Tag: acrylic

3 Gorgeous Fluorescent Colours You Need to Use in Your Next Painting

Fluorescent colours are such fun but the paint normally fades in prolonged exposure to sunlight so an art journal is a great place to play with them as the pages are protected.

Choosing Fluorescent Colours in Paints

You can get fluorescent colours in: format. I have added some links to the list above to products that you might want to check out. In pigment format they can be added to any binder you choose or resin, soaps, candles. I’ve only tried the pigments with resin and they do work nicely.

St David’s Day 1st March Card Design

St David, of course, is the patron St of Wales and there are, in our culture, several interesting tales about him. I spent my young years in Bronant in mid Wales going to a County Primary school and learning to speak Welsh. St David’s day was a special day for us when we got to dress in traditional Welsh costume and do creative activities like singing and painting and reciting. Of course, a lot of those paintings were of daffodils which I still love to paint.

Creativity Requires Courage

This journal page was inspired by the quote
Creativity requires the Courage to let go of Certainty
I think this is never more evident than in the layering process in art so I made this page with layers, letting go of each by adding the next. It’s so easy to get attached to a layer that’s been added, especially when it’s full of colour and serendipitous texture.

Year of the Water Tiger 2022 Art Journal Page

Today is the 1st Feb 2022 and as such it is the start of the Chinese New Year, also new Lunar year. This year is the year of the tiger and more specifically the year of the water tiger. This only occurs every 60 years and the last year of the water tiger was in […]

The Mighty Salmon

This week I am inspired by the Atlantic Salmon that swims up rivers in Scotland at this time of year (October – November) to spawn. How they navigate waterfalls involves a lot of failing and trying again and they must do this repeatedly before reaching their breeding grounds. No wonder they are so exhausted after […]

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.

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 […]

Happy Process – What is Layering in Art?

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.

Daffy Daffs of Spring

The daffodil, or cenhinen Pedr in Welsh (Peter’s leek) has long been celebrated as an emblem of Wales. Commonly worn in a pin on a cardigan or jumper on St David’s day (March 1st), it is one of the early, Spring flowering bulbs. It even seems to be designed so its beautiful heads will nod […]