Sketchbook Paintings & More Recent Art

| Allison

Hello, dears!

I recently posted a tour of my main sketchbook, but I also have a couple of other sketchbooks I’ve been working on since… goodness, I think this was the last post I did on them, which… OH MYYY, I just realized it’s been one year to the day since that post! Ha, goodness! So anyway, I thought it was high time to give you guys a peek into my Illo sketchbook and some other drawings I’ve made recently(ish). πŸ™‚

As always, I hope this post can give you some inspiration to create your own art if you like drawing – or simply brighten your day with pretty pictures if not. πŸ™‚ I’ll also try to link the supplies I used if you want to try them out for yourself. Enjoy, my friends!

NOTE: This post includes affiliate links. If you purchase something using my link, the price won’t change for you, but I get a small commission for advertising and you get to support this blog for free! πŸ™‚

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Let’s pick up where we left off with this Posca pen painting from last fall. I try to use my Illo sketchbook for finished art rather than filling it with draft sketches (which I save for other sketchbooks), but, as you can see, the “finished artwork” is sometimes more like doodles. πŸ˜‰

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Here’s a mock album cover design for one of my favorite artists/bands, Switchfoot. Again, made with fine-tip posca pens. 

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I decided to try something different and made this slightly lopsided but fairly realistic ornament last November, using colored pencils, a white gel pen, and gouache paint. πŸ™‚

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I also got into collage about this time, I think, and enjoyed filling a page with peaceful, warm magazine pictures and paper elements. Something about the collage process is so relaxing, ahh.

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If I remember right, I picked out all the the pink/purple/peach markers I had (excluding Crayola) for this portrait. That’s a fun way to inspire or prompt yourself to make art!

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More Christmas art. This took a lot of time, phew (and white gel pen ink). I really like how it turned out, though! It was fun to make a “double exposure” sort of picture with the magi riding their camels on an actual camel. πŸ˜›

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I’m really proud of this as well, despite the mistakes. I wanted to paint something showing how people’s words are often just the tip of the iceberg. The line to her mouth represents what we actually say, but there’s often a mountain of what we mean piled on top, and a deep iceberg of fears and joy and memories underneath. You know? I painted this with gouache as well.

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My sister let me borrow her new Tombow markers, which I tested with this ombre lettering. 

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Ooh, these were so fun to make! I looked up some references and made a bunch of colored pencil + watercolor face studies. I love how they turned out, for the most part! πŸ˜€

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I made this one inspired by an Instagram challenge/prompt with the word “dreamy” or something like that. This is gouache paint and white gel pen again. πŸ˜‰

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A similar style, but this time I made it with Posca pens instead of gouache paint.

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I love this Jane Austen quote and wanted to do some typography with it. It got rather cramped, but I like the concept! What’s one of your favorite quotes?

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Painting “Starry Night” seems to be a common thing to do as an artist, so… I did it. πŸ˜€ Heh, I actually did this while preparing for one of the art classes I’m teaching right now at a local homeschool academy. It’s obviously much less detailed and, well, less masterful, than Van Gogh’s, but it was fun to simplify it and still be able to tell what I was going for at the end.

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Another painting to prepare for my younger art class. This one was fun because it’s a lot easier than it seems. Just get some acrylic paint and an old, stiff paintbrush and use the texture to make the art for you. πŸ™‚

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I discovered I enjoy making Posca pen paintings in this style. I love the bright yet harmonious colors here.

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I painted this as the new profile for my Instagram page, which you can find @thecolorboxstudio. I’m happy with how it turned out, especially because I looove the colors and watercolor texture. πŸ™‚

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Aww, here’s a fluffy little penguin to cheer you up. Or be grumpy alongside you, if necessary. Or maybe just very, very tired. πŸ˜› I think this pencil sketch turned out adorable!

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Welp, that’s my selection from the Illo sketchbook at the moment. Now for some miscellaneous sketchbooks, like a colorful sunset galaxy from this watercolor one. 

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I’ve painted almost this exact same picture so many times by now for various art classes and personal practice. And I still have a huuuuuge way to go in painting water, quite obviously. Not one of my strong suites. πŸ˜›

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Here’s a whimsical little village I also drew with my art students and finished later. Isn’t this style so fun?

