My sketchbook sticker collection

(And ideas for starting your own!)

In a previous blog post, I mentioned that all of my sketchbooks include an insane mass of stickers in the backs and fronts of the books. I have literally horded hundreds of stickers over the years. It all started out of necessity and answered an age old question: Where the heck do you put cool stickers and other stuff you find in a place where you might actually look at it or appreciate it? 

This has always annoyed me. I'd run across cool stuff here and there, get gifts from my friends, find pictures in magazines. But I never had any place for all these things. They'd get stuck on folders or put into a box and generally disappear. Wasted. Then, I got the seemingly obvious idea of putting them in one of my sketchbooks. After that, the obsession grew.

As I started collecting more, it really became a "bonding experience" for me and my earlier sketchbooks. Decorating with stickers and various things kept me interested in my sketchbook, which got me into a habit of using it.

For beginners just starting out on a sketchbook of your own, this is a good "ice breaking" way to start making it more personalized and exciting.  It also serves for great raw inspiration- you can get tons of ideas from looking at all the little stickers and cut outs while working in your book.

As for the thrill of collecting...I have to note that some of these things weren't easy to obtain. I had to reach up on high street signs,  peel them off of walls and even order them online. Each sticker has an interesting story behind it, I never just go out and buy a sheet of average stickers! They look better when you have to earn them, of course.

 The first sticker I ever collected, appropriately located in my first sketchbook.
It's a single Fat Boy Slim sticker (featuring Christopher Walken!) located in the very back.

Early stickers from my second sketchbook including a defunct radio station, beanie babies, and a Spongebob I got from the dentist.

Aww, remember when 300 was popular?

French fries.. get it?

I spied this picture in an old English text book and couldn't bear to think of not seeing it again... the rest is history.

A student teacher gave this to me, said it was her
favorite poem and that she found it hilarious.
I don't get it.. but I still love random contributions!

An ancient Budweiser sticker I found in my parents attic.  It's huge- it takes up the entire page by itself.

This is a tiny cut out from a random art magazine.
Once again, I found it so striking that
I had to keep it for myself.

Another hilariously defunct sticker:
Hillary for president!
I ordered this one special off the internet.
(Free of course)

Yeah, there are still high schools out there
with "Trojans" as their mascots.

This is my page dedicated to war, pizza and Tourette's Guy quotes. I also started a "mini collection" of those stickers that come on computers. I carried the collection over to my next sketchbook.....

... and I ended up collecting over 40 individual computer stickers.
None of the computers at my high school have their stickers anymore LOL.

These two big stickers were pretty fresh and I found them within the same area and time frame. 
Someone really hates Dick Cheney.
By the way, one of those is an official Shepard Fairey!

Yes Taco Bell flavor packet, I will marry you.

So many things wrong with this page of stickers... I got the zombie one from Charleston Zombie Walk!

This poor child... I found him in an Oriental Trading magazine advertising what looks like some sort of slime. If I were him, I'd fire his agent.

In this particular sketchbook I had a few fancy black pages in the front and back.. I really like how the stickers look on these ones. Oh, and I taped some mistletoe in there too for good measure.

Sometimes my brain organizes stuff in weird ways... It looks like the Gunslinger is shooting the crap out of  the conductor of Los Impoliticos. Totally unintentional!

This is from my current sketchbook. As you can see, I've started incorporating a lot more things other than stickers.

Here's another fun idea for keeping things in your sketchbook.. make some pockets!

  They're perfect for keeping stuff you don't want to glue down, and for utilizing the space taken up by large cut outs. All you need to do is get a nice "pocket size" image, and tape up all the sides except one for the opening....

This page has three separate pockets, the "Art" one I taped up myself. It holds quite a lot of items, including a box of matches, photographs, post cards, and my old name tag from Spanish class. The pockets at the bottom are keeping my wicked Itchy and Scratchy cards safe!

This pocket is keeping things like other photographs,
some old notes and a giant "Joker" playing card.
It's a magazine clipping with some black electrical tape to seal it up.

A pocket holding quite a few bookmarks.

Also, you can probably tell that I liked collecting quotes as well. Many inspirational song lyrics, poems, and sayings found their way into my sketchbooks. Sometimes words can be just as valuable as pictures. I only used other people's quotes, but you could easily add your own poetry or thoughts. A sketchbook doesn't necessarily have to be strictly for drawings.


So then, how do you start your own "sticker collection?"

Firstly, I use the term stickers lightly. My collection is a collage of many things, almost like a personal scrapbook incorporated into a sketchbook. The possibilities for how you personally approach it, however, are endless. It all depends on what speaks to you as an artist.

