Sketchbook Playtime
so much playtime I forgot to do other things
I have made so many things in the last month that I can’t share them all at one time. And if I fall too far behind, I will just post them to my blog at Angela Says.
There were so many Sketchbook Revival classes! So let’s catch up a bit on those. Because I did them all!!
Crinkle the paper, draw the lines, color it in. This is shockingly fun. I did this at lunch for a week with my mom while the dogs were playing.
This workshop was just a bunch of different and delightful ways to loosen up when starting into your sketchbook.
I probably won’t use the stuff from this workshop as much. But it was interesting to try, just collaging in your sketchbook as background for other sketches later.
This is a great style of sketching for ideas. Monotone first to play with shapes. Then adding those shapes to color. The color blobs are put down before the tree shapes are added.
I love cutting into my sketchbook but am usually too worried about loosing a page to it. I need to get over that and just do it more. Here, we were supposed to draw our front door and then cut it open and journal a bit about how we felt on completing the Sketchbook Revival week. I did not sketch my door as it is but as it might be.
I am not super into abstract work, but I can see doing more of it after a bunch of these classes. I loved this. Blop a bunch of watercolor. Then when it is dry, use a dark watercolor and some colored pencil to outline the flowers you see (or don’t see). I did the following painting with ink for the dark instead of indigo watercolor.
Newcomers by Alan Mikhail (Norton, May 12, 2026): What a fascinating look at old pre-US American history. Engaging writing style. This was a pleasure to proofread. It is about a founding couple of the United States who were quite different from who you would typically think of.
(Note: This is an affiliate link from which I could receive a small commission if you buy it.)
I recommend to you a class: Draw Wobbly Houses. Especially if you wish you could draw or draw more, this class is fantastic. It is all about accepting wobbly lines and having fun. Irene of Makings and Musings started this style so she could draw on public transit and it is so much fun. I started doing them “outside of class” and forgot to do the last workshop. To the drawing board!
I hope your day gets better from here!
-Angela
Dearest Diary,
Well nuts and Neanderthals. I try my best, I really do. I say yes to all sorts of invitations just to experience the full breadth of life. So when asked to try out for the part of detective in a noir film, I jumped on it. I learned my lines and showed up on time. But even though they congratulated my performance, they told me I wasn’t right for the part. They didn’t want a noir detective who looked happy to be doing his job.
Too happy to be miserable,
Dr. Wally TG