October 2026 ~ SketchBox Crystal Ball

ctober’s SketchBox brought me another mixed-media experiment, this time with a SketchBox School lesson built around creating a glowing crystal ball.

The box was filled with a wonderfully dramatic collection of reds, pinks, purples and black, along with inks, tinting medium, fine liners and other supplies intended to be layered together to create the finished piece.

This was very different from the watercolor work I normally gravitate toward, which made it an interesting opportunity to simply follow along, experiment with unfamiliar materials and see what happened.

And something did, indeed, happen.

I made a crystal ball.

Whether that crystal ball survives tomorrow is another matter entirely.

September SketchBox Crystal Ball

This SketchBox School project uses the September mixed-media supplies to build a crystal ball filled with colorful crystals and surrounded by a dark, dramatic environment.

Rather than beginning with traditional watercolor paints, the project combines drawing, inks, tinting medium, fine liners and layered color.

I followed the lesson as an experiment in using the supplies together and discovering how they behaved.

The result is a glowing collection of purple crystals sitting inside a crystal ball with a red-and-black base and dark background.

It may not be destined to remain a crystal ball forever, but as an experiment, it gave me a chance to become acquainted with the materials before deciding where I might take them next.

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September 2026 SketchBox crystal ball mixed-media painting with pink and purple crystals, a dark background, and red and black base surrounded by the project supplies.

Beginning With the Crystal Ball

The project began by establishing the shape of the crystal ball and sketching the collection of crystals inside it.

Unlike the beach piece I created from the other September SketchBox project, I decided to follow the basic subject of this lesson rather than immediately wandering off in another direction.

At least temporarily.

The crystals gave me a collection of angular shapes to experiment with, while the large circular globe created a strong boundary between the colorful focal point and the much darker environment surrounding it.

Experimenting With Ink

The most interesting part of this project for me was working with the different inks and learning how they behaved when combined with the other supplies.

I built the crystals with the pink, purple and red tones available in the box, allowing the colors to overlap and create different values within the individual shapes.

Because the palette is heavily concentrated in reds and red-violets, the finished piece naturally developed a very warm, dramatic appearance.

Rather than trying to force the supplies into behaving like my familiar watercolors, I treated this as an opportunity to see what they wanted to do on their own.

Some experiments are about producing a polished finished painting.

Others are about learning the personality of what’s sitting on your desk.

This one was very much the latter.

Building the Dark Environment

Once the crystal ball itself had color, I began establishing the darker area surrounding it.

The contrast completely changed the appearance of the piece.

Suddenly the lighter globe and bright crystals had something to push against, while the red-and-black base became much more prominent beneath them.

That strong contrast is one of the things I found most interesting about the project.

Even when I’m not entirely certain that I love where a piece is going, adding another layer can completely change how I see what came before it.

That’s one reason I try not to judge an experiment too early.

Sometimes it simply isn’t finished telling me what it wants to become.

Following a Lesson Without Chasing Perfection

This was also a useful reminder that an art lesson doesn’t have to result in something I want to frame.

Sometimes the purpose is simply to sit down and use unfamiliar supplies.

I experimented with the inks.

I worked with a palette I wouldn’t ordinarily choose.

I layered different materials together.

I followed somebody else’s creative direction long enough to understand the basic process.

And now I know considerably more about what these supplies can do than I did when I opened the box.

That makes the experiment worthwhile regardless of what eventually happens to the painting itself.

And About That Crystal Ball…

If you’ve been following my SketchBox experiments for any length of time, you probably already know that following directions is occasionally more of a temporary condition around here.

I followed the lesson.

I made the crystal ball.

I documented the evidence.

And now I’ve spent enough time staring at all of those dark colors and dramatic inks that another idea has begun forming.

I keep looking at this painting and seeing something else underneath it.

Something darker.

Something moving.

Something considerably wetter.

I think the tide is coming in.

So consider this the official record of the September crystal ball while it still exists in its current form.

Tomorrow we’re going to find out what happens when I stop asking what the lesson wanted me to make and start asking my favorite question instead:

What else can I make these supplies do?