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I’m grateful for feeling better - and to so many of you who sent well wishes. This cold tried to take me down, and succeeded for a while….but it lost in the long run. I’ll still be working on my stamina level since I was out of commission so long, but that’ll be coming back soon.

Notes from the studio

The SandyDraws YouTube channel is this → ← close to reaching its milestone for monetization; for those unfamiliar, they “turn on” partner access at 3000 hours of watchtime, so that’s been on for a bit and memberships and other features begin. Then at 4,000 hours, monetization can begin, and the creator receives a tiny bit of money for views. At least at my level. It’s not much, but every little bit counts - THANK YOU to all of you who’ve spent time on the channel!!

Tutorials this week

Tuesday’s airbrush video, mentioned above…to be followed by another this Tuesday.

Friday saw a bonus video on the old channel…

Saturday was some relaxing colorplay with a little abstract sketch…

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Dad jokes

About pottery, since one of this week’s projects used potters pink!

1. What did the potter say to their partner?
   I’m mold over heels for you.

2. Why was the potter so good at their job?
   They were on a roll.

3. How do potters make decisions?

   They just spin the wheel (of fortune)!

Have a great week, everyone!
Sandy

I had the footage of both of the pots, so thought you might be able to see some of what I learned from to create yesterday’s video. Basically…don’t use too much walnut ink if you want the pink to show!.

Enjoy!

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See you on the 16th for our livestream 10am PST / 1pm EST / 6pm UK….while I’ll be working with airbrush, let’s talk alcohol markers. What questions do you have?

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I looked in the box, and saw a few colors I already have in my palette, so grabbed those for eventual refilling. But I also looked for unique colors I haven’t played with. I “have” swatches of every color since I did that from a Dot Card (you can order one here) but not all those swatches inspired me to buy a tube (thankfully!).

Potters Pink is one of those. It’s a Primatek, a soft, desaturated pink color - and highly granulating. I hadn’t wanted to spend the money on a tube, but if it’s here just for me to play with, I nabbed one. (In coming weeks I’ll share a few other colors I found in that box, too!)

Watch the video below - and if you could, pop over to YouTube to leave a thumbs up to feed the algorithm!

Supplies (affiliate links provided at no cost to you; thank you for using my links and supporting my work!) Lake Michigan Book Press Sketchaday with Arches Bright White Cold Press in it. Colors are Daniel Smith Potters Pink BLICK | AMZ | JACKSONS and Daniel Smith Walnut Ink BLICK | AMZ | JACKSONS along with a Daniel Smith Watercolor Stick in Lunar Blac BLICK | AMZ | JACKSONS. Lines added with a Rotring Isograph Pen 0.50.

Thoughts on abstract painting

This is going to be rather unsatisfying, but I’ll try anyway! This precludes using my jar of prompts which makes random the selections so I can’t guide the choices nearly as much. But these are the decisions I make first, then places to take it later:

• Decide what to use. Do I feel like making something based on a particular color like today’s painting? Or choose a colorway?

• Decide on the vibe. Hard and linear? Soft and flowing? Do the colors dictate how it’ll feel?

• Decide on the composition. Quadratic? Freeform? Curvilinear shapes? Touching edges or not?

• Start with washes, add lines, marks, paying attention to white space, areas of interest, small vs large elements to balance them out. Where does the eye travel, and is that what I want?

• Step back and take a fresh look. Is anything appearing out of the elements to enhance? Or does something need to be diminished?

What else isn’t on this list?

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News from the studio

On Tuesday I’ll be posting a video talking about air compressors; the new one I bought at my local store came with an airbrush for paint, so I’ll be showing that and giving specs you might consider for your own compressor. In coming weeks I’ll be launching a class for marker airbrush; I’ll find out how to airbrush watercolor, and it could take me longer to work out a class on that since I’ll be brand new to it.

Dad jokes

About pottery, what else?

1. What did the potter say to their partner?
   I’m mold over heels for you.

2. Why was the potter so good at their job?
   They were on a roll.

3. How do potters make decisions?

4. They just spin the wheel (of fortune)!

This short little update was made for my OG channel (the old one with a lot of zombie followers!)….I post periodically there just to make sure if folks haven’t realized I’ve added new YouTube channels, they’ll have reason to find ‘em….

