I had so many people reach out to me about my art prompts, so I thought I’d tell you more about them.
As I said when I first mentioned them, I first got the idea from Andrea Chebeleu of A Work of Heart Studio. She uses them in several videos within her membership site, Watch.Learn.Play, and those videos are among my favorites. She sells two sets of Mixed Media Art Prompt Cards that you can download and print yourself.
After I’d worked with Andrea’s card for a few months, I came across a video by Denise Love where she makes her own version of art prompt cards., and I decided to make some of my own, too.
Make your own prompts
I make mixed media post cards and I always have end pieces — and post card fails! (I definitely make some ugly art!) But I’ve discovered, thanks in part to Denise, the joys of punching out bits of art. Inevitably, even the ugly post cards will yield pretty circles!
Denise has a bunch of prompt suggestions on her video. She tends to work with watercolors more in her mixed media than I do, so many of her prompts were brand new ideas for me.
I just write one prompt on the back of each circle.
Using the prompts
I store my prompts in a stemless wine glass that I then keep handy on my art table. When I want to use the prompts, I just empty them out onto my desk, art face up, and mix them up. I choose four or five, then put them in the best order to work with (some prompts just make more sense as a base layer or as a top layer).
The point of the prompts for me is not to use them as strict instructions, but rather as inspiration for my next move. They are really great for getting me started when I’m staring at an empty page!
I just drew five at random. I’d use these five in this order:
- Limit yourself to five supplies. If you’re a minimalist, that could literally mean five supplies, including paints, mark making supplies, etc. Because I’m a maximalist, I’d interpret that to suit my own style, such as paints, graphite, acrylic inks, a key card, and something to scribe with.
- Write random thoughts with a pencil over your work surface. Don’t worry about whether they’re legible or not, private thoughts or not — they’ll get covered up.
- Apply paint to a baby wipe, then use that to apply paint to your paper. This will make a very transparent glaze. This one is also great as a top layer!
- Apply gesso or thick white paint with a catalyst wedge or a key card, then scribe into the wet paint with something sharp. You could use the end of a paint brush or a bamboo skewer.
- Apply acrylic ink in shapes (ie, circles, dots, lines, rectangle outlines) and spray with water. Some brands and colors will really bloom when you do this. You can then hold your paper up vertically to make drips if you’re feeling extra!
You don’t have to limit yourself to only using these prompts. For example, if you apply pink paint as a glaze and that inspires you to paint some spots with a deep purple, go for it! These prompts are just meant as inspiration, as a jumping off place.
There have been times when I’ve drawn prompts to get started and then never went back to them after the first one or two, because once there was something on my paper, I had something to react to, something to play off of.
I hope you’ll make some prompt cards and share them with me. Be sure to tag @mixed.media.moments on Instagram so I can see what you’ve done.
