Faber-Castell Mandala Stencils

I love working with stencils. Drawing geometric designs tends to take my mind off of everything else because it requires so much concentration. The stencil below took about 45 minutes to complete. While I was working on it, I thought of nothing other than drawing the tiny, thin lines. I used Faber-Castell Pitt pens in XS and S.

Faber-Castell makes uniquely-designed stencils. They are very precise but they are made out of cardstock – not the plastic I’m used to working with. Even if you tape them securely with painter’s tape, they can still lift up while you are drawing. This could cause messy, uneven lines so you have to be very careful when using them.

Regardless, they are so fun to use! I recommend them to anyone who likes zoning out while stenciling and coloring. They are a great way to break a creative block or just to try out new supplies.

*Closeup of the finished line work. As you can see, there were a few places where the stencil lifted up.*

I’m using Arteza gouache to paint it. The opacity is a wonderful way to hide any line mishaps. It’s going to take awhile to paint, but I’m enjoying it!

Caran d’Ache Neocolor II Swatches

Caran d’Ache products are the crème de la crème of art supplies. Any item they manufacture – whether it be colored pencils, water-soluble pencils, graphite sticks, etc. – is a shining jewel in an art supply collector’s studio.

I was introduced to the brand while meandering through my local art store and stumbling upon a giant open-stock display of Neocolor II water-soluble wax pastels. At the time, I had no idea how to use them, but the vibrant colors beckoned to me. I picked up a tin and went to my studio.

There was a bit of a learning curve. Actually, I’m still learning different techniques. Today, though, I just felt like coloring, so I did some swatches.

I used Arches Rough Watercolor Paper which turned out to be an excellent choice. Because the paper is so toothy, I only needed to make a light pass to get adequate coverage for filling in the squares.

Eventually, I’m going to cut these out and put them in my scrapbook.

Quick Color Wheel with Polychromos Pencils

I wanted an excuse to play with my new set of Faber-Castell Polychromos colored pencils so I did a quick color wheel for a ROYGBIV study.

Cheap bullet journal stencil sets have been an invaluable tool for making color swatches. I found a set on Amazon that was perfect for color wheels and this was the result. It took about two hours and I’m happy with the result.