It was exciting to realize how far my little limericks traveled when that email arrived; it makes the hours of folding and trimming paper worth all that time it took to make almost 100 of them. And when I met someone in a workshop, demo, or sketching out in the streets of Bologna, Fabriano, and Rome, I got a kick out of handing them one of my little packets. They had a business card and this little book in a plastic sleeve, to be sure it “felt” important enough to keep. Most of the time everyone tucked it in their backpack without looking at it - I was really glad I included my email on the zine as well, since I know how many of the little treasures I received that lost any connection to their sender.

If you’d like to print up a little printable zine for yourself - or a dozen of them to fold up and take to your next art club or class gathering - grab it here:

Get the zine

The pdf includes instructions on folding it up - and a cover page that’s slightly bigger so you can accomodate whatever paper thickness you print on (just trim down any excess.)

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Topic for May

Yesterday’s post got me thinking about our livest…

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I’m back in the studio - I’m not feeling fully 100%, but well enough to spend the day working! And today I’ve got something special to share.

I’ve been working on this for a bit, in between other projects; I’d heard some news about a discontinuation, and there’s nothing that makes me look more deeply at something than when I find out it’s going away!

Fortunately I don’t know how soon. There could be a year’s supply of stock out there in shops around the globe. Who knows! But if you find this video interesting, you might just want to jump on it. In good news: the price I am seeing all over the web is not any more expensive than it’s ever been, so that means there’s no panic yet. Once it doubles, though, we’ll know there’s hardly any left.

Watch the video below - and if you could, pop over to YouTube to leave a thumbs up to feed the algorithm!

Supplies (affiliate links provided at no cost to you; thank you for using my links and supporting my work!) Copic Airbrush ABS3 (grip + adapter) BLICK or AMZ - it’s available for the same price as Blick in other shops, but as I’m an affiliate, I encourage using my link to help support my work. If I’d found it cheaper I’d link that for ya.

Benefits of airbrush

Anything that stretches your art supplies to be able to create with more flexibility is good, right?

SOFTER BLENDS. Airbrush gives you an entirely different type of soft blend than the techniques you’re used to. You can create large soft backgrounds that are impossible with marker strokes.

USE LESS INK. Ink floated onto a page uses less ink than marker strokes. There’s no bleed through the paper - color’s not sinking into the fibers of the paper, it sits on top.

MIXING COLORS. Layering airbrushed colors on top of each other lets each one sing - unlike marker strokes, where one color can sometimes fight with the other. Create subtle color shifts - a tiny bit bluer or pinker is easy to achieve.

WOW FACTOR. Since airbrush looks very different than marker strokes, you can add a wow factor to your art, even if just with a background!

VERSATILITY. Create one of a kind art pieces, combine with other mediums, use with stamps and dies, or spray color onto 3D objects.

Drawbacks of airbrush

SOUND. For some people, the sound of an air compressor is really annoying - I have two, and one is a little noisy, the other is quite quiet; the latter one’s no longer sold though. When you purchase, let the store know you’re looking for a quiet one, and see if they’ll plug it in so you can hear it. In your studio, put it inside a laundry basket under your desk - give it plenty of room to breathe and stay cool, but with soft things around it that’ll muffle the sound. You’ll get used to it; it’s worth it.

SMELL. Airborne alcohol marker pigment will be…airborne. If you’re bothered by drawing with your markers normally, the smell of airborne marker might bother you more.

OBSESSION. Once you start using airbrush you’ll use it a lot, in which case you’ll use your markers more and it might feel like you’re using more ink. But you’re just using your pens more. :)

TAKES TIME. Any new tool takes practice, and I’m still learning, too. Projects in the class won’t require perfectly-laid-down color, as a smooth and 100% even field of airbrushed color is challenging. I’ll show ideas that take advantage of the color application being a little imperfect.

News from the school and studio

1. Next Tuesday I hope to have tested out the OLO chisel markers to see how they perform, and by then I also hope to have some input from all of YOU about whether or not the course is one that anyone will want. If all that comes together, I’ll be opening pre-registration shortly, and provide color lists in the three brands of markers so everyone can take time to do some shopping for colors and other supplies. The only thing you should work on right away is securing a Copic ABS. Since we don’t know how many are out there!

