Earlier this year I went out on a limb and applied to be a part of The Pigeon Letters’ Design Team for the 2022-2023 season. I’m not like, a well-known artist or anything, but I felt confident enough that I could teach TPL readers a few new techniques that I love to use. Even still, color me surprised a few weeks later when I received an email welcoming me to the team – especially considering Peggy received over 400 applications for just a handful of spots!

It’s really an honor to be a part of this team and the TPL fam, and I that’s not some brown-nosing BS. I’ve followed Peggy for years, I own some of her books, and I resonate hard with her ability to be like ‘yeah, I do a lot of things and refuse to pick one medium or one niche‘. Sound like anyone you know?

I use her as my mental example of why it’s okay that I also don’t just stick to one medium or one niche: “Peggy Dean doesn’t and she’s rad and talented and hella well known and successful, so…” I feel like if there’s any team that I could authentically belong to, it’s this one.

My first TPL tutorial is live!

Curious about what it means to be on the TPL Design Team? Over the next year I’ll be producing a series of tutorials (in both video and blog format) for viewers/readers to follow along with.

My first tutorial is live now and inspired by my recent trip to Morocco + my love of travel sketchbooking.

I always wake up early when I travel because I feel like I have the world to myself. I’ll often take my camera(s) out for a walk to explore and watch the city or town I’m in come alive. One of the riads where I stayed in Marrakech has the dreamiest pink rooftop filled with succulents and plants. The rooftop itself even has its own bohemian perch that offers an additional view of the city wherein I watched early birds taking flight in the golden sunrise.

My first tutorial walks you through the process of combining watercolor and colored pencil to recreate that peaceful scene, and will hopefully inspire you to take up travel sketchbooking.

Head over to The Pigeon Letters blog for the step-by-step tutorial or to watch the Youtube video and create along with me. If you make your own version, please share it on social media and tag me! @thealiciabruce / #tplalicia – I’d love to share your work!

What next?

View my first tutorial: Create a Travel Sketchbook Memory
Read more about my art journey in my artist spotlight