The Metamorphosis of a Painting.

​             Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.” ~Vincent Van Gogh

Hello and welcome back!  I can't believe it's September already!  (Seriously, where did the summer go!?!)

I have been working really hard, and thought it might be interesting to show you how I take a painting from its early stages to what I consider to be finished.  This is sort of a journey into my mind, and all the madness that goes through it while I work!  I've tried my hardest to break up the process into logical steps so that it makes some sort of sense - this is of course a condensed version, but I hope it gives you an idea of how I work and possibly some inspiration to try things that may be new for you.

1. Setting intention

Plain white canvas ahhhhh!  I've spoken previously about how scary this can be.  Good scary (because of the countless opportunities it presents!!) but scary nonetheless!   I've described how I like to cover the canvas in one flat colour or coloured ground, but lately I've been trying something new.  I love the idea of not only sending a piece of myself out into the world but setting the tone or intention of a painting.  I feel that the world could do with as much love and peace that we can put out there, so I write these words onto the canvas before I start (I do this in pencil, marker or even paint, whatever is on hand).  These words will eventually get totally covered up, but I like the idea of almost infusing the canvas with these sentiments (words have power!).

2. Covering the canvas with colour

​The next stage for me is all about covering the canvas with colour. I find big empty white spaces sort of daunting so this is all about me letting go and playing with paint (besides white can always be added later!). There is no rule about what colours I start with, I've just broken the colour groups up here in the next few photos so that you can see things more clearly. This is a great opportunity for me to experiment with colours that I wouldn't normally choose and to really loosen up.​

3. Introducing more colour

These stages are not pretty, and they're not meant to be really. It's all about activating the canvas with colour and energy. I get to play with paint and be reminded about why I love it so much. This part of the process might not be the most aesthetically pleasing, BUT they are the most fun! I am an intuitive painter, which means that I have no plan about where a painting is going to go in terms of colour or subject matter. I let the paint and the experience lead me where it will. It is truly liberating!​

As you can see from pictures 2 and 3 this is where I experiment with all my different tools, trying out different marks (I love using my fingers, and paint a lot with my hands!). I also flip the canvas around multiple times to give me a completely different perspective on what's happening.​

On the subject of tools - bubble wrap is literally the greatest thing ever! (You can see I've used different sizes of it here in picture 4.).​

4. Quitening down the painting, and incorporating a colour theme

At this stage my aim is to quieten down some of the noise, and commit to more of a colour theme. Teal and turquoise are some of my most favourite colours and so inevitably played a big part in this piece.

Again I had no plan, even at this point. I suppose on some level I was covering up areas that perhaps weren't doing it for me as much, and thereby leaving the areas that were working for me to shine through. I also added white back in to really provide a contrast to some of the louder colours.

5. Trying out shapes or visual focal points

​Here in picture 5 you can see I've covered up a lot of the canvas with those teals. It's a bit difficult to see in pictures, but none of those underlying layers are 'lost'. If anything, I believe they add so much depth and texture to the layers that are added ontop.

6. More tweaking

This is a pretty good example of the fact that I am still constantly incorporating more layers - drip marks are also one of my favourite things to add (way up there with bubble-wrap!), I love how they are so fluid and to me they bring a sort of cohesion to a piece that can't always be achieved simply by painting.

If you've been following me on Instagram or Facebook you'll know that I've been going through something of a circle phase! And here you can see I'm playing around with adding them into my piece.

​In picture 6 I'm really beginning to feel like the painting is coming together. Again, I'm still layering, and I've changed the colour of the circles, but the piece overall is beginning to make more sense to me.

Tip: this is also a great stage to really darken your darks and lighten your lights. Contrast is always good.

You can see here that I've covered over some of those jumpy lines. They were annoying me because they weren't as straight as I would have liked (I do everything freehand and in the moment, so things don't always turn out percect!).

7. Final stages - everything is better with a bit of gold

And here is the final painting! If you look at the previous picture you'll see that although things were coming together, there just needed a pop of something new to really finish it off. Gold always manages to do this for me! (When in doubt, add gold! Seriously!). In this case it adds a whole new layer but also very subtley moves your eyes around the canvas (so they don't get stuck in any one place). The gold I've added is minimal in terms of the scale of the piece, but to me it's just what this canvas needed. I have also toned down the teals/turquoises with purples, which I feel creates a unity or cohesion within the piece.​

8. A closer look at texture

​I've added these last couple of pictures (8&9) to show you some close-ups of the piece that I have been walking you through.

I've just posted this picture (8) on Instagram because although it has no obvious visual elements I love the textures that are coming through as a result of all the layers. I have a slight obsession with rust (and all the colours and textures that it can create) and I really feel like you can get a sense of this here. I always find it amazing how the things that inspire us subliminally make their way into our work!

9. A closer look at some of the detail

Picture 9 is another close-up where you can really get a sense of the mutliple layers that make up this painting. There's etching, brushmarks, drip-marks and bubble-wrap coming through in varying degrees. With of course the gold shining on top. But there are still parts (like the area within the circle) that are still coming through from some of the original layers.