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Guyssss, I got out my toned paper sketchbook again recently because IT’S INKTOBER! I nearly forgot about that challenge this year, but I’m excited to do it again! Be on the lookout for a sketchbook tour in November, but here are a couple of pencil sketches meanwhile. It can’t be an art post without an eye drawing, now can it? πŸ˜›

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My art tutoring student and I were practicing drawing from life the other day, so I made this sketch in preparation. And I’m happy to say that I brought two lightbulbs on a 50 minute drive and safely into her house without breaking either of them. πŸ˜€

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Now, before I end this post, I have two new Etsy products for you! I literally just added two new envelope sets, including this doughnut one. *licks lips*

Shop doughnut envelopes
Decorated Envelopes Donut Envelopes Mail Art Envelope Art image 0

This is one of my new favorite envelope sets! I love nature – flowers and mushrooms especially – so that could be why. πŸ™‚

Shop nature envelopes
Decorated Envelopes Nature Envelopes Mail Art Envelope Art image 0

And that’s all the art I have for you today, my friends! You can follow along @thecolorboxstudio on Instagram to see my art more regularly, including some bigger projects and commissions that don’t quite fit in my sketchbook tours. 

visit my art instagram
visit my etsy shop

Do you have a favorite art piece from this post? Been making any art lately? Also, what’s your favorite doughnut flavor? πŸ˜›

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

***Allison***

76 thoughts on “Sketchbook Paintings & More Recent Art”

  3. I always love your sketchbook tours! I’m really impressed with the lightbulb, and I also like how you shared some not-super-technical drawings. I’m not a great artist but have been wanting to practice/get better, and this post gave me some ideas! So thank you ❀

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    1. I’m so happy you like them, Maya! I enjoy posting them too. πŸ™‚ Why thank you! And yeah, even though it’s tempting to just post my favorites, I try to post some I’m not as proud of (although I don’t show a lot more, ha ha), because that’s just the reality of making art, right? πŸ™‚ I’m quite glad this could give you some ideas! Have fun! πŸ˜€

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  12. I could endlessly scroll through a post of your art and not be the least bit bored. So beautiful and masterfully done. o.o ❀

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  13. Wow! I love the lightbulb drawing! And that penguin is so fluffy cute! 😊 I have tried a bit of painting recently, but it hasn’t turned out very good. *sigh* I guess I just need to practice more…

    Oh, and I love doughnuts with filling… cream or jelly! Those are so yummy! πŸ˜‹

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    1. Thanks so much! Hee hee, I love those as well. Aww, that’s too bad. Well if you’re feeling discouraged, look back through some of my very old art posts. πŸ˜› But also, don’t feel bad if you try a certain art medium and decide you don’t like it. There are mediums I don’t really use either. *shrugs*
      Also YUM. *mouth waters*

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  14. You’re so gifted! I love β€œIt is well with my soul” because it’s my favorite song and many other reasons. You did Starry night so perfect! And the trees and the dreamy ….all of them! πŸ’š

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  21. These are just WOW! While I was srolling through all these, it seemed like I was seeing printed pictures. They are amazing and I love them.

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  22. OMG! I genuinely enjoyed everything you created – the ornament, the penguin, the leaves, the purple portrait, starry night! How long did it take you to do starry night? Would you ever try to teaching a class to your blog followers?

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    1. Aww, thank you so much, Gigi! ❀ ❀ Hmm, I'm not sure how long it took my to make the Starry Night painting since I didn't time myself. Not terribly long – maybe around an hour? I have no idea, ha ha. But ah, you know what?? I've actually been thinking of making an art class for my blog followers for a while now! It's something I'm seriously considering launching next year. πŸ™‚ Are there any specific tutorials, art mediums, or topics you think would be interesting?

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    1. Thank youuu! Heh, I know, that’s hard for me too. It helps to draw both eyes one step at a time so you can compare each part of the drawing as you go rather than drawing one complete eye and then starting over on the next. But otherwise… practice helps! XD

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