July 15, 2025

Art Submissions for the Summer Workshop Giveaway

From exploring nature journaling and trying new page composition to layering media with gel pen, acrylic, graphite, and watercolor, here are some honorable mentions from this summer’s giveaway entries!

By The Art Toolkit Team

A brightly colored yellow flower with spiky petals and a hint of red sits in a clear glass vase. Green leaves extend from the stem, all set against a light brown background.

Thank you to everyone who participated in this season’s Summer Workshop Giveaway! This giveaway, inspired by our ever-growing selection of Recorded Access workshops, was all about supporting and encouraging everyone to try new techniques and tools.

We asked entrants to submit photos of their sketchbooks, highlighting a new tool or process, and were tickled by the new practices you are embracing. From exploring nature journaling and trying new page composition to layering media with gel pen, acrylic, graphite, and watercolor, we loved it all! Scroll down to see honorable mentions and winners’ entries: the captions highlight the new tool or techniques used!

Honorable Mentions

A watercolor illustration of a purple flower with delicate petals and green leaves, accompanied by a few budding flowers. The drawing is set against lined notebook paper. — “In Chicago, I stole off to the Arboretum and these flowers captured my attention. I did not have any purple in my Toolkit so used a technique I recently learned blending colors I did have to capture the hue. It was also my first time trying shading techniques with watercolors.” – Debbie Entsminger

A bird perched on a branch, partially covered by a shiny gold foil. The bird features a mix of gray and white plumage with details in its beak and eye. The background is a textured white surface. — “I've recently started experimenting with metal leaf and took this process photo of adding leaf to a drawing of a dark-eyed junco in my sketchbook — I enjoyed how it looked when the bird appeared to be peeking through before I rubbed off the excess leaf.” – Chelsea Clarke Sawyer

A soft watercolor landscape depicts a winding path leading towards distant mountains under a cloudy sky. Shades of green and gray blend together, creating a serene and atmospheric scene. — “I have been practicing quick watercolor sketches on the go!” – Ying Sharon Chen

Landscape painting depicting snow-capped mountains under a clear blue sky, with soft, earthy tones in the foreground. Text at the bottom reads "6/10/2025 Painted with Paper." — “Except for the sky I made this entire 4"x4" painting using 300# watercolor paper as a brush.” – Lawson Drinkard

Four small landscape paintings featuring natural scenes. The top left shows a lush green area with a path and trees. The top right depicts a boat resting on grass. The bottom left presents a cottage surrounded by greenery, and the bottom right features a large tree casting shade over the ground, with hints of distant foliage. — “Here are my first plein air studies in a new to me medium, gouache.” – Janette Meetze

A vibrant yellow flower with spiky petals is arranged in a clear glass vase. The background is a simple tan color, adding contrast to the flower and leaves. A signature at the bottom reads "Jaci 2025." — “Tiny Teddybear Sunflower on toned paper with POSCA markers and ink.” – Jaci E.

A watercolor painting depicting a coastal landscape with a rocky shoreline and houses on a hillside. The structures have orange roofs, while the background features trees and a blue sky with scattered clouds. — “A beginner’s sketch from following a Sketch Loose course.” – David Busse

A black bird perched atop a stack of colorful rocks, including shades of purple, gold, and brown. The background is white, emphasizing the vibrant textures of the rocks and the bird. — “Only been doing watercolor for little over a year so want to start trying sketchbook art, trying out Yupo paper.” – Libby MW

Watercolor illustrations of three squid, varying in size, with shades of orange and red. The largest squid on the left has long tentacles, the middle one is more rounded, and the smallest is a keychain version. — ”The first time I've ever tried white gel pen on a sketch, featuring the little gacha keychain I used for inspiration!” – Jennifer Liu

A watercolor painting showcasing a vibrant landscape filled with purple and orange flowers in the foreground, set against a backdrop of green hills and snowy mountains under a clear blue sky. — Cascade Mountains by Emily Livengood (using gouache).

A painted illustration of a spray bottle filled with green liquid, positioned in front of a real spray bottle of a similar design. There is a roll of paper towels in the background and a hint of red on the surface. — “Learning gouache after takes Jared’s class.” – Clifford

A hand-drawn sketchbook page featuring a red poppy flower, green foliage, a simple bridge over a river, and a wooden sign that reads, "The ‘Happy to Chat’ Bench. Sit here if you don’t mind someone stopping by to say hello." The artwork has soft watercolor tones. — “On a recent trip to Ireland, I wanted to do a sketch on a beautiful walk where the community had reclaimed a river from trash and garbage, so I made a number of small sketches, capturing elements of the walk. This was new to me.” – Bonnie

A watercolor and ink illustration of two lemons with green leaves on a yellow background, surrounded by art supplies including watercolor paints and brushes. — “Experimenting with water-soluble graphite pencil. Drawing of a lemon over yellow watercolor.” – Karen Emmerich

A sketchbook page featuring a watercolor sunset scene and a flower. Includes notes about the International Space Station, observations of nature, and a quote about interpretation. The opposite page shows architectural plans for a structure with labeled measurements and elevations. — “A typical page from my summer sketchbook using my ArtToolkit palette.” – Linda Bachert

A detailed black-and-white sketch of a cozy shop interior featuring shelves stocked with various items, a counter with a sign that reads "Bioni's," and decorative overhead lights. The ceiling has an intricate pattern, and there's a small table and stool in the foreground. — “Using my new Kuretake pen, I enjoyed discovering a new way to describe this object as well as a new way to draw my letters using the negative space around each letter.” – Susan Greenstein

Our Winners

A watercolor illustration featuring various art supplies, including a blackwing pencil, a majorly Q1 bent fude eyedropper pen, and a white brush marker. The supplies are arranged together with a quote by Barbara L. Heal, emphasizing love and imagination. — “My current sketchbook with rough watercolor paper required me to switch tools: pencil for thin lead, larger fountain pen nibs (a bulky fude nib shown), larger brush, and white brush marker instead of Gelly roll pen.” – Vicky Williamson

A stack of watercolor paintings depicting a garden scene with green foliage, a white wooden fence, and purple flowers. The background features a stone pathway and shaded areas, suggesting a serene outdoor setting. — Garden gate with allium in May (NY) by Rachel Lemonik

A watercolor palette with assorted colors sits beside a sketchbook page featuring a dark abstract painting of a building and various color swatches. The color names are labeled next to their corresponding swatches. — “A palette test is necessary whenever I adjust color choices and it doesn’t have to be pretty, just informative!” – L.L.

Thank you all for participating, and we wish you a beautiful summer with lots of sketching!

Honorable Mentions

Our Winners

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