Your Year in Art

Overflowing with drawing prompts and tips, Your Year in Art will invigorate beginning and practicing artists as they build skills, gain confidence, and overcome artistic anxiety.

Leave your artistic anxiety behind with 52 weeks of hearty inspiration. Your Year in Art is a must-have guide to rouse your creative side. Designed for aspiring, beginning, and practicing artists looking to hone their skills, Your Year in Art is packed with unique projects and encouraging instruction.

The mission of Your Year in Art is to sharpen your art skills and quiet your inner critic by showing you how to draw habitually and spontaneously. As you build your craft, techniques, and confidence, this guide encourages you to create in a way that celebrates your individuality. Fifty-two clever drawing prompts, along with tips and tricks, from expert illustrator Chelsea Ward will get your creative juices flowing.

Weekly challenges include making a 'self-portrait' by sketching things that describe you; practicing mark-making techniques like cross-hatching and stippling; filling a sketchbook page with drawings on a theme, like potted plants or fire hydrants; and adding water to ink drawings to practice wash techniques. Join fellow artists in an exciting yearlong journey of developing creative habits and discovering new ways to express yourself.

About the Author

Chelsea Ward is an art teacher and maker of one-of-a-kind creations. Since graduating from the University of Texas at Austin with a BFA in studio art, she has been a Jane of all trades. She currently juggles her small business Sketchy Notions, an Etsy shop of custom treasures; teaching art lessons through Arts Outreach; co-hosting Bellissima Art Retreats with Gypsy Studios in Tuscany; and her role as the head chalk scribbler with Chalk by Chels.

She is also the artist behind Cursive Cursing, a line of swear word greeting cards. Chelsea has worked with a variety of clients, including Santa Barbara Popcorn Company, Solvang Coffee Company, and J Ludlow Vineyard. Her work has been featured by magazines Elite Wedding Collection and The Knot, among others. Chelsea is the author of Modern Drawing and Your Year in Art. She lives in Los Olivos, California.