BLOG
Filter Blog Posts
The Power of Drawing With Your Eyes Closed
Drawing with your eyes closed, also known as blind drawing, is an intriguing art activity that allows you to tap into your intuition and subconscious mind. In this blog post I explain the benefits of drawing with your eyes closed and give some tips for how to get started.
How to draw with Your Non-Dominant Hand
Drawing with your non-dominant hand can be a fun and rewarding experience and helps to enhance your artistic abilities. In this article, I provide step-by-step instructions to help you learn to draw with your non-dominant hand, even if you have no prior art experience.
How do I find inspiration for my drawings?
Are you looking for an easy way to spark your creativity and find creative drawing ideas that are both enjoyable and accessible? Look no further! In this blog post, we will explore a range of techniques and strategies to help you generate a plethora of easy drawing ideas.
How to overcome artist and creative block
Feeling stuck with your creative or artistic pursuits?
Don't despair - artist's block happens to everyone at some point. But there are effective techniques you can use to reinvigorate your imagination and get your creative juices flowing again. Read on for tips and strategies to overcome creative and artist block.
How to Make Scribble Art
Scribble art is an excellent and fun activity for all ages from toddlers, young children through to teenagers and adults. The great thing about it, is that to get started all you really need is a paper and pencil, although there is scope to get much more creative with this activity.
How to Find Time to do Artwork
You have a busy full-time job or a hectic family life or both and alongside all the other daily chores and commitments, there simply isn’t time to do the arts and/or crafts that you’ve got your heart set on.
I have set out some steps to build creativity into your life. I know it works because these are the steps I followed myself and I now have a regular art practice.
A beginners guide to Art Therapy
Art therapy is a technique of creative expression that aims to help people heal and feel better. It allows people to explore their emotions, develop self-awareness, cope with stress, boost self-esteem, and work on social skills, which can develop personal insight and new coping mechanisms.
Your 10 Step Beginners Guide to Lino Printing
In this article I explain what you need to start linocut printing, with a 10 step beginners to create your first lino prints.
Beginners Guide To Lino Print: Choosing Linocut Tools and Materials
Lino printing is a printmaking technique that involves cutting away parts of a block of linoleum with appropriate carving tools to create a design. The carved lino is then inked and transferred onto paper to create a print.
Lino printing requires a few tools and materials to successfully create the artwork and it can be daunting for beginners to understand the differences between brands. In this blog post I take a closer look at different lino printing tools and materials, as well as my own personal preferences, to help with the decision making process.
How to create a reduction lino print
A reduction lino print is a method to create a print with more than one colour where only one lino block is used.
The printmaker carves and prints the first colour, then carves more from the same block before printing the second colour, then carves more from the same block before printing colour three. A reduction print can have as many layers as the printmaker would like.
In this blog post I describe the necessary steps to create a reduction lino print and provide helpful tips to ensure your reduction lino print is a success.
7 tips for selecting original and affordable art for your home
When choosing artwork for your home there is a lot to think about; from choosing the right size art pieces for a particular wall, to getting the position, style and mood right.
Having original pieces in your home doesn’t always require a large budget. In this blog post, I offer some tips for choosing artwork and options to keep costs down, finding great artwork for your home, while supporting artists.
Best Material for Lino Printing - Traditional Lino or SoftCut?
When most people come across lino printing, they start with a traditional lino block, but there are a variety of different surfaces available that you can use for lino printing. Once you start investigating all the different lino surfaces, it can become quite confusing.
In this blog post, I set out the pros and cons of each material to help you decide what you would like to use in your printmaking. I compared Traditional Lino, SoftCut by Essdee, Speedy-Carve by Speedball and Japanese Vinyl.
6 Great Tips to Plan a Home Art Studio or Craft Room
Are you planning to create a new art studio in your home or do you have an existing home art studio or craft room, but feel it could be better organised? In this blog post, I have set out 6 great tips that will help you plan your space and optimise it for creativity.
Mindful Art - Simple Circles
Circles in art are famous for being central to the work of the artist Wassily Kandinsky, but you don’t have to be a professional artist to benefit from creating art using circles. In this blog post I set out how to create simple circles to bring mindful benefits to adults, young people and children alike.
Applying ‘The Beginner's Mindset’ to your artwork
If you have lost enthusiasm for creating artwork or you would like a fresh perspective, applying a Beginner’s Mindset may be just what you need. It is an opportunity to let go of any preconceptions and expectations in order to gain renewed energy and creativity. Below I have set out the idea of the Beginner’s Mindset and ways to apply it to your artwork.
The difference between Open Edition and Limited Edition prints and artwork
If you have started thinking about selling your printed artwork and have heard the terms ‘Open Edition’ and ‘Limited Edition’, but you are not sure what the difference is between the two and which would be best suited to your work, this blog post sets out everything you need to know in order to make an informed decision.
A Review of the Essdee Lino Cutting & Printing Kit
Within this article, I have reviewed my experiences with the Essdee Lino Cutting & Printing Kit. I hope that by sharing my experiences, I can help anyone else planning to try lino printing and to decide if this kit is the right one for them.
