When I was a junior in high school (2006), everyone in my class had a history assignment. You picked a year, then you made some sort of project over everything that happened that year. I chose 1973, and as I created my project — an illustrated handmade book — I couldn’t help but notice how chaotic and dramatic all of the events seemed. Watergate, hostages at Wounded Knee, the Vietnam War coming to an end … it was a lot.
Continue Reading about A “Processing It All” Sketchbook Page (June 2020)
My sketchbook passion took root in high school. Every year, my art teacher supplied us with fresh new sketchbooks, and every year, I relished working in mine. Now that I’m older, I still love working in a sketchbook, even if I go in spurts! There are some months that I create several pages, and others that I’m just not feeling it. Part of the goal of today’s article is to show you that a sketchbook isn’t a project that puts pressure on you! Instead, it waits patiently and is ready whenever you feel like adding interest to its pages.
Continue Reading about Sharing My Sketchbook So Far
Learning how to hand letter requires one main thing: patience. All the best hand lettering pieces start with a pencil draft, which you’ll probably modify several times before it’s just right! After that, you’ll still need to go over your work with ink. All that time isn’t a deal-breaker for me: to create today’s piece, I put on a good audiobook (To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before — such a sweet story!) and gratefully soaked up every second of creativity! Here’s how to make this piece and others like it:
Continue Reading about How to Hand Letter Like a Pro
The coronavirus crisis has been going on for a couple of weeks here in the US. It was something that many of us didn’t see coming, and the self-quarantine that followed also took many of us by surprise! Now that my family and I have accepted self-quarantine as a new, albeit temporary, normal, I felt like it was time to make a sketchbook page.
Continue Reading about Coronavirus Quarantine Sketchbook Inspiration
Here in Boulder, we’re alternating between being super snowed in to mildly snowed in. As someone who doesn’t do well in the cold, I have decided that it’s best to embrace the great indoors and capitalize on my creativity! For this article, I compiled a list of recent TPK projects that are fun and engaging. If you’ve been paying attention, you’ve probably seen all of these before (and my hat’s off to you). And if not, hopefully you’ll find something that sparks your creative energy! Here we go:
Continue Reading about 8 Absorbing Projects to Bust the Winter Blues
Geneva (“Geni”) is my assistant here at TPK. She helps me to categorize emails, come up with blog post topics, and brainstorm new worksheet ideas. The other day, Geni brought over her bullet journals on a whim, and I was blown away! I’ve always wanted to keep a bullet journal, but my motivation fizzles after a couple of weeks. Looking through Geni’s journals made me excited to start tracking things and making lists in earnest — all with a dash of artistry — and I thought you might feel the same if you could see them! With Geni’s permission, I took several photos of her bullet journal pages, and I’m sharing them here today.
Continue Reading about Incredible Bullet Journal Ideas + Examples