Below (picture 10) is a look at the painting in situ. It's sometimes difficult to imagine how a piece might look actually displayed on a wall. (The 'Shoot & Sell' app is great for that.)

This piece is a large (48" x 48" my largest piece to date!) canvas which I've decided to name Metamorphosis because I feel it truly demonstrates the dynamic journey that I am on as an artist.

I hope you've enjoyed reading this post and finding out a little bit about how I work. I am very much still on my 'journey' as an artist and I'm sure that my way of working will also evolve with me as I grow and learn new things. Thank you for being a part of this adventure!

As always questions, comments and suggestions are always welcome.

Sara xo

10. The final piece in situ (using the Shoot & Sell app)

How the iPad Pro + Apple Pencil + Procreate App changed my life!

I cannot speak highly enough about the iPad Pro, Apple Pencil and Procreate App - so thought they deserved a post all of their own!  Just to note: I won't be going into any technical aspects as all that information can already be found on the Internet.  I just mainly wanted to talk about these things from an artists perspective.

First lets start with the iPad Pro.  I've owned iPad's over the years, but if I'm totally honest they just didn't do it for me.  I could do everything I needed to do on my iPhone or iMac and so the previous generations of iPad's just didn't rock my world!  UNTIL the iPad Pro!!!  I needed something that was bigger and therefore easier to use than my iPhone (I almost never wear my glasses so size was a necessity) but smaller and more portable than my iMac.  The iPad Pro completely fits the bill for me.  I can check Facebook, Google, and Instagram, watch movies, listen to music, edit photos as well as write blog posts and update my website.  It basically does everything I need whether I am at home or running around town.

Procreate App icon

And then we come to the Apple Pencil.  I didn't initially buy this when I first bought the iPad.  I confess that I was one of those purist snobs that believed nothing could replicate the feeling of a real pencil gliding across a piece of blank white paper.  That digital art was a whole other 'thing' that had nothing to do with me because I am an 'artist'!  Hah!  How wrong I was!  I think it's important to mention at this point that using the Apple pencil feels nothing like a real pencil on paper (and does take a while to get used to), BUT once you get over that, WOW!

Procreate: I just can't possibly express how much I love this app!  I know I'm not even using it to half of its capabilities but it has literally changed the way that I work.  (When I think of all the moutains of paper that I have ended up wasting over the years...but no more!)  From what I can remember the app costs about 20AED from the app store (roughly $6 or £4) which is an absolute steal!  I would quite happily pay a LOT more for this app!

Just a small fraction of the brushes available for use on the app

Digital art is a whole other form of art of which I confess to know very little.  I use the app mainly to sketch.  With the app I can play around with colours, brushes and textures without making any mess!  And (the greatest thing EVER!) if I don't like something I've done I just hit delete!  Gone are the days when I had to rub out something and re-draw it a million times!  I can also blur and blend, zoom in and out to work on specific areas, as well as copy/cut sections, move them around, flip them over or change their size.  

Once you've finished a piece you can then export the file in a variety of different formats (jpeg, psd, pro, pdf etc.) depending on whether you want to print it out or save to your camera roll.  Another AMAZING feature is called 'instant replay'.  The app basically records every single one of your brushstrokes and can then play this back to you sort of like a timelapse video.  I adore this feature, and find it so interesting to see how a piece has evolved from start to finish.

With Procreate  you can also work with 'layers'.  This was a completely new concept for me, and one that I am still very much a beginner at.  But when used correctly it is amazing!  Try to imagine your piece of work like an onion, made up of lots of different layers.  So, for example, your intial sketch or outline might be on layer one, the background might be on another layer, and the colour might have a layer of its own.  (This is a VERY simplified description, you can in reality use hundreds of layers!)  By working in this way you can make bold moves, or experiment with different ideas without compromising the work on other layers.  This is so liberating, and unlike less-forgiving mediums like ink, crayons and even certain paints you can get rid of things that aren't working without losing the areas that are.

My Apple Pencil and modified glove

I have made some small adaptations to the way that I work on my iPad.  (These are purely personal, and have been done just to make the experience more comfortable).  You may have noticed that my Apple Pencil looks a bit different to how it comes in the box.  This is just a decal/sticker that I bought online.  I also added a 'grip' to my pencil.  You can go out and buy a fancy one, but I literally just pulled one off an old ballpoint pen.  I also don't like the feeling of the side of my palm pressing on the screen as I draw, and feel that my hand doesn't move around as easily.  So I modified a cotton glove by cutting off the tips of the fingers you use to hold a pencil.

The ease of using these devices has not only changed my life, but also the way that I travel.  I used to take sketchbooks and pencils, and erasers and sharpeners etc. etc. etc. with me just in case inspiration struck!  But not anymore.  The iPad Pro + Apple Pencil + Procreate app are literally ALL that I need. 

I hope you've enjoyed reading about my experiences.  Please know that I am by NO means an expert; I am just happy to share a little more information on some of the things that I love, and the way that I like to work.  As always, if you have any comments, questions or suggestions please feel free to get in touch.

