by theartist | Oct 17, 2019 | Inspiration
I’ve been teaching and working in art groups quite a lot over the last few months, and it always bothers me how people stop themselves from making art, telling themselves they’re rubbish or repeating things they were told by teachers years ago. What is...
by theartist | Aug 25, 2019 | Inspiration, Reviews and recommendations
My husband bought me a copy of Twyla Tharp’s ‘The Creative Habit – Learn it and use it for life’ for Christmas. It’s been a busy year, but the summer break is a perfect time to take stock and reflect and read some ‘self-help’...
by theartist | Jan 2, 2019 | Inspiration, Tutorials
Happy New Year everyone! I’m looking forward to another year of blogging about my work and how I do it, but I thought I’d start off with a summary of some of my most popular blog posts so far, just in case you missed them: 1. How to choose and mix colours...
by theartist | Nov 3, 2018 | Inspiration
Are you an artist or a crafter? I’d love to know about your work, what motivates you and any top tips you have so I can feature you on this blog. I’ve made a short questionnaire on survey monkey if you’d like to take part. I’ll use the surveys...
by theartist | Jun 25, 2018 | Advice, Inspiration
When you are learning how to draw and paint being able to recognise your style can be one of the biggest frustrations, but it just means learning how to paint consistently, confidently and recognisably in your own visual ‘voice’. Learning from others For a...
by theartist | Jun 17, 2018 | Advice, Inspiration
I had a wobbly week the other week, I completely lost my confidence. Being an artist is pretty much all about having confidence in your work to show people what you’ve done so it’s not great when you lose it, but I think it’s an occupational hazard...
by theartist | May 24, 2018 | Art history and gallery visits, Inspiration, Landscape
In my previous post Inspiration on a trip to St Ives I wrote about how I’d been inspired by the artists who worked in St Ives, particularly a couple of pioneering female artists. But you can’t visit Cornwall and not be inspired by the wild scenery and...
by theartist | Mar 3, 2018 | Inspiration, Sketchbook
The absolute best way to improve your drawing is to practice, anywhere and everywhere you can but I’m very guilty of limiting my sketching to my house because it’s so much more convenient and warm! Sketching out and about is something I haven’t done...
by theartist | Feb 21, 2018 | Inspiration, Portraits
When you’re painting a portrait there’s not much going to cause you as many problems as bad lighting. So many snaps taken on cameras or phones might show a lovely face, but they often miss key information for getting a likeness. Why tone is important to...
