Sketchbook Revival starts this weekend! It’s a free, global online event, hosted by Karen Abend, that’s designed to help you reconnect with your creativity in a way that feels doable, inspiring, and actually fun. This will my third time participating as a teacher and my fifth as a student!
What is Sketchbook Revival?
It’s an eleven-day online creative challenge (April 11–21) featuring 30+ hands-on sessions with artists from around the world. Each day, you can dip into lessons on:
- Drawing
- Painting
- Collage
- Mixed media
- Sketchbook play
…and so much more. Some of the workshops that I’m excited about are:
- Jane Davies: Visual Prompts
- I love Jane’s work and she always offers simple doable prompts.
- Sarah Matthews: Australian Piano Hinge Book
- Sarah is great and this is one of my favorite books to make. In fact, it’s one I teach people to make and would charge you a lot of money to learn, so it’s super cool that you’re getting to learn it from Sarah for FREE!
- Debbie Mackinnon: Fast & Loose Mixed Media Sketchbook Pages
- I haven’t heard of Debbie before (another great reason to join the class — you find so many new-to-you awesome artist instructors) but I love anything that involves fast and loose mixed media.
- Este MacLeod: Play with Patterns
- Este’s work is beautiful and patterns are always a favorite for me!
There are so many more sessions to choose from if these don’t interest you. Each year I find that there’s one or two sessions that simply blow me away! And it’s a good reminder that you don’t have to do everything. You don’t have to keep up. You just have to show up.
Why You Might Need This (Especially Right Now)
If you’ve been feeling:
- Stuck
- Uninspired
- Too busy to “get back to art”
- Overwhelmed by where to start
Sketchbook Revival gives you:
- A structure (so you don’t have to figure it out)
- A community (so you’re not doing it alone)
- A spark (so you actually begin)
What’s in the Lesson I’m Teaching?
My lesson is called, “Your Sketchbook Is Full of Ideas.”
Personally, I don’t tend to use my sketchbook for finished art. Rather, it’s a place where I collect ideas. I write, I draw, I think, I wander, I play, and I collect things. It’s one of the reasons I tend to refer to my sketchbooks as “studio notebooks.” (As a side note, if this is an idea that intrigues you, I have an entire section of My Art Practice dedicated to the studio notebook.)
So, in my session I’ll be showing you how I go from a little sketch to a finished piece of art — all with the help of a simple formula that you can use over and over again! Here’s the piece that I make in the class video:
If you’ve ever struggled with…
- understanding how to use a sketchbook to fuel finished art
- getting started on a work of art
- feeling like you’ve “run out of ideas”
…then you’re going to love this session.
The Best Part? Sketchbook Revival is FREE.
You can join and access all the sessions at no cost HERE. There is a VIP option if you want lifetime access and bonuses, but you absolutely don’t need it to participate.
VIP is for you if:
- You don’t want to feel rushed
- You know your schedule is unpredictable
- You tend to fall off when things feel overwhelming
- You want this to actually stick, not just be a one or two week burst
One thing you should know, there are three opportunities to buy the VIP package, but the price keeps increasing over time.
- When you first register for class, you can upgrade to VIP for $47.
- During the challenge, you can upgrade to VIP, but now it’s $97.
- And then after the challenge is over, you have one week, one last chance, to decide to upgrade to VIP, however the price is now $197!
You don’t need the VIP, but if you think you’re going to get it, do it earlier rather than later!
Join Before It Starts
The event starts this weekend, so SIGN UP and get ready for an art adventure!
Remember: You don’t need more time. You don’t need better supplies. You don’t need to be “ready.” You simply need to begin. And this is a really easy way to do it.
Thanks for stopping by!
