DIY Pencil Holder

Keeping the Pencils Organized

Do you have a lot of pens, pencils, markers? 

When you have a lot of art supplies, you need a system for keeping them organized. I have a lot of colored pencils. When I draw with my colored pencils, it is very important to know where I can find certain colors when I need them. I shared my system of keeping them organized a few years ago (here), but I thought I would share it again and offer a few of my tips.

Here is a photo of my colored pencils organized by colors in my handmade pencil holder.

I use my holder for my colored pencils, my Prismacolor Colored Pencils and I have a lot of them.  But this holder could be used for pencils, pens, markers, or paintbrushes, or a mixture of all of these. I should probably even make another holder to hold all of these items.

DIY Pencil Holder

Whatever your pencil or pen obsession is, you may face the same problem that I do.
How to keep them organized and easy to use.
A few years ago, I needed some way to keep my growing colored pencil collection organized. I had gone to a colored pencil workshop where the Instructor had made a holder for her colored pencils. I liked her idea, so I took her concept and made my version of it. Actually, I made two of them.


Small Pencil Holder
The art instructor's version is smaller than the one I made. Hers is great for individual projects, but I wanted mine to hold my entire collection of colored pencils. Or at least the ones that have been sharpened. Yes, I have that many pencils. She used smaller PVC pipe and a thinner, more lightweight, base piece of wood.

Her pencil holder would be great for keeping your pencils for one or two current projects organized. (If you use colored pencils, you probably understand that you may use 20 or 30 colors in one project.)
The smaller version could also be used to keep a variety of drawing tools.

The Large Pencil Holder DIY

Supplies for the Large Version

Cutting Tool - We used a table saw.

3 Inch PVC Pipe -  We bought 2 pieces and cut into five 4" pieces with an extra 2 1/2" piece.
Tip #1: Cut them short enough that the pencils will stick out of the top and tall enough to hold the pencils upright. I had one shorter extra piece that I placed on the end to hold short pencils.
Tip #2: Thanks to a reader tip, I have learned that the printed letters on the PVC pipe can be removed with fingernail polish!

One 8 ft. piece of 1x4 Lumber -  Cut into two pieces to the length that you want your holder to be.
Tip: You may want to place the cut pieces of pipe onto the board to see how many will fit then cut. I cut 2 pieces that fit on top of a bookshelf.  (I painted the board white to match the PVC pipe) You can cut as many strips as you need for your supplies.

E6000 Glue - Clear
Use the E6000 tube of glue to attach the pieces of pipe onto the pre-painted board.
Tip: I made sure the letters that are printed on the pipe was facing another pipe so it would not be so obvious.
Let the glue dry and it will be ready to use!

For more how to details, check out my previous post. You can find it here: Pencil Organizer

Now go make your pencil/pen/supply holder! Hope this inspires you!

Until next time!

Beth♥

Doodling on Black Paper

New, to Me, Paper for Doodle Sketching

I had some black paper that I used to use for my colored pencil drawings, so I decided to try them out with a white pen (Uniball Signo Gel Pens).  I created a few drawings and loved the look, but wasn't thrilled with the way the pen was going onto the paper. It did not always flow evenly.

I saw these little packs of black paper at my local craft store, so I decided to try it out. The first drawing I did on this new (to me) paper turned out so much better than the other paper!

So I got online and found the same paper, Strathmore Artagain in a larger tablet size and ordered it right away! I ordered mine through Amazon, but it is also available through Blick Art Materials.

I've been playing around with the square tile paper to see what it can take and what I can do with them.

Here are a few of my doodles on the black tiles. 

I took one of them (so far), and added color with colored pencils. I always use Prismacolor pencils. I plan to add color to all 3 of these doodles.

I had hoped to use some paint pens, but the first kind I used did not work like I had hoped. So I will need to experiment with some other types of pens to see if I can get the look I wanted. For now, I will stick with the colored pencils.  I have tons of colored pencils! I hope to find some pens that leave a bright color on the black paper, similar to the white pen that I am using.


If anyone knows of some colored pens that work well on black paper, I would love to know! And if I find some, I will definitely update this post!

Hope you are having a nice 3 day weekend!

Have a great week!

Beth♥

Sneak Peak on the Drawing Board...Don't Look Ethel!

No, this is not for Ethel, but for some reason just thinking about the phrase "Don't Look" reminded me of the song by Ray Stevens, "The Streak" . A video that I watched at my parents house, many many times.  My son, who was very young at the time, really liked to watch it...over and over and over.  Actually we ALL enjoyed watching it! We went to see Ray Stevens perform in Branson a few times too. If you haven't seen this video, you should click on the link above (The Streak) and watch it. This has nothing to do with my drawing though. Excuse my wandering mind!

I've been back to the drawing board this week and part of last week. I have had some commissions to work on since before the move, so I've been trying to catch up. I've also been trying to balance my time between drawing and working with clay.  When I draw, I tend to focus just on that until the drawing is finished.  This one is getting close. It should be done today...so I will go back to the workbench and work with clay for a few days.
Variety is the spice of life...right?


