Susanna's Sketchbook

March 16, 2012: Art Lab for Kids - and a chance to win a free copy of the book!

UPDATE (MARCH 26, 2012): AND THE WINNER IS...

PHOENIX PEACOCK!

Thank you to everyone who entered the draw.

Susan Schwake's new book, Art Lab for Kids: 52 Creative Adventures in Drawing, Painting, Printmaking, Paper and Mixed Media (published by Quarry Books) landed on my doorstep last week. It's a terrific book filled with art lessons that will inspire you and your children to create art projects together.

The lessons include scribble drawings (a game my twin sister and I enjoyed playing when we were kids), watercolor and salt painting, various printmaking techniques and mixed media projects, among others. Each lesson has step-by-step photo instructions, demonstrated by the young students from Susan's Artstream gallery and studios.

Also accompanying each lesson is a section titled Meet the Artist where contemporary artwork that relates to the specific lesson is shown. (An encaustic painting of mine is on page 131.)

Thanks to Susan Schwake and Quarry Books, YOU can win a free copy of Art Lab for Kids!

It's so simple to enter! Just leave a comment on this post between Friday, March 16, 2012 - Sunday, March 25, 2012. On Monday, March 26, I'll draw a name from a hat and notify the winner. Please make sure that you leave a correct, working email address so I can contact you.

July 5, 2011: A Free Giveaway! Enter by Tuesday, July 12th! Tonight!

Yes, it's a FREE GIVEAWAY!!!

The very talented Jenny Doh has put together a gorgeous book titled Art Saves: Stories, Inspiration and Prompts Sharing the Power of Art. It is a collection of artwork, stories and prompts (tutorials) written by artists from around the world, including...

The stories are personal and the artwork is absolutely beautiful. I can't wait to try all the prompts, including Kelly Rae Robert's affirmations collage which is vibrant and fun and Susan Tuttle's "The Gift" that me dreaming of storytelling through digital photography. There's also a demonstration by Stephanie Lee on how to create a painting out of mixed media which has piqued my interest for quite some time now. (Coincidentally, I'm currently taking her online Plaster Studio course which is terrific. I wrote about it in the previous post.).

There are so many great ideas in this book to inspire YOU to create! Take a peek inside Art Saves here. See Jenny's promotional video here.

And guess what??!!

I will be giving away one copy of Art Saves for free!  If you are interested, simply leave a comment on this post between Tuesday, July 5 through Tuesday, July 12.

On Tuesday, July 12 at 12pm(EST)/9pm(PST), I will draw one name out of a hat and contact the winner via email.

December 13, 2010: Make Your Own Books

It arrived! The Gaspesie, Quebec photography book that I made for my mom this Christmas. (She doesn't have a computer so I'm not too worried that she'll find out about her present. Again, Shhh!, Family!)

The big plus to making your own books is that you can do this all at home.  Just put on a few tunes, pour yourself a cup o' coffee, and click your way down memory lane. Two weeks later you'll have an actual book in your hands.

I put together the book through Blurb, an online publishing company, whose step-by-step Booksmart tutorial is easy to follow. Several different book sizes and numerous page layouts are available.

Considering that I have yet to properly calibrate my computer monitor (that's on my Christmas wishlist), I am really pleased with how the colour in the pages turned out. The only noticeable changes that I'll make next are in the colour and tone of the front and back covers which I think are due to Blurb's printer using CMYK instead of RGB. Ah well, it was a learning lesson. In the meantime, I don't think my mom will mind if the boat on the back cover is a little more cyan than it's suppose to be.

What I especially like about the book is that it's a collection of photographs and memories from a roadtrip this past Fall with my mom and older sister, L. (L. and I will be getting ours in the New Year).