Art journal tutorial: Whimsical mixed media portrait

Join me in my art studio as I show you how to create a beautiful, whimsical portrait in your art journal – perfect for beginners and more experienced artists too!

Art journal tutorial for beginners whimsical mixed media portrait

There are days when you long for some gentleness. For softness and sweetness. For innocence and a certain je ne sais quoi.

On one such day, I pulled out my one-page shopping bag art journal, and decided to paint a sweet little flower girl.

Some of the collage paper on the page inspired the idea for the flowers in her hair, but there’s no reason why you couldn’t create something like this in any art journal.

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Art journal with me: Intuitive figurative mixed media journal page

Grab your art journal, pull out some of your favourite paints, and come join me as I show you how to create an intuitive figurative mixed media art journal page!

I started this page with some burnt umber acrylic paint, because the husband mixed up a much larger batch for his project, and you can’t let good paint go to waste, right?

I started the page without any ideas or agenda. In fact, this is the first time that I really used raw umber, and I have to say that I love it much more than raw sienna.

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Using gestural drawing techniques to draw faces

I’ve recently been doing quick gestural drawings of whimsical faces using my non-dominant hand in my sketchbook. They’re an easy way to warm up before your painting session. And drawing with your non-dominant hand gives these portraits a raw, expressive feeling that’s almost impossible to mimic when you use your dominant hand.

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How to create a regular art – or creative – practice

In this episode, I talk about why you should consider building a daily art practice. I share some of my previous failures with creating a daily art practice, and how those failures helped me find what works for me. I also share some tips on how you can create a daily art practice that is fun – and inspiring – for you!

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Art journaling techniques: Easily work on two art journal pages at once

Art journaling techniques how to work on two art journal pages at once

While going through my YouTube video library, I realized I have a few art journaling technique videos that I had uploaded some time back but forgot to share – silly me! One of them was this cool experiment I did sometime last year, I think. I created two art journal pages at the same time, using the same color palette, supplies, and techniques, and ended up with two very different finished art journal pages.

I broke the video down into two, so you aren’t sitting here for ages watching me paint in my art journal! Bookmark this page so you can watch a video, take a break, and come back and watch the next. Or binge watch them one after the other!

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How to use tarot in your art and creative practice

I met up with a very dear friend recently, and as we were catching up with all of our news, we got to talking about my passion for art and tarot. And I realized that while in my mind the two are connected, I’ve never actually explained how I use the tarot as part of my creative practice.

One of the ways in which I consistently use the tarot to inform my art and creative practice is in my moon journal. I’ve never really attempted to explain the linkage before, but I’m going to try, and I hope this will give you some insight into how you can also use the tarot in your art and creative practice.Continue reading→

Art journal flip through: 2019

If you’ve followed me for any length of time, you’d know that I’m a moon baby. I tune in to the cycles of the moon to do some journaling and throw down some tarot or oracle cards. I also use the moon phases to create some art. Specifically, I create art on each new and full moon.

This is a practice I started way back in 2015, based on a (then) free ecourse offered by Effy Wild.Continue reading→

Looking back at 2019: Establishing an art practice

Unlike in previous years, where I tried and often failed to stick to a formal art practice {like aiming for a finished piece of art each day or trying for a set number of pieces each year}, this year I decided to let my art practice be organic.

What the past few years taught me is that art – and indeed creativity – is cyclical. There are months when I am much more prolific than others. There are times when I get obsessed with a certain style or a particular art supply. And there are times when I don’t pick up the brush as often, and that’s ok!Continue reading→

Art journal with me: Mixed media florals

How to paint mixed media florals in an art journal

I’ll let you on on a little secret today. I suck at painting flowers. Much as I love them, much as I admire floral paintings, I am just not very good at painting flowers.

And still, that is just what I am sharing today – my attempt at painting fun mixed media florals in my art journal.

I’m using a journal I made out of a shopping bag, so all the pages already have some color and collage on them, just waiting for inspiration to strike. {You can see a snippet of the creation process here.}Continue reading→

Intuitive painting process: Into the storm

Intuitive painting process: into the storm

The thing I enjoy most about intuitive painting is how closely the intuitive painting process starts to mimic life. By remaining present in the moment, trusting my instincts, and not allowing my mind to start dictating what happens next, the push-pull nature of this style of painting starts to reveal numerous life lessons.

I’ve spoken about the influences that informed one of my intuitive paintings in the video below, as I take you through the evolution of this painting from start to finish.Continue reading→