Beth♥

Pet Portrait in Pencil

I recently finished a custom pet portrait done with graphite pencil.  This little cutie is name "Allie" and she is going to be a gift for her 'daddy' for his birthday!

She was drawn with graphite pencils on Stonehenge paper and is 5" x 7".




Beth  ♥

What makes a home?

I love houses. I create houses. I take pictures of houses. I draw houses. At one time, I even thought I might want to be an architect. But I actually just like drawing houses and buildings.  So I decided to pursue my 2nd love, that was art.  I often found myself including houses and parts of buildings in my drawings.  I take lots of pictures of houses to get ideas for drawings and clay houses too.  I had the pleasure of being a guest in a home recently.  The house was very cute with lots of character.  You could really see the  personality of the homeowners come through the decorative items in and around the home.  The love and personality made this house a home.

Hmmmm....this one could become drawing or a HeartHome...


Beth♥ 

A New Colored Pencil Painting...

...is on the drawing table! Finally...at last!

I took the photo reference when I was in France last summer and have been wanting to do this for awhile. It may take me awhile, with all of the interuptions and responsibilities that seem to creep into my life. But it is started and so far I am pleased with my results. So I will post the first couple of steps now and hopefully sometime over the next month or so, I will be able to work on it. Next week I will be attending the annual CPSA convention and exhibition, so I will not be able to work on it then.

This drawing is on UART 500 13" x 15" approximately. It may be larger or a little smaller. I will be using Prismacolor pencils.
I hope you will follow along with my progress and push me for updates for motivation! I tend to get distracted on other little projects.

Oh and by the way, the 2 photo, the 1st drawing photo, is a little crooked. Please excuse that. I will try to shoot the rest of them straighter. My little easle slants a little and I forget about that!

So, what it on your drawing board or craft table?
~Beth

Starts, Stripes & Stitches II

"Stars, Stripes & Stitches"

Beth S. Macre © 2008

15" x 7 1/4"

Colored Pencils on Watercolor Paper

Earlier I did a smaller version of this as a practice piece. I decided that I did want to enlarge it and I just finished it. The earlier version is posted here. This one will be framed and hang in a show in a few months. Now on to start a new project.

Baseball Cards

Walking and...Bat and Ball Series

I started some ACEOs last weekend and planned to finish and post them earlier in the week, however, time has gotten away from me again. This week turned out to be pretty busy. I've started walking after work in an attempt to get into shape for my trip to France in June. My friend Becky, the French teacher, and I are trying to get into shape for all of the walking we will be doing when we are in France. She also had a meeting with those who will be traveling with us to talk about the things that they should do between now and our departure. So between now and June 2nd, when we leave, I will be pretty busy. My son graduates from high school in 2 weeks, and end of school year work gets pretty hectic. I will have pictures of some of my clay tiles that I've been working on at school. Hopefully I will be able to finish firing some this week.

Also little Radar, the Papillon, was a little under the weather this week so he needed a little extra pampering. I don't think the vet was ever very sure whether it was an internal infection or if he had just hurt his spine somehow. But he is doing better today, thank goodness! He was so pitiful when he would try to hide and lay his ears back. He is always so happy, you know when something is not right, by the position of his ears and his lack of tail wagging.

So here are the two ACEOs that I completed last night and posted on Ebay. They were drawn together, but I cut them apart to sell them either seperately or together. Just depends if the collector wants them both or just one.

"Bat and Ball"

(2 cards as they appear together)

Prismacolor colored pencils on white Stonehenge

Beth S. Macre © 2008

Sold

Here is what they look like seperate:

"Bat and Ball 1"

"Bat and Ball 2"

These were done using a watercolor pencil underpainting with dry Prismacolor colored pencils on top. I used white paper which, to me, takes longer now that I've been using colored papers. I've also been using the sanded papers, which seem to speed things up somewhat. I keep switching back and forth between the colored sanded supports and the white paper and really can't decide which is best for my style. But I do prefer the sanded and colored papers for speed.

Drawing Partner

My Painting Partner

This little cutie sits and waits in my chair at my drawing table when I am on the computer. Here he is all decked out in his Christmas sweater. He wants to sit in my lap to see what I'm doing, but I don't get much accomplished with him in lap. I'm trying to finish the drawing that is on my table. It, and one more, have to be finished before Christmas!

Seasons of Trees

This tree is created with colored pencil scribbles on cut white paper on black paper. I first cut the white paper into a tree shape, spreading out the white paper on the black background paper, glued the white paper down. Then I started adding the scribbles for the colors. I wanted to show the stages of the seasons that the tree goes through during a year. The scribbling was a little scarey at first, but it got easier the more I added. I've seen other colored pencil artists use the scribbling technique that I wanted to try. Specifically John Smolko, the award winning artist known for this technique. This tree is experimental and I enjoyed the process. Maybe I will try another one soon. Right now I am working on another tree, but not scribbling. I will post it when I finish.