Free Drawing Template - Owl

I'm creating a series of free drawing templates to use for tangling, tracing, coloring, whatever! They're grayed-out images that you can trace over and change however you wish!

Download The Template PDF Here

*Print setting should be set to "Actual Size" to cut out and fit into your journal.

These templates are 100% free, and you can cut off the KASVT logo to use the image in your artwork, for personal or commercial use -- no need to credit us!

I only ask that, if you redistribute the digital file itself, that you do not crop the logo -- just so others can find their way back to the site to check out other free templates, to be posted in the near future! Happy Drawing!

Sketch Supplies

Here are some of our favorite sketching supplies!

DIY Acrylic Spraypaints

OMG yoo guyz!! ..... So, even though it's mid-Halloween-candy-art week, I had to share this! I found this idea while browsing the web and the wonderful world of art journaling!

DIY acrylic spray-paints! I grabbed a couple of old spray bottles -- the ones that our optometrist gives away with glasses cleaner in them (or an old perfume bottle would work). And:

1. Rinse them out.
2. Spray the sprayer a few times using only water, to rinse it.
3. Fill the bottle with about 1 part acrylic paint to 5 parts water.
   Or experiment with the ratio. Too much paint may gunk up the sprayer.
4. Add warm water, and shake to mix!
5. Spray away. Warning, it is messy!*
6. Add stamps, like I did with the "G" below, or doodles/tangles.

*This can easily be adapted to a toddler art project, with supervision. I'd just recommend using age-appropriate non-toxic paints, of course. You also may want to do this activity outside or with a lot of newspaper on your art table. The spray gets everywhere.

You can spray stencils, cut out your own shapes to put on the page, etc.! Today, I also picked up some supplies at The Art Store. I talked to the woman working there, and she recommended 2 new pens: a white gel pen (Uniball Signo) and a black artist pen (Staedtler Triplus Fineliner) for doodling/tangling on top of watercolors/watered-down acrylics. Both are working fabulously so far, though the Staedtler takes a little while to dry. I recommend propping up your finished pages in front of a fan while working on other pages. I love my Micron pens and will continue to use them for basic doodling, but the Staedtler is the first pen I've found that lets me draw over dried watercolor without picking up any of the pigment.

Learn to Draw with Post-Its

I've been feeling so discouraged lately about not being able to draw more of what I want to draw. I feel like I'm not great at drawing people, eyes, more realistic objects, boats, you-name-it! I always end up going back to my comfort zone -- doodles and tangles -- which are GREAT! But, how fun would it be to implement some more detailed illustrations?

And it's silly, because we can draw anything we want to! I came up with a little system for drawing practice using Post-Its! I keep a pad on my desk or in my purse, with a pen or pencil close by, and I practice, practice, practice! When my work computer goes down, I practice. While waiting for a doctor's appointment, I practice! When I complete one I like, I stick it in my journal or notebook. Others get trashed or dedicated to a "Gotta Work On It" page in my notebook.

It's not always a matter of just practicing, I like to have visual guides too. Pinterest is my go-to for drawing tutorials. It's okay to copy any of this artwork for practicing and journaling purposes! Check out:

Our Pinterest Board for some great drawing tutorials I've collected! Also, try these other Pinterest Searches:

Drawing Tutorials
How to Draw Eyes
Lettering
Drawing Boats
Drawing Trees
Drawing Flowers
Drawing Animals
Drawing Cartoons

And so on! All it takes is a little practice! If you want to share your work with us in Our Gallery, tag your Instagram photos #kasvtgallery!

The Art of Clean Up

My co-worker and artsy friend, Rachel, just introduced me to this fantastic book! It's called The Art of Clean Up: Life Made Neat and Tidy, and you can find it on Amazon (here).

Also, I've been in touch with 2 businesses that currently have October Art Classes. I know specifically that The Art Store, in Stowe is doing a neat class that brings parents and kids together to create art collaboratively! Check out our Local Events & Classes Page for more.

Altered Books

Ellie's Art Table!

As part of our art journal experience, I've been exploring the idea of altered books. Pinterest has some great ideas for altering books -- I saved some of my favorites on the KASVT Pinterest Board (here). I really love the smashbook-style of this one from Teresa Collins' Design Team blog (more here).

My two-year-old has been doing a great job keeping up with her painting and journaling, but I'm a little behind. I've started altering a new book, pics soon, but my little one is proudly and quickly covering her journal with all kinds of sketches of "spiders" and "mountains," and sticking on leaves that she's found outside.

I basically handed her a book, and she ran with it! I love the idea of filling mine with watercolors and zentangles. Any old books or magazines will work , and suddenly the thought of having an endless supply of (recycled) sketchbooks to paint and zentangle in is making me incredibly happy! There really is paper everywhere! Check your recycle bin!
 

Teresa Collins' Design Team Blog

Art Journal Paint Supplies

I've been really happy with both of these paint brands -- Basics and Premiere -- very much because they're so reasonably priced. The Premiere paint was on sale at A.C. Moore, and a few colors got me started with acrylics. I'm thrilled with the results, and happy to find out that it's much easier to tangle on top of acrylics than watercolors. I also finally picked up two new Sharpie pens last week which made my heart happy. I was barely getting by with the others, which I had worn out almost completely!

I used a ruler to draw a grid and am making the Amalea Zentangle pattern (tutorial here).

Elle did some acrylic painting with me, too, in her journal!

Kids' Art Journals

Okay, so, would anyone be opposed to me dedicating the next month+ to art journaling? All in favor? Let's just do it. Haha!

Art journals are our go-to on any day that I don't have a "real" craft planned, so... most days since I've gone back to full-time at my day job!

But, Elle loves it! She knows that, in the afternoon, she can grab her book and do whatever she wants with it. Last week, I went through the recycleables and found some foam packing material, and she pulled it apart and glued it all over her journal pages. Then she painted them. I was having a little anxiety, because the journal doesn't even close now, but that's how it should be, right!?

Anyway, Pinterest has some fantastic ideas for Kids' Art Journaling! Prompts, tutorials, etc.!

Here is what I found in my net surfing:

• One - Pinterest search for Kids' Art Journals
• Two - How to make your own journals (ABeautifulMess.com, pic below)
• Three - How to alter old board-books for journaling! (CreativeWithKids.com)
• Four - Kids' Art Journal Prompts
• Five - Learn about Smash Books & How to Make Your Own!
• Six - Check out our own Toddler Smash Book! (YourMomIsStrange.com)
• Seven - Consider picking up a Wreck This Journal book, with prompts for creative destruction!
• Eight - Learn about the art of doodling/zentangling! (InnerChildFun.com)
• Nine - How about some print-making ideas to spruce up those pages? (TinyRottenPeanuts.com)
• Ten - Explore some around-the-house painting tools! (LessonsLearntJournal.com)

Photo from ABeautifulMess.com!

Art Journal Inspiration

Check out this amazing artist, Mary Wangerin (her blog here), and follow her on Facebook (here)! I'll definitely be visiting her site for art-journal inspiration!

Photo via the The Turquoise Paintbrush

Pen and Paint Supplies

One of my favorite blogs is Pen and Paint! I love Lindsay's doodle designs and inspirational-quote prints! I've always wondered what supplies she uses, and today she is sharing!

Check it out!! Pen and Paint: My Favorite Supplies

http://penandpaintblog.com