Artist Mixy shares her latest sketchbook pages and creative process.
Four years ago I decided to embark on a personal project in which I committed to follow a specific creative goal every week for the next 5-6 years (I couldn’t bring myself to math it out exactly, suffice to say, a really long time)
Riding the waves of 2020 chaos, all my coping mechanisms conspired to choose *A REALLY BIG ART PROJECT* as the best way to navigate.
What has helped sustain the project is the looseness of the brief.
It’s just a double page spread, made without a plan, which comes together over the course of one week.
Then Monday comes around, I turn the page, and I start afresh.
Book of Days: 400 page sketchbook
After the first year or so I loosened up the ‘rules’ a bit and now I’ll return to older pages and add little bits here and there as the mood takes me.
I also skip forward now and then and leave little easter eggs for future me to find: Usual sketchbook stuff like blobs and washes of colour when I have left over paint I don’t want to waste.
When I’m listening to an audio book or a podcast and some words catch my attention I write them down.
If a week’s spread gets too wordy I’ll skip forwards a few pages and carry on writing there. Too much text at once gets a bit indigestible to me so I let it fall out into other places.
I’m leaving notes to a future me.
The doodles and characters in this book have gone on to inspire a lot of my other art, from postcards to stickers to zines.
All this to say, I can’t let this 4 year anniversary slip by uncelebrated, so I’m bundling up some goodies from my studio for a giveaway for FIVE of you lovely people!
Details on how to enter will be on my Instagram & Facebook over the next couple of days, the winners will be notified after the draw at the weekend.
See my July newsletter to find out more about the GIVE AWAY
Sign up below if you haven’t already!
Hi – I’m Mixy!
This is Mixy 🙂
I’m a mixed media & textile artist from London, UK.
I love to share what I’m making, and I hope it brings some inspiration to your creative time.
You can see what I’m making on this blog, and in these places too
What would 100 days of a creative practice look like?
On 18 February the #100day project began again. (which was the day after my birthday so it also feels like a New Year project for me!)
The 100 day project is a creative marathon I’ve taken part in every year since 2017. Up until now I began each 100 days with a clear idea of what I hoped to achieve.
In 2023 I made 100 spiral images. In 2017 I filled a book with 100 drawings inspired from the photos in my phone. Each year has had a theme… until now.
thoughts on themelessness
This year I had no idea… maybe collage? that felt limiting, I know I want to spend more time stitching in the next couple of months and could incorporate that… but I’ve already got so many projects to juggle…
I thrive by having a lot going on so I can butterfly between them and keep my attention energised, but it doesn’t take much to disrupt the *just enough* chaos levels and I fall into overwhelm and inertia.
So I began posting some of what I’d been making through the day and by around day 4 I figured that I’d fallen on my theme without realising it: 100 days in my studio.
So far I’ve shared bits from the Book of Days, the TWELVTY project, a collaged landscapes series I’m developing, some color swatching, digital edits for a new illustration project to name just some!
If you’d like to follow along in real time, join me on Instagram where i’m posting daily. If that isn’t your thing, I’ll be back with a run down of the first couple of weeks, and what I’ve learned from it.
Are you doing the 100 day project? Or have you done it before? Tell me your thoughts about it in the comments, I’m intrigued by everyone’s perspective on this crazy epic ride!
Hi – I’m Mixy!
This is Mixy 🙂
I’m a mixed media & textile artist from London, UK.
I love to share what I’m making, and I hope it brings some inspiration to your creative time.
You can see what I’m making on this blog, and in these places too
Mixy presents TWELVTY 2024, a year-long color exploration through watercolor and mixed media.
In my year full of color, I usually begin with Yellow, then trip clockwise around this color wheel a month and a color at a time.
What’s happening in TWELVTY 2024?
I dug out this lovely little square watercolour sketchbook from my stash.
It has about 30 pages, just right for 2 spreads per month/per colour.
I like to break the ice by noodling some sort of title on the front cover, I can go back and add more as and when the whims of fate decide.
My “This Color: This Month” rule has loosey-goosey-ed up as I’m in Color/Month 1 and we’re well into February.
Also I don’t think it’s ‘finished’, so I’m open to adding some more bits in the future.
Already the whole thing feels way more relaxed!!
Up to now Yellow has been a vivid array of sunflower, egg yolk and banana yellow, this time I’m looking at the subtler edges of what I call YELLOWISH, with ochre, Naples yellow, gold and cream.
That’s the plan today, watch this space to see if I can keep this far out from my loudest-colored-comfort-zone!
BIG bold yellows from yester year!
+ Contrast!
I also relaxed the just one colour aspect this time. This time I’m experimenting with each color being accompanied with flashes of something from way over the other side of the color wheel.
Here’s how I kicked off this year’s 12 color project!
Yellow-ish Page 1
This watercolour paper is handmade and heavily textured, it takes wet media like a dream.
Starting out with water soluble markers (Tombow, Ecoline)
Then water soluble pastels (Neocolor II), then water to blend
Followed by gouache (white, Naples Yellow, Yellow Ochre).
For a bit of darker contrast I used a fountain pen with a mix of black ink and water.
Water soluble pencil, then some collage pieces.
Finally highlighting squiggles in gold & yellow marker pen.
More updates soon!
Be first to see where this project leads me next by signing up to my monthly newsletter.
Hi – I’m Mixy!
This is Mixy 🙂
I’m a mixed media & textile artist from London, UK.
I love to share what I’m making, and I hope it brings some inspiration to your creative time.
You can see what I’m making on this blog, and in these places too
Well, can we have a big “YIKES” to acknowledge that 12 years have elapsed since my very first 12 colours in 12 months project?!?!
I had to double check my numbers, but it’s for real. TWELVE years indeed!
What is TWELVTY?
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, 2012 was a tough year for me…
my home life had been turned upside down, and creativity kept me afloat.
At the time I’d recently discovered fibre artist Marlene Glickman
Her piece “Day by Day” appealed to every part of my colour-hungry soul.
Making color and design decisions is sometimes difficult so I challenge myself to use only one color from the color wheel each month during my daily design exercises. A box sits on my worktable containing all the supplies I collected at the beginning of the month in one color.
From this I choose bits and pieces creating a 5″ x 5″ design/collage/drawing. The small format offers me the chance to explore a design and decide whether or not to enlarge it or expand on an idea. I also keep a journal for sketches, fabric swatches and working out future ideas and larger pieces.
Marlene Glickman 1948-2023
A Year Full of Colour
On Marlene’s advice, I decided to dedicate a sketchbook to single colour experiments, with one colour each month for a year. This is how it turned out (excuse the wonky video – this was new to me!)
the original 12 colors in 12 months art journal from 2012
Over the years I revisited this idea, and reimaging the monthly format. For a few years I ran a year long class sharing my process and guiding other creatives in their own 12 colour projects.
TWELVTY 2024
I can’t let this 12 year marker go uncelebrated, so this year I’ve got a new twist on the old idea in mind. Catch this month’s studio newsletter to see what I’ve been making, and find out how this year will be a wee bit different!
Is this something you’d like to join in with? Comment below to LMK, I’ve got so many ideas to share!
Hi – I’m Mixy!
This is Mixy 🙂
I’m a mixed media & textile artist from London, UK.
I love to share what I’m making, and I hope it brings some inspiration to your creative time.
You can see what I’m making on this blog, and in these places too
Mixy's Art Blog 