Exploring self-expression in art and creating meaningful drawings…

​​The objective of this particular drawing lesson is to understand that art is expressive and personal…

…and NOT an exercise in technical drawing.

So that you will feel confident that, actually, you ARE an artist.

Celtic knotwork art - Humanity & Kindness...

I created this colourful Celtic knotwork design on the theme of humanity and kindness and based on a traditional Celtic knotwork design -

I actually created it in the first weeks of lockdown (late-March 2020) for a book on kindness, 'Be Kind' by Tecassia Publishing - thinking about how we're all interconnected across the whole world and how we need to cultivate our kindness and patience towards each other so that we can all live together effectively, especially in those most difficult moments when we sometimes feel anything but patient and kind...
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Basic colour wheel colour theory explained – keeping it simple – put the ideas into practice straight away.

Do people keep referring to the colour wheel or colour theory without explaining what it is, why it’s helpful, or what it’s got to do with you? …confusing, right?

Only until it’s explained properly! When you understand basic colour wheel ideas, it’s like you’ve been let into a special artists’ club and get to find out all the colour secrets!

I didn’t properly understand about the artist’s colour wheel until I started training in interior design… it was a big ‘a-ha’ moment and suddenly everything ‘clicked’…

That’s what I want to share with you – how basic colour wheel colour theory can improve your art!

We’ll look together at the basic colour wheel – we’ll understand what it’s for and understand some simple colour terms before going on to see how basic colour wheel colour theory can help us choose colours for our drawings and artworks.

In this blog post, we’ll cover:

• Understanding the colour wheel
• Understanding ‘warm’ and ‘cool’ colours and why they’re important
• Using the colour wheel
• How colour mixing works
• Mixing colours for drawing

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Exploring drawing and painting on fabric - inspired by the beautiful blendings of colours that watercolour artists create, I decided to explore the effects of ink on wet fabric....
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A small handful have become artworks in their own right, whereas others become part of a pattern, or composite artwork, combined with my drawings, and many are just a very faint background, you would hardly notice.

​This is actually a technique I use in very many of my digital artworks to create an interesting, colourful and textured background for my artwork...

Learn how to draw anything by seeking out shapes - basic drawing skills to help beginners get started drawing quickly and easily...

I want to get you started drawing by sketching nature. The objective of the drawing lesson in this blog post is to understand how to sketch out the basic shapes of your drawing so that your drawing is recognisable and accurate.

This is important because although art doesn’t have to look ‘realistic’ you do want your drawing to look recognisable (unless you choose to play with the shapes and proportions for style and effect)…

It’s important not to give your viewer the sensation that “there’s just something wrong about it” which can often be the case when we get things even subtly wrong.

In this previous post, I spoke about a renewed interest in our Celtic history and culture, my personal links with this, and how I’ll be introducing Celtic knotwork elements into my nature-inspired artworks.

I also mentioned calligraphy as part of this. Calligraphy is another hobby I followed keenly as a child – right into my 20s I’d create calligraphy and decorated lettering for friends and family, often to celebrate births and marriages.

I’m afraid that in the last 20 years, I’ve rather left that by the wayside as illnesses and adult responsibilities caught up with myself and my household. But now, as with Celtic knotwork, my calligraphy is something that I’m recommitting myself to and learning/re-learning calligraphic skills.
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How to plan your artistic practice to fit into your daily life…
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Create the right mood and mindset for your drawing by making time and having the right space for creativity. 

In this blog post we're going to look at how to plan and prepare for your artistic time.

This is so that you are creating in a productive, mindful, and calming mindset for an enjoyable session. We want to make sure that you’ve got everything you need to make your creative times relaxing and enjoyable.

​I'm proud to have contributed a 5-Day Start Drawing Challenge to the new Make it in DesignFREE 'Gift of Creativity' online classroom.

The 'Gift of Creativity' is a special online resource filled with creative inspiration, challenges, tutorials, colouring sheets and projects to keep you and your family occupied during these difficult weeks - great for adults or kids, home-schooling projects, beginners or the more experienced - there's a ton of resources there already and there'll be more added each week, so if you're at all interested, bookmark it and check it out.

My contribution is the '5-Day Start Drawing Challenge' which you can find in the 'Drawing' section of the classroom.
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All the details are here...

I wanted to share with you some of my new and recent Celtic knotwork learning for my own art practice…

This year, I’ve decided to spend more time concentrating on drawing Celtic knotwork and including it in my artwork – as well as learning Calligraphy.

 
​These are both art forms that I explored in my childhood and loved!

My mum trained as an art teacher in the 1960s and did her dissertation on Celtic art in Ireland – specifically the Book of Kells. So I was lucky enough to be allowed to play with her dissertation, and she gave me the postcards she’d collected of the Book of Kells to play with and to inspire me.

My mum also taught me how to draw simple Celtic spirals – so that’s what I doodled as a child…

The absolute basics! My recommended top drawing materials supplies to get you started drawing with no unnecessary fuss or massive expenditure…

This post is all about choosing the right drawing tools for you!

It’s something that’s very personal, so there’s no right or wrong thing to choose.

There’s only the thing that’s right or wrong for you – and it’s absolutely okay for that to change, either gradually over time or all of a sudden.

It’s important that you’re happy and comfortable with how you do your art…

And that it feels like an extension of who you are and what you’re about so that you get the most enjoyment out of it.

I’m also not about fancy equipment or expensive equipment…

I’ve been broke… and art paper, pens, and pencils were an expensive luxury!

But guess what? For drawing your own way you don’t need them!

Let me repeat that…

You don’t need anything fancy to get the benefits of creative and expressive drawing.

All you need is something to draw with and something to draw on. Got that? Then you’re sorted.
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Having said that, your experience of drawing is always going to be far more pleasurable if you actually enjoy using your tools. So this lesson is about helping you choose what to start drawing with and what to start drawing on...
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