sharing your art by decking the wall

Decking the Halls: Sharing Your Art

By

Featured image of home studio art display by artist Heather Day

Since it’s the holiday season, everyone tends to focus on gift-giving and shopping. We even featured an eBook awhile back about how to give your art as gifts. But with the recent passing of Thanksgiving (for those of us in the US), a holiday about sharing, we’re inspired to shift our focus to sharing your art. Whether you have kept a daily sketchbook as part of a Sketchbook Skool class or have dabbled in multiple art forms and hobbies, it’s time to show off some of your stuff at home and share it with those who will be passing through this time of year!

We came across an article recently that describes how best to display kids’ artwork around the house and avoid that growing mountain of cardboard boxes full of old art projects in the basement. In addition to showcasing stuff made by kids, some of these fun methods for sharing your art with friends and family work great for ANY art.

See below for a few ideas on how to showcase some of your favorite drawings.

1. Unique hanging systems

Display some of your favorite drawings or loose sketches floating around in a unique way. Did you do any holiday themed drawings? This is a perfect time to show off your Christmas tree renderings or portraits of family members! Try industrial wire (like in our featured image above) or use a fun frame to organize some pieces on a wall.

2. Fun and Functional

Take a scan or copy of a favorite drawing of yours and turn it into something useful around the house. Offering guests tea or coffee is ten times cooler if the mugs don your own art before breakfast drawings! You can find all sorts of customizable housewares at websites like Spoonflower and Zazzle.

3. Go Postal

Are you sending out holiday cards this year? Use one of your drawings of something from your hometown or even a sketch of your own home to send season’s greetings to friends and loved ones all over the globe.

4. Give Your Table a Dose of Hand-lettering

Will you be gathering with friends or family for a meal? No one said place cards or menus had to be boring! Jazz up your place settings with some hand-lettered names or draw and hand-letter a menu for the meal (or even an illustrated recipe guests can take home with them!).

5. Dress the Tree

Sketchbook Skool student Shirley Parker Levine used a caricature inspired by drawing with her grandson to create customized ornaments to share with family and adorn her own Christmas tree (she writes about her process here).

How will you share your art this holiday season?

2 mins

Stay up to date with the latest news from Sketchbook Skool!

Did you enjoy this blog post?  
It helps us a lot if you share it!
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Email

Watercolor Magic!

by David Pyle Art-making stuff Finding joy vs. being ‘good’ (whatever that is) I know this sounds trite, but it really IS all about the process. In my 40 years of active painting, I’ve gradually come to understand that the real joy comes when I’m fully ‘in the moment,’ working outside of anything that feels

Read More »
creative habits

How to Start

I could start with a humorous anecdote, maybe something self-deprecating —I’ve been doing a fair amount of that sort of self-flagellation lately. Maybe about the time I fell asleep in the library in college and was so embarrassed when I was awoken by another student that….

Read More »

Everyday Matters – Profile of Catherine Youngren

Welcome to a new series from Sketchbook Skool about what making art means in our lives, as told by members of our Spark community.  “Making art gives me balance.” When life became turbulent, Catherine Youngren found stability in her sketchbooks. Art by Catherine Youngren I just retired from my work as a commercial interior designer

Read More »