Lesson Summary

Hello, I'm Karen, a mixed media and textile artist in the UK.

Welcome to this short course on making three simple sketchbooks for mixed media art. This is the first in a series of mini-courses on getting started with sketchbooks and mixed media, which I hope you’ll enjoy.

Sketchbooks are really important to me because they allow me to experiment with new techniques, colour palettes and shapes, and therefore they encourage me to develop new skills and continue to grow as an artist. If sketchbooks can do that for me, they can do it for you too.

If you’re new to sketchbooks, and you think you can’t draw - you’re in the right place. Mixed media is perfect for mark-making, whether intentional or intuitive; your sketchbook doesn’t have to be drawing or sketching. Mixed media is perfect for composing with semi-abstract colours and shapes, and for exploring a wide range of materials and techniques. With mixed media, the materials often do most of the work for you, and there’s no need for figurative drawing if you don’t want to do that.

You can, of course, already buy a wide range of sketchbooks in various sizes and shapes. But it’s very easy, and a lot more fun, to make your own.

In the following lessons I’ll show you how to make three very easy sketchbooks - a concertina/accordion-type book, a simple zine-fold book, and a single signature stitched book. 

I’ll also show you lots of examples of my own work in these formats as well as giving you some simple techniques, tips and ideas for getting started with filling your sketchbooks.

I’ll show you some sketchbook pages in progress, and I’m including some painted collage paper, tag templates and miscellaneous poetry lines that you can download and print for use in your own work.

The course is pre-recorded, so you can buy now and complete it later; you have lifetime access once you’ve enrolled, you can download the lessons or watch online as many times as you like, and you can learn entirely at your own pace.

So if you’re ready to explore some of the possibilities with me, I’ll look forward to seeing you in the first lesson.