Whimsical art: Let your imagination run riot

Rainbow colored animals, bright happy colors, make believe world, fairies and mermaids, gnomes and elves, monsters and angels – that in a nutshell is whimsical art. Most whimsical artists produce light, airy, happy pieces of art that are meant to fill the viewer up with joy.

But it isn’t all glitter and fairy dust in whimsical land. There are also dark, brooding monsters and sinister characters – like the Corpse Bride and Tim Burton’s more gothic whimsical style.

Whimsical artists play firmly in the field of imagination – flowers with a human face, unicorns, phoenix girls, centaurs – it’s all about the quirky. Continue reading→

Release your fear: create art with wild abandon

release fear comparison create wild abandon

Fear of paint, of art, of creativity is something I’ve come across over and over again. People constantly say they can’t paint, or they can’t draw. But I say that everyone can paint. Yes, everyone.

Think back to your childhood – chances are that painting and drawing were your favorite pastimes. But as you grew older, you suddenly started thinking that you cannot paint.

Why?Continue reading→

Just print: Printmaking made easy

Printmaking is a beautiful, though complex art. You have to first design your print, then etch or engrave it on metal plates; or use blocks of wood to create woodcuts and wood engravings; or linoleum to create linocuts. These are then inked and printed onto paper or fabrics. There’s also the screenprinting process, where screens made of silk fabric are used to create a print.

All of these methods produce some beautiful works of art, and the results of each vary slightly. While we cannot recreate these exactly, there are a number of ways in which we can create stunning prints much more easily. These prints can be standalone works of art, used as a foundation on which we can build up a larger piece, or a part of our original library of printed papers that we use as collage elements in our art practice.Continue reading→

Harness the power of water: 5 fun painting techniques

Over the last few days, we’ve talked about brushes and collage, creating abstract art and examining art deco patterns to gain some inspiration for our art journal pages. Today, let’s look at some fun ways to add paint to paper.

5 fun painting techniques

Drips: This is one of my favorite things to do. Use some watered down acrylics or acrylic ink, stand the journal upright, and watch the paint drip down the page. Take a look at the super short video below to see this technique in action.Continue reading→

#PocketFullOfArt: A daily art challenge with a twist

Challenges seem to have become a thing around here – after the Mindful Break and Kindle Thy Spark, this is my most ambitious yet – a daily art challenge! But first:

Why a daily art challenge?

Because my one small regret from last year is that I did not make enough time for art, especially in the second half of the year. Moving to a self-hosted blog and all the tiny little tweaks I had to make to it ate up a lot of my time and attention. Setting up an online Tarot reading business took up another chunk of energy. And then there was all the time I spent dreaming about blogging and fun new ideas – like the two Instagram challenges mentioned above. No wonder that my art table felt a bit neglected! Continue reading→

On my art table: Soulful surrender

On my art table soulful surrender art journal spread art journal artist art journaling india

There’s a current of magic that flows through our life.

I’m not talking about the Harry Potter kind of magic. I’m talking about the magic that shows up in our life – through synchronicity. Which is simply being in the right place at the right time, meeting the right people at the right time, hearing a message or a piece of music at the right time.

It’s not necessarily earth shattering magic.

Continue reading→

Beat stress with art: intuitive painting

When I wrote about adult coloring books last month, it generated a lot of interesting comments and discussions. Chief among them was the argument that coloring is a fun, easy and quick way to beat the stress.

My argument is that the best way to beat the stress is with art.

Well, what if I told you that over a period of about a month, maybe even less, you could have a painted canvas ready to hang on your wall? You need no prior art background, you don’t really need to know how to draw, and all it will take is 5-10 minutes a day. The set-up and clean up is also super easy and very quick.

Painting this canvas will also help you to be mindful, it will help you to beat the stress while creating a piece of original art, and maybe even help you to experience a bit of art therapy.

Sounds interesting?Continue reading→

The Red Thread

Chinese-legend-myth-of-red-thread There’s something magical that I’ve been noticing in my life recently. It his to do with art. With learning, teaching, and living an artistic life.

When I started down this path, I was quite a babe in the woods – clueless about where I was going, what I was doing, and why I was doing it. All I recognized was a calling… a yearning to create – to pick paints and paper, glue and pictures, with no idea of what to do with them, how to mold them into something that was pleasing to the eye.

I stumbled upon a few teachers – wonderful people who shared their art, tips, and techniques online for free on YouTube. I picked up a few tips here, an idea for a technique there. But very often, these free videos were disappointing. They were either timelapsed and so fast that I had no idea what or how the person was doing what they were doing. Often, they were product demonstrations – and said products were not necessarily available in India. But I persevered.Continue reading→

Adult coloring books and the creativity myth

“I love coloring! The other day, when my niece was over, I started coloring along with her in her coloring book, and I really enjoyed it. I think I’m going to order some adult coloring books soon,” declared a friend recently.

“Adult coloring book? Really?” I asked, somewhat aghast. “Why don’t you try painting instead? Keep it abstract if you like. I can teach you the basics and you’re good to go!”

“No darling, I’m not good at all that.”

There is so much more to creativity than adult coloring books. Explore art journaling with me.

And this, right here, is why I believe adult coloring books have become such a huge fad.

Continue reading→

On my art table: A flock of birds

Intuitive-painting-Flock-of-birds

Every evening when I return home from work, I’m greeted by the chirping of birds as they congregate in the tree outside my window. While the husband calls it a cacophony, I think of it as a council. What must they be discussing, I wonder?

The state of the weather? The shrinking green cover? The paucity of food? Or maybe they’re discussing the changing weather patterns, or the latest thermal waves they rode. Perhaps they’re trading the gossip of the day, or having a friendly spat?

Continue reading→