2. I’ve been wrestling with what to do with my old “fine art” website newsletter - it’s too big to fall into the “free” category to be kept at Mailchimp, so I’ve disabled it and turned it into a website feed…..so if you were on that list, pop over and sign up again, would you? And take advantage of the sale that’s on right now, too!

Dad jokes

Of course I had to see if there were any FOMO jokes out there….

• Can anyone tell me what FOMO stands for?
  Everyone else seems to know.

• I’ve decided to stop worrying about missing out. I’m embracing JOMO—the Just Okay Missing Out.

• FOMO is just a fancy way of saying you’re jealous of everyone’s Instagram stories.

• What do you call a dad who isn’t afraid of missing out?
  Content.

• Why did the scarecrow have FOMO?

  He heard there was a better party in the next field over.

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Travel is always different though…exposure to the world’s bioweapons germs happens without warning! Unfortunately it’s my voice that’s gone mostly awol, and I just barely made it through the livestream yesterday - but thankfully I did! I wish I’d known the sign for this earlier than right now:

I still haven’t gotten the voiceovers done for the Nature Journaling class yet and I’m hoping to get to that this afternoon, so students, watch for an email from me by tonight maybe!

And I have something special I’ve been working on for a few weeks behind the scenes….I know, more stuff, right? Hopefully I’ll get all that ready for Tuesday’s video on SandyDraws….if I need to put it off a day or two I know you’ll understand. But as I write this late Saturday night, I’m feeling close to ready to kick this cold to the CURB. Ya know, just mentally decide that it’s gone, so I wake up tomorrow feeling great, right?

Want to see the art exhibition held at Fabriano? See the newest reel here.

Notes from the studio

I didn’t have my normal game on in promoting the existence of videos etc this week…and I also spaced linking more publicly to my little zines! All that means views on videos dropped while I was gone, and I would love it if you have a little time to help out my channels? Pop in the newest videos on a tab in the background, even with sound off if you’re not interested; that’ll help the algorithm feel some love, at least.

And if you’d like the new zine, here ya go! I was intending to make a video about this public, but it wasn’t correct, so…yah. It was going to be the fundraiser for pocket money for the trip to Italy, so now it’ll help me buy cough drops and get ready for the bills in May! ha.

Tutorials this week

Tuesday I followed through with a selfie in front of the actual building. I found it!

Saturday’s livestream - it’s a little long, but I hope it’s worth it. Lots of info!

Dad jokes

About ….what else but being sick?

1. How did everyone know the vampire had a cold?
   Because he was coffin!

2. What do you call a pony with laryngitis?
   A little horse.

3. Knock, knock!
   Who’s there?
   Ash.
   Ash who?
   Bless you!

I’m not making any promises as I write this on Friday afternoon. I sound like a cross between RFK Jr and Barry White (and not a pleasant mix of the two voices!) I sometimes randomly break out into an hour of coughing fits, or I could blow my nose for 20 minutes straight and run through half a box of kleenex. And then be nothing more than tired for an hour. Who knows what’ll be my state at 8am?

I’ll set up the camera and everything before bedtime, and have meds, cough drops, and drinks at hand…..so I’ll meet you on YouTube. If this link isn’t working, just see if you can click on my YouTube page and refresh, and we’ll see if we’re able to meet up, okay?

Join the livestream

If this is your first visit to my Substack, I usually have more to say in a post like this, but…hey, I’m sick, right, so…..the next few days might still be light on content!

Also: Nature Journaling students: The May 1 lesson will be delayed a bit. The videos were shot before I left for my trip, I didn’t realize I’d have no voice when I got home! I’ll email everyone as soon as the videos are ready.

thanks everyone!
Sandy

As I find myself recovering from a terrible cold I caught in Fabriano, I’d love to be outside. Crepe paper or not. But alas, I’m hanging out with the doggos, recovering from my illness and from my trip that ended a few days ago.

I will note, however, that our temperatures are also higher than they normally are at this time of year; I hope that doesn’t bode poorly for us! My last few days in Italy were cookin’ too, though I don’t know how normal that is for their location.

