Carla Sonheim is an artist and creativity workshop instructor known for her fun and innovative projects and techniques designed to help adult students recover a more spontaneous, playful approach to creating. Her innovative ideas are now collected and elaborated on in this unique volume.

Carla offers a year's worth of assignments, projects, ideas, and techniques that will introduce more creativity and nonsense into your art and life. Drawing Lab for Mixed-Media Artists offers readers a fun way to learn and gain expertise in drawing through experimentation and play. There is no right or wrong result, yet, the readers gain new skills and confidence, allowing them to take their work to a new level.

Review: This book is by far one of my most favorite inspirational books ever! I will be telling every librarian and teacher I know about this awesome collection of super fun and creative lessons. I love the fact that most of these labs can be done by a wide variety of ages and that there is really no right or wrong way to do it.

A few of my favorite lessons include:

Picasso Dogs...very easy to follow instructions that will result in each participant ending up with there own version of a Picasso Dog...AWESOME!

Sidewalk Crack Drawing...can you look at a crack in a sidewalk and imagine all the different shapes of animals you see? This fun lab will show you all the steps to create fun imaginative creatures that will end up good enough to frame!

Ugh, those are only two of many, many! Through out the book the author also has pages where she features various artists and their own unique styles...my favorite? Gustavo Aimar...

*Fresh and imaginative ideas
*Clear instructions with room for your twist
* Lots of pictures and inspiration
*plus a whole lot more!!!

I can't recommend this book enough for people who love to be creative, who want to be creative or anyone who is looking for creative inspiration!

Ummmm can you tell I like it??? YES!

I bought this book on a whim and took it on vacation to the mountains where I proceeded to be COMPLETELY enthralled! I am a graphic designer and over the past 7 or 8 years I have lost touch with my pencil and have been feeling its absence so I decided to purchase this book. Occasionally I doodle or draw with my children, but rarely am able to find enough time to sit down and enjoy a project the way I used to in art school or before. This book made it possible for me! I sat by the creek with this book and was able to do some of the simple, but useful (and FUN!) exercises with nothing but my sketch pad and a set of Micron Sakura pens. It was HEAVENLY. And did I say fun? Even though the exercises seemed simple, I came out with some really beautiful and meaningful pieces of work (some silly ones, too- I drew a monster for maybe the first time ever). For example, I did some blind drawings (you draw without looking at your paper so they come out loose and wonderfully weird) of my family members, which I love and capture a surprising likeness even though it took me less than a minute to draw them. This book takes me back to the part of art school I loved and offers a fun, inspiring environment to draw and create. This book also gave me some ideas I can do with my 8 year old daughter who loves to draw which are refreshingly different from your average craft projects and really focus on drawing (she especially enjoyed the blind drawings- lots of giggling). The exercises are simple and encourage you not to be intimidated by the empty paper- THEY GIVE YOU A PLACE TO START with room for interpretation. It was also great realizing I didn't need lots of art supplies to make something important or fulfilling to me - however, I look forward to exploring some of the more in-depth suggestions, such as collage work. I LOVE this book and plan to buy it for my artist friends. Perfect for a wide range of ages, abilities, and time constraints.

Drawing Lab for Mixed-Media Artists is a must for any artist. It's fun and inspirational. So if you feel like you've hit a creative block or wall, this book is for you. It has great ideas, photos, and artists which will make you want to pick up your pens and brushes and create something!