Get to Know Brandi Kincaid - The Artist Behind the Free Preview & Reveal Doodle!

Brandi Kincaid (SC username @Brandeye8) is an avid doodler. She's been putting together doodle lists of daily activities, to-do lists, and pretty much anything else worth documenting for a while now, and has gotten even more practice recently by participating in the 100 days project (she's been doing #100daysofdoodles). What began as a fun way for Brandi Kincaid to use her doodles to keep track of the fun, meandering conversations that happen during our live chats has become a tradition we all look forward to seeing after Sneaks (soon to be called Preview) and Reveal each month. We're so glad that Brandi created a special doodle of the new monthly schedule to share with everyone! Find it in the Free! section of our digital shop! Now's your chance to get to know the artist behind these lovable doodles! Read on to learn more about Brandi's inspiration, workspace, and more.

---

Can you tell us more about your creative process? What mediums do you work with, what inspires you?

So much of my creative process is based on the smallest bits of my everyday life. Doodles are a really fun way to represent some of what we love that might otherwise be overlooked, so whether I am working on memory keeping projects like my weekly Project Life® pages, or a custom order for my shop, I am always looking for small ways to tell big stories. I think that this process of paying attention and recording the more mundane details is why I love making doodle to-do lists and flow maps of my daily routines. Instead of looking back and feeling bored by my lists, I am either encourage by a fun, visual view of what I need to do, or reflecting on a habit like my morning commute made memorable by the fun of a doodled coffee cup and bus stop sign.

When it comes to doodles, I work mostly with pencil, pen, and ink, but I also love to add color from time to time, so watercolors are often a fun addition to what started as a simple black and white drawing. While I have some pens that I use time and time again, being the art and office supply groupie that I have been since childhood, I love experimenting with new brands and styles.

I am constantly inspired by the lives of those around me, both in person and online. Living in a downtown area, our neighborhood is filled with the sounds and images of streets alive with such a variety of people. I love to observe all the nuances of how people interact with others, and with the objects around them. Of course being downtown also means I live near two huge used bookshops and no less that three antique shops, so this nostalgic heart is always just a brief walk away from a visual overload of incredible design and history.

Would you mind giving us a peak into your creative space?

I have a room in the back of our home devoted to my creative hobbies, which makes me feel so lucky that it's easy to overlook the fact that not much natural light reaches back to that space. I find that having a big cheery yellow table and my most favorite green pegboard help bring a different kind of sunshine into the room and my creative projects, so I can stay nestled and cozy back there creating all day if I have the luxury of time. I create all of my Project Life® pages, scrapbook layouts, and most of my blogging back at that big yellow table.

When I am doodling I find that I migrate around our home a bit more, and my chair near the from window is quickly becoming the spot where almost all of my doodles are created. Because I am working simply with paper and pen, I like to curl up in the chair with my vintage lap desk that will sadly need to retire soon, and I let the sounds of the street outside my window inspire what I am doodling.

We'd love to see more of your art! Could you share a couple of your favorite projects?

Some of the most fun I have is capturing the live chats here at Studio Calico. There is always so much fun happening during the chats, and it's such a great opportunity to get to know the community better, that I really try to capture the spirit of what happens during that hour so that those who couldn't make it can still see a snippet of what happened, and those who were there have something to remember it by later. And full disclosure, I am always having a snack during chat (it's all that food talk), so many of the original sneak doodles are smudged by popcorn or caramel fingers.

For the past few months, I've been participating in the "100 Day Project" doing a #100daysofdoodles where I make a doodle each day for someone who requested it. This project has been so incredibly inspiring with such a wide variety of requests, many from all over the world. I've learned and grown so much since I began, and it's been such a motivator not only to keep making things even when it's less convenient, but to keep trying new things and pushing past my more comfortable boundaries of what I think I am capable of doodling.

Here's the Monthly Schedule doodle Brandi designed!

Where can we find more of your work?

I share work on my website, on Instagram as @Brandeye8, and in my Etsy shop, where I make and sell digital, original, and custom doodles.