Start by looking around at your surroundings. Stickers are everywhere. The coolest ones you can find in public, stuck on just about anything. Seriously, keep your eyes peeled at all times. I've found them on walls, trash cans, telephone boxes, stair cases, chairs, and especially street signs. All for free- and you're doing your neighborhood a service by "cleaning up all those pesky stickers" for them. (They seriously pay people to come around and scrape stickers off of things...What a shame!) 

Collecting them can get really fun too. It becomes like a game- how many stickers can you find hidden in your every day life? Sometimes there are gems sitting right under our noses.

Tell your friends you collect stickers. I am always getting great "donations" from friends and family. They get really into collecting them too- I have countless cool stickers that someone randomly saw somewhere and "thought of me."

Take advantage of freebies. This one's a biggie. You don't have to pay a dime to gather any of this stuff. Brand new stickers are given out all the time for free. If  you're attending, school sponsored activities always provide an abundance of shiny new stickers. Also...

There are tons of businesses online that will send you stickers for free if you simply order them. Here's a few good places to start you off. As a warning, you may get some junk mail if you start giving out your address, but I've had a generally positive experience the following sites (and got my stickers in a timely manner!)
We Kids
National Community Service (This site ROCKS, I got my stickers within the week)
FCNL
Hisdale College
Reddit Freebies

Check out magazines and books, too. Don't forget about things besides just stickers! This stuff can easily be glue-sticked in to your book, and sometimes is cooler than any old sticker you find. Check through an old stack of magazines- something may catch your eye that you hadn't noticed before.



As a wrap up, I always encourage readers to share with me their own projects. Do you collect something inspiring? How do you decorate and personalize your sketchbook? Do you have any sticker gathering tips? I love to hear how other people approach using their sketchbooks and how they do art in general. And I really consider this a kind of art form. What do you think?

Original artwork for $20 or less

So I was rooting through my old portfolios the other day and ran across a few neglected lesser known artworks that I haven't seen for a while. I realize that I've done a huge volume of these fascinating pieces that have never even had the chance to be shown to the world before (outside of art classes and family, but neither of those count!) This happens a lot to the work that didn't end up in my "real" portfolio. They didn't get sent to fancy College people, they didn't get gold ribbons at the fair and they most certainly weren't hung up on any refrigerators. But it isn't fair- those pieces, deserve attention too! Just because I didn't spend as much time on them, or that they aren't exactly perfect doesn't mean that they are less worthy of documenting and (maybe) selling. They're so much better than that. They deserve their own special section all to themselves. Let me introduce to you-

Original Artwork for $20 or less!
(including shipping!)

"Drawing of someone drawing" - 13 1/2 x 9 1/2 "

I've always really liked this one. It was a class exercise to draw some sort of still life but instead of drawing the boring stuff I picked a living model instead. The background and orange is acrylic paint and the blue outline was done with oil pastel.  I achieved the cool effect on the background by using a paint roller to put the paint on. Why don't I use this technique more often..?

Sold

"The golden robe" 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 "

This is another pretty cool technique piece.. it was an experiment with texture. I used some saran wrap and a glob of paint to create this unusual wrinkly effect when it dried. I saw a vaguely Greek woman wearing a long tunic robe in my dried abstract yellow blob shape, so I added the few extra lines and viola!

$7.00

"Oil pastel monotype girl (ghost print)"-  12 x 9 "

Here's a monotype I did with oil pastels. It was drawn on a plastic sheet and then pressed onto a wet piece of paper.. it comes out with this really crazy print effect. I did two of these- the original and a ghost print. They both came out pretty good, the colors are insanely vibrant and full of textures.

$5.00

 

"Skeleton Woman" 8 x 10"

Hmm, what to say about this one? Well, it's a skeleton woman painted in acrylics... This was created with a stencil I made. It's loosely inspired by the artist SHT! I've been considering painting the white background maybe a fuchsia color... What do you think?

$7.00

"Cat's Cradle" 9 1/4 x 11 "

I think the concept is cool for this but unfortunately the execution just didn't go the way I hoped. It's another monotype- this time done the professional way (with a giant printing press and everything!) I spent a lot of time painting this one exactly right for the print. Except, somewhere along the way I screwed up (paper was too wet I think) and it didn't print it correctly at all. As a result, I had to add the hands back in with colored pencils, which was even more time consuming. To top it all off, the awesome poem in the center didn't show up very well. It says: "In works of labor, or of skill / I would be busy too. / For satan finds / some mischief still / For idle hands to do." Still, this piece is completely unique and will never have another like it- I couldn't possibly make the same exact mistakes twice in a row... right?

