much for the amazing comment, Callie! I’m super happy that I could inspire you, and I’m so glad you like my art!
      Those are great questions! To be honest, Etsy is a pretty tough market to be on right now, for me personally, but it’s still a lot of fun to be able to do what you love and make money from it, even if it’s not a lot. Many people have made their Etsy shops into a full-time job, but it requires a LOT of hard work, time, and thought if you want to see results. If you’re serious about wanting to sell your art, GO FOR IT AND HAVE FUN! If you’re intimidated by all the competition on Etsy, I recommend researching alternative places to sell. I’ve heard Shopify and Square are good places to look into! I chose Etsy personally because I have used them in the past for other things I sold and I do think they’re a great platform. The start-up cost is basically nothing, and the other fees are pretty minimal compared to other companies. But like I mentioned, the big downside to Etsy is… how big it is! You have to work your SEO and keywords to get your products out there, which takes a lot of research. However, I’ve definitely had some success and so far I’m almost up to 60 sales, which is exciting!
      I hope that was helpful! I recommend researching it some more yourself before you start. My friends and I did a mini collab with tips for starting a business, which you might find helpful as well. Here’s my post, which includes links to the others at the bottom:
      https://afarmgirlslife.com/2019/02/22/how-to-bring-more-traffic-to-your-online-business/

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  6. EEEEP SO BEAUTIFUL. I love this. ā¤ Your people are vastly improving and looking so good, Allison! And FLOWERS. AND QUOTES. I CANNOT WAIT TO SEE THE BEDROOM TOUR. I LOVE THEM ALL.

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  12. Oh I love your new profile pic! I just noticed it. šŸ˜›
    Those Narnia inspired sketches/envelopes are AMAZING! I LOVE them! I think my favorite is the lamp post, though I really love the Lucy Meets Mr. Tumnus one too! ā¤
    And that self portrait next to it is SO ADORABLE! I love the font and your pose and everything! You did such a great job. šŸ˜€
    I really like that Spurgeon quote too, I've never read it. And your artwork for it is so beautiful too!
    Oooooh yay! I new room tour! Those are fun. šŸ˜€
    Oooooh yes! Stickers are always a great idea!! XD I like how they say "happy mail" too. That would be so cute to put on letters.
    Oh yay! Does this mean you got that teaching job officially? šŸ˜€
    Wow, those verse cards are so so so so beautiful! O.O I love all the colors and patterns and calligraphy! ā¤ ā¤
    I don't even know if I could pick a favorite of all of your art. They're all always so amazing! ā¤
    I totally thought I was already following you on Instagram, but apparently I wasn't? Oops. XD I am now!!!
    Oh btw I replied to your letter a while ago so hopefully you got it. šŸ˜›

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    1. Why thank you, dear!
      AHH THANKS! They were fun to make. šŸ™‚
      D’aww, thank you so much!
      I love the Spurgeon quote too!
      YES, I can’t wait!
      YAY, thank you! Yep, I was thinking of marketing the stickers as seals for envelopes, but we shall see. šŸ˜‰
      Well I was accepted as a teacher, but they have a minimum requirement of four students per class, so it all depends on if enough kids sign up…
      THANK YOUU!
      Ha ha, whoops! XD YAY!
      OH YES, I must have forgotten to tell you! But yes, I got your letter and LOVED it, of course! I still have a few letters to catch up on but I can’t wait to reply to yours as soon as I can. ā¤
      Thank you so much for your amazing comment, dear!

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      1. You’re welcome! ā¤
        Oh good! Congrats on being accepted! I'm so happy for you!!!! šŸ˜€ I hope lots of kids sign up!
        Oh yay, I'm glad you loved it! ā¤ At least it didn't get lost. XD It's okay, take your time! šŸ™‚
        You're welcome again! XD

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  14. Great job, Allison! You’re so gifted in the area of art–and I can tell you work really hard to perfect that gift. I really loved the blue mountains/flowers from your unfinished envelope art set, and the red poppy one for your gallery wall…and Aria’s cows are really cute too! But honestly, I thought they were all really good. All the flowers make me happy :).

