Dollar Tree Art Supplies!

Hello Everyone!
こんにちは、皆さん!

Today I have some things I have found at Dollar Tree, which I use as art supplies. 

Unless you are doing something professional, like an art commission where you need to ensure things have light-fastness or something like that, you do not need to always use expensive art supplies. 

Even then, there are ways to stay economical as much as possible. 

I went to Dollar Tree for some other items and found these things which help me in my artwork! 

The best thing is, everything is $1 at Dollar Tree! 

Small Containers

These containers are about an inch wide and about two inches long. You can get ten of these in a pack! They are in with the kitchen stuff at the store I went to, I use these for storing all of the small pieces of my action figures, my pen nibs, and other small items. You can stack them as well! 

http://shrsl.com/x90i

Receipt and Sales Order Books 

I have two different receipt books, which I use for any art commissions I get. These are each only $1 and they contain 50 sheets. They make one copy. These are very useful and a lot less expensive than the ones at office supply stores! 

Pencil Grips

Dollar Tree has various kinds of pencils grips! I like these foam ones because they fit many kinds of pencils and are comfortable for long hours of coloring and drawing. 

Gel Pens

These gel pens are really nice! I have not had any problems with them skipping or anything. You get four in a package. They are a very glittery water based ink. They do take a bit to dry, They contain a lot of ink in them and are very vibrant in color. 

http://shrsl.com/x8zu

10 Color Pen

This pen is really nice! You get ten colors in one pen! I have seen the four and six color versions, but a ten color one caught my eye. There is quite a variety of colors and they are fun to use. Some of the colors are really light, but overall this is a nice pen too! If you want to change colors, press down the button at the top. This is a little stiff at first, but once you get it to go through all of the pens, it will work fine. 

I will continue to look for useful things at Dollar Tree, so if you love Dollar Tree, keep watching this post from time to time as it will be updated! 

I am now an affiliate of Dollar Tree. By using these links and making a purchase, you can support the blog! Thank you for your support! 

Heartfelt Thoughts - the difficulties of being an artist

Have any of you ever been told either directly or indirectly that you weren't what someone was looking for?

Have you ever questioned your own gifts because of certain events which have happened in your life?

I have. This is my story.

I am Sarah Prewitt. I am an artist. To get more specific, I am a musician, composer, filmmaker, and enjoy drawing and various other art mediums.

In short, I am a very creative person. The Lord God Almighty gave us all the ability to create when He created us in His Image.

We are the only beings who can create. Think about that ... we can create. Purely for the sake of being able to create. A beaver may build a dam and it is beautiful how they do this, however, it is out of a life necessity that they must do this.

We, as human beings, can create purely for the love of someone or something. Not solely out of need. This is a beautiful gift from God.

I have had various times throughout my life while in school, college and after that when people have either directly or indirectly told me that I'm not what they are looking for or other horrible things like that.

This is very frustrating to be told this. It is hard to find out where you fit in the world. To figure out what God wants you to do.

This is part of the reason I decided to write this blog.

I want people to be able to come here and learn about how to express their various forms of art and not feel that just because they don't currently have the most expensive art supplies, musical instruments or whatever that they cannot still create beautiful art.

Ever since, I have graduated college back in 2014, I have been trying to find my place in the world, What I am supposed to do with my various gifts God has given me. I have had many times where I thought I knew what He wanted and then that did not come to fruition.

I have applied to many many different kinds of jobs inside and outside of my field of which my college degree is in. All over the place.

After going to interview after interview, in most cases hearing nothing; when I did hear something back, it was usually, something like, I was not what they were looking for or that I didn't have enough experience for the job.

The thing is, how are you supposed to gain experience at something if you can't show someone what you already know? How are you supposed to learn if you are not first allowed to make mistakes?

Why does everyone in this world have to meet ridiculous expectations and be "perfect?"

I hate this stigma because that is the very reason why there are people out there who are suffering from various issues like self esteem, depression, anxiety and so many other things.

I personally know people who are dealing with these kinds of problems in various ways and forms. They need our support. They need to be able to get the right help they need.

I don't know if anyone will really read what I write here or anything, but if there is any difference I can make in this world by writing this, if there is even one person who might read this and take strength from it, I am thankful for that.

I believe that there is some reason as to why I am writing this. Why I am being so honest online right now, when I am not usually.

I am not writing this to hurt or ridicule anyone. Rather, I want to help people. I genuinely love people. All of you are beautiful creations of God.

Don't you ever ever forget that. You were created in the Image of God to be able to create things which are for Him and honor and glorify Him. Please, continue to do this.

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, please contact me. It would be an honor to talk to you about what the Lord has done and is doing in my life and how you can come to have a relationship with Him as well.

I wanted you to know that despite having a lot of frustrations and setbacks and feeling discouraged in my life, that I have not given up. Philippians 4:13 says, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

Even though people have directly and indirectly said horrible things to me and about me, I try not to let this get me down and feel sad. I try to get back up and keep trying.

I would like to thank You, Lord Jesus Christ for being there for me all of the time and everything you have done for the entire world by dying on the Cross for our sins and rising again to be our Savior.

I am also thankful for my family, friends and professors and teachers I have had throughout my life and the various people who continue to support me both directly and indirectly.