 $18.00

"Angry nude woman with her ribs showing" 9 x 12 "

Yikes, this one is a real looker. Honestly I made this acrylic painting in art class mainly to piss off a neglectful art instructor. He wouldn't even let me submit it as a in class project, not because of the nudity or subject as a whole, but simply because of "the tiny pink line at the bottom." I thought this was absurd so I got mad at the painting and proceeded to angrily tear it in half. Later, I went back and decided that I liked the extra "pain" I put in the painting and taped the thing back together again.. It really highlights the serious repercussions of feminist oppression.

$15.00

"The Mask" 9 x 12 "

Ahh, I always save the best for last. This pleasant little gem is a watercolor portrait I did of my ex boyfriend wearing a mask many years ago. All I'll can say about it is that it became more hilariously ironic over time.

$13.00

There you have it! The cream of the crop!

Each one of these pieces comes personally signed by me. None of them are mounted or have any wall hanging devices attached, however, if you contact me we could easily work something out. Otherwise, they're sold as is.  Which is still pretty awesome.

My AP Studio Art Concentration

As some of you already know, during my senior year of high school I took College Board's daunting year long AP Studio Art course, and I barely survived. Fortunately, I did manage to force out a pretty interesting concentration in the process. If you don't know, a concentration is a body of work all relating to a specific medium and concept. The Studio Art portfolio requires you submit a concentration as a part of your portfolio. I knew that it was supposed to have some sort of profound concept to go along with it, but honestly I started this series with just an intense urge to work with a material I had hardly used before- fabric.

I don't know exactly why I gravitated so strongly towards this medium, but something about the perceived "permanence" of the textiles was very appealing to me. Using fabric is different than drawing on regular paper. Its much more durable and forgiving at times..you can do a lot of different things to fabric to change it's appearance without the fear of it falling apart. It also opened me up to an exciting variety of colors, patterns and textures, and a new way to approach creating a cohesive image. Still, I used many of my "traditional" art skills while experimenting with this new unknown. I manually painted in the details of many of the works that were further embellished with stitch work and applique. On some pieces I even used a few oil pastels, which had a great effect on even the loudest of patterns.

Speaking of using traditional techniques, all of the subjects in this concentration were done directly from life observation. Yes, I was a crazy person that forced people to pose for me while I hastily sketched them on a tiny scrap of fabric. I drew peers, strangers, friends, or anyone that held still long enough for me to copy them down.

"Ten and a half Chins" acrylic paint and scraps of textile. Machine stitched.

"Eight your Face" Acrylics on textile. Machine stitched.

"The Mirror" The only piece that didn't include sewing.  Modeling paste, gesso and acrylics on textile.

"Seis Face" One of my favorites of my concentration. India ink and acrylics on textile scraps. Machine stitched.

"The Waiting Clock" Textiles and thread.

"A Guitar Man"Acrylics on textile.

"John's Silk Beard" Oil pastel on textile and (silk) thread.
Machine and hand stitched.

"Lend Me Your Ears" Oil pastel on textile scraps.
Machine and hand stitched.

 I discovered the concept behind my concentration after I had nearly completed it. After I put all the images together at once, I realized that I had created something that sort of  resembled a quilt. This was eerily appropriate because life itself is kind of like a quilt. It has blunt patterns and repetition, but it also has vibrant colors and intricate details subtly sewn in with the threads of time. Tiny pieces taken from here and there all add up to one big picture. I like that.


The originals are not currently for sale, but high resolution 8 1/2" x 11" prints are now available. Contact me for more info.

The Emphasis

Differences from the "norm" are actually what make you special.

I have never been a person who could fit in with the crowd. For some reason or another (you make your own assumptions) I just stick out like a sore thumb. This is a blessing and a curse- needless to say, it guarantees to attract (sometimes unwanted) attention. When I was younger, being "different" was a lot harder to accept than it is now. I was ashamed of my differences instead of embracing them. Now I realize that being unique is something to be proud of. Being normal is plain and pretty much boring.

I made this piece while keeping all of that in mind. It may appear simple, but it has many layers and a wonderful texture. I achieved this by incorporating some gorgeous (and recycled!) paper doilies into the background. This was also my first real attempt at using  multi-color stencils, which were airbrushed in one by one.  I really enjoy this piece not only for it's concept but it's composition and technique. Its strong color palette and intriguing composition commands your attention.
This artwork was also featured in my AP Studio Art portfolio demonstrating the design theories emphasis and contrast.

If you're interested in buying the original, contact me for a negotiation of price.
Prints are also available. Each print is signed personally by me and come in a clear plastic sheet protector. 

$10.00

Maybe this piece can remind you to be strong in the face of adversity. It's COOL to be WEIRD!