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  15. I will have to go check out that sale now!! I really like Allie! šŸ˜€ Ohh! I really love the one with the red sky and the house! I really like the outlined side! šŸ˜› Ohhhh! A happy mail sticker is Woah. That Gandalf drawing is incredible! šŸ˜€ I will be praying the art lessons go really well and that you have a super fun time doing them! šŸ™‚ I loved all of your art! Great post! šŸ˜€

    -Laura ā¤ šŸ˜‰

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  17. These are all so beautiful!! I think my favorites are the cover, the Narnia envelope designs, the pink flower, or the Bible verses. Iā€™ll be praying your teaching goes well! Iā€™m sure youā€™ll do great!

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  22. I absolutely love all of your art posts soo much.You are such an incredible artist!!! Coincidentally, I was sketching when I got the notification. šŸ™‚ I love all the flowers! Amazing post! ā¤
    ~Arunima

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  23. Very nice! My favorite is the landscape painting on the page alongside the “happy mail” design. That’s so cool that you won a contest on the Girl Defined website! Why were they having a coloring page contest? I actually watch their YouTube videos, so that’s why I know about them. šŸ™‚

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    1. Thanks, Sassafras! That’s one of my favorites too. šŸ™‚ Yes, it was pretty neat! To be honest, I’m not exactly sure – one of my followers sent me a link to their e-magazine with the contest. I don’t usually read their blog or magazine or anything, so I don’t know much more context than that. XD

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  24. Ooh, Allison those are all so pretty! I just love those verse cards and I plan on purchasing some as soon as they come out! You are so talented, and I can tell that you really put a lot of effort into your art!

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  26. Your art is gorgeous! It’s very inspiring!
    I LOVE LOVE LOVE your Narnia
    envelopes and flower doodles. I’m always so drawn to flower art.
    I’ll be praying for your success in teaching the art class! I know you’ll do amazing! šŸ˜€ ā¤

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  34. These are all beautiful!! And I especially love that Van Gogh quote ā€” Iā€™d never seen that one before, but Iā€™m totally putting it in my Favorite Quotes collection now!! šŸ˜Š

    I came over here to your blog because of my friend Audrey (I doodled a lil bunbun inspired by a picture on Pinterest and sent it to her, and she pointed out that the bun in the original photo belonged to you). Iā€™m super glad I did, because I love your blog!! (Also thank you for doing that recent playlist post, because it led me to Vocal Few!! Iā€™ve recently discovered a love for indie folkish-style music via The Arcadian Wild, and Iā€™m dying to find more groups similar to them to add to my own playlists. And Vocal Few fits that bill *perfectly*!! šŸ˜Š)

    I have one quick question, if you donā€™t mind ā€” what brand of sketchbook did you use here? Iā€™ve been trying to find a nice one that will hold my pencil sketches, ink doodles, and marker drawings, but will also hold up under some light watercolor practice (something Iā€™m 100% new to and honestly pretty terrible at, but really want to learn).

    Thanks again for sharing your beautiful artwork ā€” Iā€™m heading over to Instagram now to give your account there a follow!! šŸ˜Š

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    1. AHHHH, thank you so much for the amazing comment, Shay! šŸ˜€ It’s so nice to meet you.

      YES, I love the Van Gogh quote too! ā¤

      Aww, really? It's so neat that you found me through Pinterest and a friend! YES, I'm getting more into folk music as well! Especially for summery. It seems inherently summery, doesn't it? I'm so glad you like Vocal Few!

      Of course! Great question. The sketchbook in this post was from The Bee Paper Company, I believe. I found it on Amazon, and really like it so far! It's not really made for alcohol-based markers, but it works great for everything else I've tried it with! Hope that helps. šŸ™‚

      It was my pleasure! Thank you ever so much for checking out my Instagram page as well. šŸ™‚

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  35. *squeals* You know you’re like the best artist I know, right? You are so amazing! My favorite was the one of the…was it sage? Toward the end, it looked so real, it looked like a real one just sitting on the page! šŸ˜® Thank you for inspiring me! ā¤

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    1. I can’t even express how encouraging you are, my friend! THANK YOU SO MUUUUUCH! Oh yeah, that watercolor flower thing? I’m so glad you liked it! Of course, dear! Thank you for being so sweet. ā¤

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