Create This Book 2: Episode 3

Today, I FINALLY decorate the beginning pages and tackle 3 more prompts (Create Sadness, Create a Split Decision, Create a Wish), so this video is jam packed!

Title Page

For the first title page, I decorated the inside cover with a colorful candy theme featuring glossy jelly-style gummy bears and swirled candy pieces. I used three shades of each color to build up the translucent gummy bear effect, starting with a light base, adding darker shadows, and finishing with bright white highlights to make everything look shiny and dimensional. The stacked gummy bears may not be physically realistic, but they make the page feel playful, sweet, and full of personality. This was a fun coloring experiment for learning how to create a jelly effect with alcohol markers, especially if you love cute candy art, sketchbook title pages, or colorful marker illustrations.

Fill This Empty Space

For the Empty Box page, I turned the prompt into an interactive sketchbook craft by creating a handmade paper envelope with a tiny bear that pops up when the flap opens. I started with a 4×4 inch square of paper, folded and cut it into an envelope shape, then drew a soft brown teddy bear with a small tab so he could move with the flap. To make the page feel cohesive, I added a green meadow inside the envelope and simple flower doodles around the page. This interactive art journal idea was one of my favorite parts of the video because it combines drawing, paper crafting, and a little pop-up book magic. It’s a great inspiration for anyone who wants to make their sketchbook pages more playful and dimensional.

Tips & Tricks

For the Tips & Tricks page, I kept the design simple since the page already had a lot of writing on it. Instead of creating a full illustration, I treated it like a notebook page I would have doodled on during class. I added small hearts with wings, arrows, and loose pen doodles to give the page a nostalgic school-notes feeling without covering up the printed text. This page is a good reminder that not every sketchbook spread needs to be complicated. Sometimes simple doodles, tiny details, and a consistent theme are enough to make a page feel finished. It’s an easy art journal idea for decorating busy pages, title pages, or prompt book sections with minimal supplies.

Create Sadness

For the Create Sadness prompt, I drew a rainy nighttime scene with a girl holding an umbrella and a lonely puppy sitting in the rain. The gray weather inspired the whole idea, so I used blue watercolor and long, uneven strokes to create a cold, dreary background. The black silhouette of the girl helped make the scene feel darker and more emotional, while the white rain streaks and highlights added movement and atmosphere. This prompt became a moody mixed media art page about loneliness, gloomy weather, and the sadness of seeing a little dog out in the rain. It’s a strong example of using color, weather, body language, and lighting to communicate emotion in an art prompt.

Create a Split Decision

For the Create a Split Decision prompt, I followed the first idea that came to mind and drew a banana split. This dessert illustration included classic vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry ice cream scoops, dripping caramel, hot fudge, strawberry syrup, whipped cream, cherries, and nuts. After the first layer looked a little flat, I added darker marker shadows, texture, thin micron outlines, and white highlights to make the sauces and cherries look glossy and realistic. Cutting out the finished banana split helped remove the extra empty space and kept the focus on the dessert itself. This was a fun food illustration prompt for practicing texture, shine, color layering, and playful sketchbook composition.

Create a Wish

For the Create a Wish prompt, I drew Tinker Bell as a magical character who could grant a wish or sprinkle fairy dust. I sketched her with her iconic blonde hair, green dress, wand, translucent wings, and sparkling fairy dust trail. The background was kept dark and simple with palm tree-inspired shapes so Tinker Bell would stand out as the main focus. Metallic gold acrylic marker helped create a magical shimmer around her skin and outlines, while white dots and sparkles brought the fairy dust to life. This prompt was a great character illustration challenge because it combined nostalgic Disney-inspired art, fantasy details, glowing highlights, and a magical wish theme all in one sketchbook page.