Introducing Guest Artist Carla Sonheim

I wanted to introduce you to Carla Sonheim, an illustrator and online art instructor known for using innovative exercises and techniques to help students of all levels embrace a more playful approach to creating art. She is the author of "Drawing Lab for Mixed-Media Artists: 52 Creative Exercises to Make Drawing Fun" and "The Art of Silliness: A Creativity Book for Everyone."

For the last three years her focus has been on creating engaging online art classes, where she teaches and also presents well-known guest artists. She made this Paper Doll tutorial in anticipation of her next online class, "2014: Year of the Fairy Tale," which begins January 20, 2014. You can find our more about Carla and her art and classes here:

Carla's Blog: http://carlasonheim.wordpress.com/

More Tutorials: http://www.carlasonheim.com/tutorials/

Info for "Year of the Fairy Tale" Online Class: http://www.carlasonheim.com/2014-the-year-of-the-fairy-tale/


Link to Carla's Other Online Classes: http://www.carlasonheim.com/store/

Here is a quick and fun way to make original paper dolls... a perfect thing to do with your kids or to nurture the kid inside you... because we're never too old to play with paper dolls! Have fun!

Carla Sonheim

P.S. This tutorial was made in anticipation of my next online art class, Year of the Fairy Tale.


 Supplies Needed

- a small watercolor set

- #12 round paintbrush (or similar)

- 8"x10" sheet of 140# hot press watercolor paper (or similar)

- a regular pencil

- an eraser (I like kneaded rubber erasers)

- scissors

STEP BY STEP

1. Gather your supplies.

 

 2. Lightly sketch in an outline of your doll. Keep your hand loose, and try not to worry about exact proportions (sometimes the most charming characters emerge when we let go of perfection!).

3. Using lots of water, mix up a color to use as the skin tones. Paint face, arms and feet. When face has had a chance to dry, get some red pigment on your brush and "dot" it into the watercolor quickly. The color should begin to spread out a bit for some nice rosy cheeks.

4. Let dry completely.

5. Paint in some hair; let dry completely.

6. Cut out your paper doll, and...

7. Play!

____________
© 2013 Carla Sonheim (www.carlasonheim.com)

Carla Bio:

Carla Sonheim is a painter, illustrator, and online art instructor known for using innovative techniques to help students of all levels embrace a playful approach to creating art. She is also the author of the “Drawing Lab for Mixed Media Artists: 52 Creative Exercises to Make Drawing Fun.” Carla’s paintings have been showcased in many galleries nationwide, as well as private and corporate collections. For the last three years her focus has been on creating engaging online art classes, where she teaches and also presents well-known guest artists.

More Free Tutorials: http://www.carlasonheim.com/tutorials/

Next Online Art Class: 2014: Year of the Fairy Tale

Link to Carla's Online Classes: http://www.carlasonheim.com/store/

 

Where to find me in 2014

Happy New Year to you all and a BIG thank you for supporting me on my artistic journey this year.

'I Give You this Beauty' by Kylie Pepyat-Fowler

My apologies for not posting as often as I would have liked. I'm hoping in my efforts to become more organized this year that you will see more regular posts. If you also follow my facebook page you will have been able to keep up to date with my workings over the last 12 months.

My plan this year is to share more, not only my completed artwork but also the happenings behind the scene, both the physical happenings in the studio and the goings on in my head. What you see here on my blog is not the only type of artistic work that I do and I'm planning on adding a few more projects to my repertoire.

I also plan to share the work and offerings from other artists that inspire me. My inspiration comes from such a wide variety of places and I hope to share this in order to inspire you on your own artistic journey.

To make following me even easier for you here are a few sites where you can find me:

• Facebook Page
• Flickr
• Pinterest
• Twitter
• My Etsy Store

I'm planning to add more prints to my store this year, so if there is every an image of mine you would like as a print don't hesitate to let me know and I'll put it in my store.
I've reduced the price of quite a few of my artworks, which you can view here in the 'Monthly Specials' section of my shop.

I am truly grateful and feel very blessed to have you visit my tiny art journey space on the wide world web. I wish the coming year sees your life overflowing with love, happiness, creativity, success, peace and many memorable moments.

Hugs,

Kyles XO