I know, Halloween starts sooner, and is getting more and more of a ‘thing’ each year, but when you’ve got little ones around it’s all good fun. We’ve started early with some Halloween nonsense like decorating the satsumas in the fruit bowl with spooky faces!
Got some self adhesive felt and some unsuspecting citrus fruit? Well, what are you waiting for!
I have been doing some sensible work too. My computer desk is shared with my sketchbooks and collage papers at the moment. I’m finding this is a great way to get things done: I stick bits and bobs into my sketchbook page using acrylic gel medium, while it dries I work on the website, then do more in my book.
Going back and forth between the two tasks makes best use of my time and what better reward for working on the computer than some time in the sketchbook?
I’m working in three books at once so when one has wet pages, I can switch to the next and so on.
If your sketchbook is a bit neglected of late, why not sort out a basic art kit and set up somewhere you’ll find you can work for short bursts of time? It might be in the kitchen while the dinner is cooking, or in front of the TV in the evening, maybe even in the car while you wait for the children to come out of school! Using this ‘lost’ time for creating will really help you be more productive and it’s so satisfying to do something fun and useful don’t you agree?
My art kit at the moment is really simple. I’m using a matt gel as my adhesive. The one I have at the moment is by Liquitex. Love the matt finish of this. When I’m glueing down photos, which have a gloss finish, or magazine snippets, I paint right over the top with more gel and this coats everything with a matt finish once dry. This means I can draw and paint over the top with ease which is just what you want when you work with multiple layers like me.
Also in the kit I’ve got some paper scissors for snipping my photos and collage papers, a paintbrush (for applying the gel), and some fine pens in different colours. You can do a lot with just those simple tools and materials.
New Video Workshop – Inktense Traced Print
Drawing is often the best way to start a watercolour, acrylic or mixed media painting, but what if you you feel your drawing skills aren’t strong, or maybe you just want a fast and effective way to get your image down on paper so you can quickly get started with your painting? In this workshop Linda will demonstrate her technique for creating that drawing which will be the perfect foundation for your painting.
Ways to watch:
If you have a DesignMatters TV Membership you’ll find this workshop is automatically available to you, just click on the link above.
If you don’t have a Membership, you can purchase this workshop as a one-off for £1.50. You might like to use Classroom Credits to do this.
New Classrooms
We’ve added two new Classrooms to the website this week…
Inspired By…
“Where do you get your inspiration from?”. That’s the number one question we are always asked whenever we teach or give a lecture. And the answer? Well inspiration can be found all around you! We all have themes and ideas that appeal to us, and that we return to time and again. For us inspiration can be found in the landscape, nature, art and music, but what fires you? Maybe it’s architecture, plants, historical costume…
In this classroom we’ll talk about not only the places you can look for inspiration, but equally importantly, what to do with it when you find it.
Projects
Whether you’re a a beginner looking to try your hand at a certain technique, or a seasoned maker searching for fresh ideas, we hope you’ll find lots to inspire here in our Projects classroom.
There is nothing nicer than making something by hand, either to keep for yourself or to give as a special gift. We have a selection of project workshops for you to enjoy ranging from making decorative items for your home, to wearables. Some are quick makes, some will take more time, whichever you choose, what better than the satisfaction of being able to say, “I made that!”.
Thank you for reading our newsletter this week. We’ll be back again soon with more.
Love Linda and Laura xx