Category: Process

Here I have posts about how I make my art/illustrations. You might find techniques I love or thought processes.

Getting to Know Acrylics

What are acrylic paints? They are a water based media that dries permanent with a plasticky finish. They are made from pigment in an acrylic polymer emulsion. Acrylics come in different consistencies: High viscosity or heavy body: these guys really give a textural finish, I love them. Normal, medium viscosity: great for flat painting. Low viscosity or fluid acrylics: lovely for dripping or using in an airbrush. Acrylic inks: enjoy for graphic work, permanent backgrounds, writing.

Protecting Artwork

Typically art isn’t cheap to buy and may also have deep emotional significance so it makes sense to want to protect it. From a sellers point of view you want to do all you can to ensure your buyer has the best rewards from their purchase possible. So what does artwork need protecting from? I think this really depends on the environment where it will be displayed and could include: being knocked or bumped fingerprints smoke dust uv light.

From Inspiration to Celebration

Today I want to share some of my creative process, not just the part where I actually make something but the background to it. All the ideas we get come from somewhere: the environment, plants, animals, political issues, internal landscape, hopes and dreams. For some time I have been particularly inspired by plants, especially flowers – I adore the colour and delicate form. I think I love butterflies for the same reason.

Art Journaling as a Creative Process

To me, art journaling is a creative process in a few different ways. Art Journaling as a Self-Creative Process. In one way it is a journey of self creation that is a process over a number of years. Keeping art journaling as a practice lets you grow through experimentation and reflection. Initially pages may seem […]

Mother’s Day Card Design Ideas to Brighten Up Her Day

A couple of years ago I wrote this post about Mother’s Day in the U.K. and U.S. This year I’ve painted some Mother’s Day card designs in my expressive, colourful style. They are based on UK animals and done in a whimsical style. I hope they say “I love you mom”! They are sure to […]

The Effects of Colour on Mood

Psychotherapists are, according to this article about colour, sceptical about using it to influence mood. And there is little scientific research to encourage them. However, colour has been very important to many cultures and, importantly, colours have different significance across cultures. So how is colour useful to us …? In my opinion, colour choice is very personal – from a very young age children will have their ‘favourite’ colour. For some children it will change regularly but for others, like me, it stays the same. I was very drawn to red as a child and I can’t remember there being any red in our decor at home. Maybe it was this scarcity that made me think ‘Wow!’ when I saw it …? I

My Process – What is Layering?

In art layering means letting one application of paint dry before adding another. In some painting the layers are translucent, typically with watercolours but oils and acrylics can both be translucent, and so the layers beneath affect the colour of the outcome. In other painting opaque layers are used to obscure parts of the previous layers, for example when painting animal fur a dark layer may go down first followed by gradually lighter areas. In my painting I use translucent and opaque paints in my layering. In contrast some art is created in a single layer such as when working graphically. Think of colouring pages where areas of the painting are filled in, in one go.

Getting to Know the Path

My journey to the art I now make started with walks along the portion of the Wales Coastal Path near where I live. When I was unwell I used to walk there with my mother who is very knowledgeable about plants, being a scientist by degree. She would help me identify the many little flowering plants we found there and the birds that came and went. I loved the shapes and colours and soon started photographing them as reference for sketches and paintings I then made at home.