A Peak Into The Process - from guest blogger McKenzie Hilscher

A Peak Into The Process - from guest blogger McKenzie Hilscher

This post will be a tad longer, and a little less “instructional” than my other five posts!  In early January I became an Art-O-Mat artist, a huge step in getting my watercolors all around the world (quite literally)! 


What is an Art-O-Mat you might ask? Well, they are old cigarette vending apparatuses(now illegal) turned into affordable art machines.  


There is a video pinned on my Instagram on an adventure I went on to Allen Park, Michigan right before I sent off 200 of my own submissions!  


For my submission, I focused on vibrant abstract sunsets! Mostly in the shape of the new generation “Polaroids” in the hopes that people would randomly select a piece of my art, and simultaneously be paired with a date to manifest good things (I have always felt birthdays were wildly overrated!)


Where does TheSmilingHippo fall into this? Well, after a few hundred submissions, I decided some of my sunsets need a bit of “sparkle”...maybe even a few “metallic touches”!  


This lovely color came in my February Brand Rep package, and I was thrilled to add a few little touches to a few of my sunsets! Although Sunsets are notoriously orange, pink, and red…I am in Michigan, where we have had 5 minutes of sun this year! So, sometimes green and blue and muted colors are the sunsets I have come to love. 




This is an almost finished piece! I really like how the shifty brown/green metallic color adds some texture to my sunset! I was even more excited to add a touch of glitter to the end!

Manifesting a good March 23rd I suppose!  


As always, check out TheSmilingHippo’s watercolors, as they are such a fun and unique addition to any piece.  


If you are feeling like you need an adventure in this dreary weather, I would LOVE to see you adventuring to your local Art-O-Mat! Although I cannot promise you will see my Sunset Series, as they are being sent throughout the entire Earth, I am sure there is insanely good art there for you to check out! SEND PICS!


Here is the Art-O-Mat organizations link and local map guide: https://www.artomat.org/

Back to blog

Leave a comment