Category: Drawing

Goldfinches & Thistles Celtic Art & Symbolism

6/4/2021

0 Comments

Colourful Goldfinches & Thistles Celtic art plus a look at the symbolism and meaning of goldfinches and thistles...

Goldfinches & Thistles Celtic art by Lotti Brown

Buy Goldfinches & Thistles art here

0 Comments

Sketchbook Drawing Ideas

30/3/2021

0 Comments

Drawing Ideas & prompts for your sketchbook

When you’re feeling stuck for sketchbook drawing ideas, we take a look at how to fill a sketchbook in a way that inspires you and serves your drawing practice…

Once you’ve decided that you want to keep an art sketchbook and bought, made, and/or personalised your sketchbook, then you’re ready to start drawing in yours.

Sadly, this is all too often when we get that blank-page-blank-mind feeling, and we feel stuck to know how or where to start…

We're all out of sketchbook drawing ideas to get going…

This is a perfectly normal way to feel.

Often, we can just bite the bullet and get started somewhere, anywhere, with some inspiration that we’ve noted in our daily lives or some other drawing exercise we’re working on...

Sketchbook drawing ideas

0 Comments

Celtic Alder Art, Myth & Meaning

11/3/2021

0 Comments

Celtic alder art and Celtic Tree Calendar art - plus a little look at the myth, history and meaning of the alder tree...

Celtic alder art

Buy Celtic Alder art here

The delicate alder tree is, I think, often overlooked amongst our many beautiful native British trees.

It has an ancient and glorious history, though, and is connected with some of our most enduring traditions…

The alder is a tree of the riverbank. Its Latin name ‘alnus’ is thought to be taken from ‘alor amne’, meaning ‘I am nourished by the stream’...

Alder art - tree calendar version

Buy the tree calendar version here

The English word ‘alder’ is thought to come from the Old German workd ‘elawer’ meaning ‘reddish’ – the white wood inside the alder tree turns red when cut and the catkins of the alder are a purplish-red.

The Anglo-Saxon word for alder is ‘alr’ (linked to the Norse word ‘olr’). The Gaelic ogham word for alder is ‘fearn’ linked to the Welsh ‘gwern’. More about the meaning of ‘fearn’ later…

0 Comments

Tortoiseshell Butterflies Celtic Spirals Art

2/3/2021

0 Comments

Pretty tortoiseshell butterflies against an intricate knotwork of Celtic spirals and swirls...

Tortoiseshell butterflies with Celtic Spirals Knotwork

Tortoiseshell Butterflies with Celtic Spirals and Swirls

Buy Tortoiseshell butterflies here

Feeling inspired by Medieval illuminated manuscripts, and following my recent 'Blue Butterflies Celtic Knotwork' artwork, I decided to work on a piece with tortoiseshell butterflies, which I think are one of our prettiest butterflies...

I create my pieces digitally from elements that I've hand-drawn individually - I scan them into the computer and put them together in Adobe Illustrator - here's how it went...

0 Comments

Be More You - Expressive Drawing

23/2/2021

0 Comments

Expressive drawing means being more YOU…

It means letting your thoughts and feelings show up in your drawing as part of your art.

It’s all about looking, feeling and being creative… but where to start with this?

The objective of this drawing lesson is to understand how to put your own expression and personality into your art.

In this section, we’re looking more at our personal self-expression in our art...

We’ll be building on what we thought about in the previous post about collecting personal and meaningful drawing inspiration from nature…

As well as our thoughts about what art is and why our self-expression in art matters.

0 Comments

Blue Butterflies Celtic Medieval Art

16/2/2021

0 Comments

Inspired by Celtic knotwork and Medieval manuscripts - my 'Blue Butterflies' Celtic Medieval artwork...

'Blue Butterflies' Celtic Medieval artwork by Lotti Brown

Buy Blue Butterflies prints & products

If you've taken my Essential Drawing Skills course, you'll know that I'm very inspired by Medieval artwork and Medieval manuscripts, as well as Celtic knotwork...

Now that I feel a little more practised with my Celtic knotwork, I thought I'd see if I could also bring in more of a feel of a medieval manuscript - I love the way that tiny paintings of flowers, butterflies, birds, animals and even people decorate the edges of the manuscript pages, and I thought I'd like to bring something of that to this artwork.

I'm also drawing on my recent Celtic art style butterfly and flower artworks - I wanted to keep drawing butterflies as I've loved drawing them so much.

I started out with the Celtic knotwork - carefully planning out a design...

0 Comments

Celtic Ash Tree Art, Myth & Folklore

11/2/2021

0 Comments

Celtic ash tree art prints & products, Celtic tree calendar version, plus ash tree myth and folklore...

Celtic ash tree art

Celtic ash art (standard version)

Ash is one of our mightiest trees...

A huge physical specimen when mature...

But also a tree with some of the most impressive myth, meaning and folklore around it.

So let’s explore!

And get to know one of our native British trees a little better…

Celtic tree calendar art - ash - 18 February to 17 March

Celtic ash art (tree calendar version)

Ash

Celtic Tree Calendar: 18 February to 17 March

Latin name: Fraxinus
Irish/Gaelic name: Nuin
Common names: esh, eshen tree, hoop ash, skedge, Hampshire weed – names for ash fruit ‘keys’: wings, ash candles, boots-and-shoes, cats-and-keys, cat’s keys, cattikeyns, chat, esh-keys, pattikeys.
Language of Flowers meaning: grandeur
Qualities: balance, stability, strength, protection, connection, vitality, fertility, justice, wisdom, connection
Associations: World Tree, Yggdrassil, Odin, Woden, Norns, Nemesis, Andrasteia, Andraste, Achilles, spear, lightning, rain, thunderstorms, Thor, Yule log, shew-ash, husbandry

0 Comments

Celtic Daisy & Painted Lady Butterfly Art

5/2/2021

0 Comments

Pretty Daisy and Painted Lady butterfly artwork in a Celtic knotwork style...

Celtic Daisy and Painted Lady artwork by Lotti Brown

Buy Daisy & butterfly prints & products here

We're feeling as fresh and happy as a summer daisy with my pretty Painted Lady butterfly artwork - there's nothing like an innocent daisy to bring us a cheerful smile!

I create my artwork digitally from hand-drawn pieces in pen, marker, and coloured pencil. Here's how I created this piece...

0 Comments

Celtic Peony & Comma Butterfly Art

4/2/2021

0 Comments

Fabulously floral Peony & Comma Butterfly Celtic art by Lotti Brown - art prints & printed products available...

Celtic art 'Peony and Comma Butterfly' by Lotti Brown

Celtic Peony and Comma Butterfly art by Lotti Brown

Buy Peony & Butterfly Prints & Products here

A sense of summer with this blousy pale pink peony and pretty, colourful comma butterfly...

I create my artwork from pen and pencil drawings and then put everything together digitally to create the final piece... here's how it happened...

0 Comments

Celtic Rose and Red Admiral Butterfly Artwork

3/2/2021

0 Comments

Pretty pink rose and red admiral butterfly artwork...

Celtic Pink Rose and Red Admiral Butterfly artwork

Rose & Red Admiral art prints & products

A striking Red Admiral butterfly alights on a pretty pink rose with Celtic knotwork surround...

I create my artwork digitally from my own pen drawings...

0 Comments