Hi there! Today I’m going to show you how I make my materials selections for the art adventures. If you want to try an adventure of your own, you might want to make your own selection generator. It’s nothing more than a series of three lists and a way to randomly choose items on them. How you compile the lists is up to you. I use an Excel spreadsheet because I’m comfortable with Excel, but you can just as easily make lists on a paper with a pencil, or even write each item on a scrap of paper, fold it up, and put it into a jar to draw out. I call that the “container method”. Do whatever works best and is easiest for you.
Supplies needed:
Microsoft Excel
Or
Paper, pen or pencil, and a form of random number generator (see this section)
Or
Paper, pen or pencil, and three containers
How to make it:
- Create the lists. Using your choice of supplies, create three lists using the following guidelines.
List 1: Media
This list will contain all of the types of media you have at your disposal. For example, my list includes
- Colored pencils
- Watercolor pencils
- Colored graphite pencils
- Colored charcoal pencils
- Watercolor paint
- Acrylic paint
- Pastel pencils
- Soft pastels
- Conte crayon
- Alcohol markers
…
…
…
I number each item on the list just as you see it above and enter them into an Excel column. Your list will differ based on the supplies you have.
If you’ve decided to go with the technique of pulling slips of paper from a container, you don’t have to number your media. Just write each one on a separate scrap of paper, fold it up, and put it into the jar.
List 2: Line and Form Makers
This list contains all of the items I have for making lines or applying media to a surface. These include things like
- Graphite pencil
- Waterbrush
- Paint brush
- Ink pen
- Eraser
- Technical pen
- Vine charcoal
- Dip pen
…
…
…
You can be as creative as you want with the items, but try to avoid listing something specific. For example, I don’t want to list “kneadable eraser” and “pencil eraser”. Instead, I list “eraser” so that I have options available when it comes time to do the art work. The same goes for “paint brush”, since I certainly don’t want to limit the size of the brush or even pre-determine if it’s round or flat. Some choices will have to have to come from the media choices made from list 1.
Either enter these in a second column in Excel, or write them onto small slips of paper and put them into a separate jar.
List 3: Grounds (substrates)
This list contains all of the surfaces I can apply my media to. These could include
Paper
Canvas
Kraft paper
Fabric
Black paper
Postcards
Sanded paper
Journal pages
…
…
…
Again, try not to get too specific. You may only have a few of these. That’s okay. Most of the time the media and line selections will determine what grounds you can use and rule out others. But don’t be afraid to add things like scrapbooking paper, pages ripped from books, wood, or other unusual items. After all, the idea is to experiment!
These go into a third column or a third jar.
- Choose a Random Number Generator
Unless you are using the container method, you’ll need a way to create random numbers. Thankfully, there are free random number generators online. Simply enter the term “random number generator” into a search engine.
If you want to do this without having to go online, you can buy RPG dice like these and role a dice to get your number. Or you can set up a random number generator in Excel. Or you can ask a friend or family member to give you a number between 1 and the last number of your list. You can even set up a another container with numbers so that you have to reach in and pull out a random number. It doesn’t really matter which method you use.
How to use it
First, use the random number generator to pick a number between 2 and 4. This will be the number of colors you can use. You can, of course, use a higher number than 4 or restrict yourself to 1 color. Both of those options could add complexity to your challenge, depending on the type of media you end up selecting.
Then use the random number generator to pick a number between 1 and the highest number on your List 1: Media list. This will be the media you will use.
Then use the random number generator to pick a number between 1 and 3. This will be the number of items you can select from List 2.
Next, use the random number generator to pick a number between 1 and the highest number on your List 2: Line and Form Makers. Repeat this step if you chose anything other than “1” in step 3. Note: if any of these selections make no sense, either try again or decide to reduce the number of your selections.
Finally, use the random number generator to pick a number between 1 and the highest number on your List 3: Grounds. This will be the surface you will use. Note: if it doesn’t make sense, try again.
Example:
I’ve made my lists and I’m using an online random number generator (RNG).
List 1 has 13 items.
List 2 has 5 items.
List 3 has 7 items.
I run the RNG using the limits of 2 and 4. I get a 3. This means I will be able to use 3 colors of media (but I don’t know which 3).
I run the RNG using the limits of 1 and 13 (based on my List 1). I get a 10. Looking at item 10 on my List 1, I see it is Pastel Pencil. So now I know I’m going to use 3 colors of pastel pencil.
I run the RNG using the limits of 1 and 3. I get a 2. This means that I will be able to use 2 items off of my List 2.
I run the RNG using the limits of 1 and 5 (based on my List 2). I get a 4. This is a graphite pencil. I can use it with pastel pencil, so I’m okay with that. I run the RNG again, using the limits of 1 and 5, to get my second item. This time I get a 1. This is a water brush. I know from experience that it’s possible to use a water brush to smudge pastel pencil, but it isn’t very effective. I now have the choice of eliminating my second option or trying again.
Deciding to try again, I get the number 5. This is a vine charcoal. This option is acceptable. My only other options were eraser and paint brush, both of which could have been viable, but will have to be explored at another time.
Finally, I run the RNG using the limits of 1 and 7 (based on my List 3). I get a 2. This is fabric, which would be very difficult with my brand of pastel pencil. I run it again and get a 6, which turns out to be watercolor paper. This is an acceptable ground.
So in this example, my mission will be to use
3 colors of pastel pencil
A graphite pencil
A vine charcoal
Watercolor paper
Easy, peasy, right?
