Hands on Creativity

Back in October, I participated in Hands on Creativity in a new capacity- as an art supply demonstrator.  I've done Hands on Creativity for years as a customer, and have enjoyed the free workshops, demos, and samples sponsored by Plaza and the various visiting art supply company reps, and I was excited to experience it from a different perspective.

For years, I've wanted to work as a (paid) art supply company demonstrator or representative.  After graduating SCAD, I pivoted the purpose of this blog for a while to reflect that desire, and started reviewing art supplies on Youtube to help facilitate that goal.  Bruce, the manager at Plaza, facilitated a partnership between myself, Strathmore and Faber-Castell, which allowed me to sample some of what is on offer and create pieces of art that utilize those materials.

I have a couple Livestreams where I went over the materials sent by both Strathmore and Faber-Castell, for the curious!

Demonstrating Art Supplies Sent by Strathmore and Lyra

Swatching Faber-Castell on Strathmore

I created several new pieces using just Strathmore and Faber-Castell products to help me prepare for Hands on Creativity, and recorded the process as tutorials!  Those will be available to the general public on Youtube in the future, but my wonderful Artnerds on Patreon have had them for about a month now.

Although I haven't been paid for this partnership, I appreciated the opportunity and really enjoyed connecting with the local art community and demonstrating, hands-on, Faber-Castell and Strathmore art supplies.  In the future, I hope to see financial compensation for my hard work and custom artwork, but I'm grateful for the opportunity to gain some experience and hopefully make some connections.

Faber-Castell Pitt pens, Albrecht Durer watercolor pencils and watercolor markers on Canson Watercolor Artboard.

Pitt pens on Strathmore 300 series Smooth Bristol

Faber-Castell Pitt pens, Albrecht Durer watercolor markers, Polychromos color pencils on Canson Mixed Media artboard

Faber-Castell Albrecht Durer watercolor markers, Polychromos color pencils, and Pitt Pens on Strathmore Toned Blue Mixed Media Paper

Faber-Castell Pitt Pens, Albrecht Durer watercolor markers, Polychromos color pencils on Strathmore Toned Tan mixed media paper

Faber-Pitt Pens, Albrecht Durer watercolor markers on Strathmores new cottonrag watercolor paper