May the Lord bless you and keep you.
Sarah

Contact Me click here



In light of a recent tragedy in the music industry, I am putting up a link to a petition to stream the upcoming concerts of the band, SHINee. I had only recently discovered their music when they suddenly lost a friend, band member and musician. Kim Jonghyun had a beautiful and unique voice. I really hope that he found the Lord Jesus Christ who can love him more than any of us can. I will continue to pray for the salvation of the fellow band members; Onew, Taemin, Minho and Key and that if they do know Jesus Christ, that they draw close to Him and that they will live lives worthy of Him. I also pray for their families and friends going through this tough time.

https://www.change.org/p/sm-entertainment-sm-entertainment-to-stream-one-of-shinees-dome-concerts-in-honor-of-jonghyun

My Favorite Art Related YouTube Channels Part 1

Hello Everyone!

I thought I would write something a little different today. For the past few posts, I have been giving you reviews on various products which I have tried and currently use.

I still plan to do that as well as introduce how I create art in upcoming posts.

Today, I wanted to talk about a few of my favorite art related YouTube channels and why.

Zoe Hong

Zoe Hong is a fashion designer and teacher in the United States. She does very clear presentations and honest reviews. 

I got into watching her videos, not because i am a fashion designer. I'm not actually that into fashion as far as the mainstream of it. I enjoy creating fictional characters for stories and creating concepts for their clothing and things they use. 

I have learned a lot from Zoe Hong about color, texture, how to draw clothes as well as different ways of presenting them and a few other things I never thought about like the kind of material something is made out of and how it reacts with the movements of the person's body. 

Her videos continue to be very informative and fun to watch. Here are a few of my favorites. 

Her Fashion Fabric Design tutorial playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwQq1-SdsNva3Vnrnwzpz8CXReOEyUwJb

Doodle Date

I discovered this channel I believe for the first time when I watched a video they had about drawing with pencils which they had found to be at least 100 years old. 

I really like their channel a lot. It is a good channel to watch if you want to take a break from all of the often negative and depressing things we see in the news all over the world it seems these days. 

The two people who make up Doodle Date are Adam and Steph. They enjoy doing unusual art challenges like trying to paint with grape juice or soy sauce and gathering objects from mystery boxes and using them to create art. 

They have a very unique, hilarious and happy channel together. I encourage you to check out their channel if you are looking for something inspiring and unusual to create in art. 

Please check out some of my favorites:

I hope you enjoy all of these videos and please support these artists as well by subscribing to their channels and doing whatever other ways they have to support them!

If you would like to know how you can support me, I have a list on the right hand side about how you can support this blog and what I do here,

Once again,
Thank you for reading!

Sarah

Gift ideas for Artists

Hello everyone!

I watched a few YouTube videos of some of my favorite artists and a few others the last few days about gift ideas for artists.

Thank you to Zoe Hong, for allowing me to share this video with you all. 

They were very helpful and informative, so I thought I would share a couple of those as well as share a few gift ideas myself.

I have linked a public gift guide on Amazon, should you be interested in possibly getting me something I would like to try and I will review it on the blog as well. If you have other ideas, I am open to those as well.

Below are some of my personal suggestions for artists.

For Beginner Artists

Often, people suggest you get these art sets for these people. While some of them can be really good, a lot of these, unfortunately, have poor quality art supplies. While beginners do not need professional grade things, nor am I suggesting that, they should at least have something decent to play around with.

A few brands I suggest looking for in  sets might be Crayola, General's, Daler Rowney Simply series, and Royal & Langnickel. Some of the art sets at Micheal's and Hobby Lobby might be okay, but I've read very mixed reviews. Therefore, these are a hit or miss. I personally haven't tried them, however.

For Intermediate Artists

These are people who are still discovering different mediums they like, they are likely in middle School to high school, perhaps college age, but they consider art a hobby. I suggest you find out what they like to use, whether they like drawing, painting, or whatever and go from there.

For these people, if it's a high quality set, it might be worth getting. Otherwise, I would pick up something specific.

A few sets I could recommend are General's, Prismacolor, Marco Raffine, and possibly Derwent.

Unless you know exactly what they like, especially if they're picky, I would stay away from sketchbooks and paints as these vary greatly in quality and price. If you really want to do that, get them a set of paints from well known brands like Holbien, Ulbrecht, etc... Sketchbooks I would recommend Canson Mixed media paper. Strathmore is also a good company.

For Advanced and Professional Artists

These artists are going to be very particular. Unless you're an artist yourself, it will be very difficult to get them something.

A gift card or certificate to their favorite art store, might be a good idea. Make sure it's for a decent amount. Art supplies can get very expensive, especially for the advanced and professional artist.

Professional grade brands include; Faber Castell, Derwent, Caran D'arche, Tombow, and the like.

If you wish to get them something specific, I would get to know them and what they like and use. You cannot go wrong with something you know they use a lot of. With all this being said, many artists including myself, love to be surprised with something unique, which we can try out. It's the thought that counts, ultimately. I just hope this helps you in not wasting money and resources on something that the artist in your life will maybe use once, if at all.

Link to my personal gift guide (if you would like to support the blog and other things I would like to do in the future). 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/3FYMYRHERBHI9

I hope that this adds to all the helpful guides out there and I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and safe holiday season!