How’s it going where you are?

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Monthly newsletter subscribers: I’d love for you to do me a favor…for some reason I can’t figure out where in Substack that I can find out how many people turned on this newsletter ONLY….could you either hit the 👍🏻 on this post or leave a comment to let me know you’re here for just monthly news? Thanks!

Saturday’s livestream

A heads up for tomorrow: I’m going to make an attempt to go live on my SandyPaints channel, so please do head over there at 8am Pacific if you’d like to join in. I can’t promise I’ll last long, as my voice is pretty croaky as yet, but I’m operating in optimism: I WILL BE BETTER in the morning. I WILL BE BETTER in the morning. If I click my heels three times, will that make sure I’m all healed up?

Join the livestream

If I fall into a coughing fit, we’ll redo the livestream another day - so please be patient with me.

Most popular April posts

Let’s award a variety of posts in various categories:

Most-clicked from a Substack email:

Most-viewed on SandyPaints YouTube:

Do me a favor and give this one a watch and a comment; I want to send it to the store owners but not with small numbers of views and comments!

Most-viewed on SandyDraws YouTube:

News from the Studio & Classroom

• No news at the moment - my head’s still in Italy!?!? Or stopped up with sniffles and sneezes, it’s hard to tell.

Artventure community

If you’re looking for somewhere other than social websites full of dancing videos and doomscrolling, pop in over at Artventure. We’ve got a community of thousands of artists who’d love to share their work with you, give you feedback on your own—we all grow together!

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If I’ve been able to find this location in Rome by now, I hope to have popped a picture in here of me in front of it! Wouldn’t that be cool? I took the sketchbook with me, so I could hold it up in front of the shop…maybe show the shop owner too.

But if I were unlucky, or just didn’t have any wifi to upload pics - perhaps you’re just seeing text right here. Alas! On May 2, Saturday, I’ll be doing a livestream on SandyPaints and will tell the tales!

I was a bit hot and sweaty—but I found the shop on the Piazza Della Toretta…it sells health things for workouts (powders that make you bulk up, etc). There’s still a bike, but a whole new giant vine has taken over.

Watch the video below - and if you could, pop over to YouTube to leave a thumbs up to feed the algorithm!

Supplies (affiliate links provided at no cost to you) Moleskine Accordion Sketchbook
at Jet Pens where they seem to be out of the accordion version, but the regular book is there. I drew with a TWSBI Eco Fountain Pen - Medium nib and a Rotring Isograph Junior Set of Technical pens. Both filled with Platinum Carbon Fountain Pen Ink.

When the unexpected happens

Turning the book upside down wasn’t the plan. But you know, sometimes it’s also the perfect plan.

I’d asked for feedback from viewers about whether I should cut these pages out and tape them back in the right direction. Almost everyone said leave it - lots for different reasons.

One in particular suggested making random drawings in different directions, making this one look on purpose. I laughed at first, but then realized…if I did do that on occasion, I could do a really TALL picture with three panels for length - which sometimes might be just what’s needed. So watch out when this 60 page sketchbook is done because, well…..it could be all kinds of crazy. Because I’m making lemonade!

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Dad jokes

About selfies, since I’m hoping to get one to add to this post.

1. People who use Selfie Sticks.....

   really need to take a good long look at themselves!

2. Let’s call selfies what they really are….

   Alonies

3. Where do vegetables post their selfies?

   Instayam!

4. I dream of becoming a selfie photographer..

   I can just picture myself doing it.

I’ll be off to see some of my favorite paintings - Caravaggios - in churches across the city. I can’t wait to visit Santa Maria del Popolo where the Cerasi Chapel boasts two of them: Crucif…

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It’s more proof of my theory that watercoloring first is “better” if there is such a thing, but this was so large - I knew I wouldn’t be able to stand waiting for the pen work …

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In the video you’ll see some of the sketches - I started with a number of working sketchbook doodles, then moved to large drawing paper to figure out how I’d make the full scene. Initial ideas changed a lot …

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Speaking of inspiration - there’s 2 bonus videos this week. A big one today. You’ll see a link to it in…

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