Creating my art and spending quiet time in nature is very important to me. It’s one of the ways in which I’m able to take time and space to process my thoughts and feelings so that I can come back to what I call ‘my true self’, that inner authentic self.

For me, time in nature is time spent away from the expectations of society. There seems something weighty about the expectations and teachings of society that sometimes does not quite seem to be always for my higher good.

It feels vital that I should be able to take some quiet time to just ‘be’ in the natural world so that I can work out which are the ideas and thoughts coming from my own ‘true self’ and which are the ones that I have learned by rote from society.

I love living in the countryside. I think green and natural spaces are essential to mankind, and our need for them shouldn’t be down-played or side-lined…

People living close to green spaces, or having regular access to them, show increased happiness, and better mental and physical health – quite startlingly so in fact!

And I think with the 2020-21 lockdowns, we've all become suddenly far more aware of our need for time in nature and that this should be a right for all, as it's a basic need for us as people...

People are meant to live in nature. Did you know we can see significantly more shades of green than any other colour? This is because, evolutionarily, we needed to be able to identify leaves and plants, for our survival – so we are physically evolved to live in nature.

In this drawing lesson, we’ll start to explore how the marks you make on your page when drawing will create the texture and form of your subject.

This is important as it helps you to show something about the qualities of what you’re drawing – to describe the details and also the texture and the form itself.
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In this lesson:

• we’ll first take a look at why the marks we make as we draw are so important
• we’ll look at how to use the direction of our marks to give information about the form of what we’re drawing
• we’ll look at drawing close up details
• we’ll look at drawing textures
• we’ll put it all together in a still-life drawing practice

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

Learn pencil drawing techniques and ideas to improve your drawing skills…

The graphite pencil is our basic drawing tool, so it’s well worth learning how to draw well with pencil.
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Whether you prefer to just draw with pencil for sketches and rough outlines, or if you love to create your finished artwork completely in pencil, there are different pencil drawing techniques that can help you.
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How to use being mindful in nature to collect meaningful and personal inspiration for your expressive art drawings…

Nature lover gift ideas for friends and family who love nature, plants, trees, flowers, wildlife and birds.

Give the gift of nature and inspire a love of our natural world with these pretty and colourful nature lover goodies...
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Ideal Christmas decor or a Christmas stocking-filler gift...

Beautiful ceramic ornamental hangings for tree, wall, doors, and more - makes an excellent stocking filler or gift for a friend...

• printed both sides
• comes with a red ribbon
• optional gift pouch available

Browse more products with these designs...