Sara xo

*Below are some drawings I've done using all the tools mentioned in this post 

Inspiration! Where I get it, and what I do when it's lost!

What is inspiration?  According to the Cambridge Dictionary it's: "someone or something that gives you ideas for doing something". 

What inspires you?  Artists get asked this question A LOT!  And for me personally I find it so hard to answer.  Mainly because I don't get inspired by any one particular thing, there are literally hundreds of things that I may be exposed to during a day that may fan the flames of my inspiration (wow, that was a bit poetic!). For example: beautiful art, music, flowers, sunsets, sunrises, the countryside, black and white photography, people, animals, light, shadows, moutains, music, great pieces of illustration, books, traveling to new places, galleries, museums, poetry, did I mention music?  As you can see the list is vast, and this only refers to the things I can actually remember at the time of writing this.   

Personally, if I had to narrow it down to one thing, travel is probably what inspires me the most.  For me, there is nothing more inspiring than being exposed to different countries, food, culture, music weather, history and scenery.  BUT, not all of us get to travel as much as we would like; which is why Google is my best friend!  I keep different folders of images on my ipad of everything from animals, to sunsets, to flowers, to colour combinations that I like.  (Pinterest is also really good for this). I also collect books; these are not all art-related, but can be anything that has imagery that I find beautiful.  Whenever I'm feeling a bit stuck creatively, or want to explore something new I just have a browse and see what leaps out at me.

One of my iPad albums

​I do have to put in a word of caution at this point: use other peoples work and things you find on the internet as just that - inspiration.  To get your creative juices flowing.  To get excited about showing up and to perhaps be spurred on to try something new.  But at the end of the day you need to create YOUR best work.  Not that of someone elses.  It's a fine line.

What to paint?  This is also a tricky question.  A lot of artists love to paint/draw a particular thing such as horses, flowers or seascapes for example.  The problem with me is that I get bored really quickly.  I need the challenge of mixing things up, using different colours and experimenting with different lines and shapes.  Which is why I love abstract art.  Each piece can be as similar/different to my last piece of work as I want it to be.  It really depends on my mood and what inspires me on any particular day.

Music, music, music!  I cannot express how important this is to me!  I sometimes listen to audiobooks while I'm working (currently making my way through the Harry Potter series!) but generally my go-to is music.  Somehow it allows me to quieten my mind, stop over-thinking and just go with the flow.  My favourite music to listen to is actually Andrea Bocelli (I can't believe I shared that!).  Honestly, I love him.  I think it actually works for me because I haven't a clue what he's singing about half of the time, so I can just allow myself to get swept up in the music!

What do I do when I'm uninspired?  Sometimes you have to listen to your body, and perhaps acknowledge that maybe you need to take some time out.  People don't often realise how mentally draining making art is, and for me it's especially difficult to learn how to switch off and to stop thinking about what I want to do next, or whether what I'm working on would look better with a bit more pink! (The struggle is real when it comes to pink!!!)  When I'm uninspired I try to focus on something completely different artistically.  For example, draw if you always paint.  Try a different medium.  Take an art class in something you have never tried before.  Do whatever it takes to shake things up and get excited again.

At the end of the day sometimes you just have to get up, show up and give it your best.  And if things don't work out then you try again tomorrow!  I know this is easier said than done, and as artists we tend to be our own worst critics, but honestly sometimes we tend to take things too seriously.  What is the worst that can happen?  That we make bad art?  Acknowledge why you don't like it, then move on and start again tomorrow.

If you're still reading, thanks for sticking with me!  This post turned out to be a lot longer than I expected (I didn't realise there was so much to say!).  As always, comments, suggestions and feedback are always welcome!

Reading suggestions:

- Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear (Elizabeth Gilbert) - still reading this whenever I get a free moment.  Great inspiration for anyone living or wanting to live a creative life.

- Steal Like An Artist (Austin Kleon) - a witty and inspirational read for any creative.  Really puts things into perspective.

- Brave Intuitive Painting (Flora Bowley) - haven't read this yet but the pictures are beautiful.

- Painting In Acrylics: The Indispensable Guide (Lorena Kloosterboer) - this is a must-read for anyone thinking of going into acrylics.  Loads of information in an easy-to-use format.  I have been using acrylics for over 15 years and was still able to pick up something new.

- Colour Mixing Bible (Ian Sidaway) - an art-room staple.  I'm generally pretty good at mixing colours - I can 'see' what shades, tones and hues are needed to get a specific colour but I know a lot of people are especially daunted by this.  The Colour Mixing Bible takes away all of the guesswork and provides all the 'recipes' you will need for a variety of different paint mediums (oils, acrylics, gouache, watercolour etc.)

My process - from start to finish

How do I start a new piece?  I'm sure different artists have completely different ways of going about this but for me the process begins with prepping my canvas with at least a couple of coats of gesso.  Depending on size I try to do a couple at a time, that way I always have a canvas ready to go when I need it.  It is time consuming, but I much prefer how the gesso makes the surface not only brighter but also smoother to paint on.  The next step for me is applying a coloured ground - this means covering the canvas in one flat, overall colour.  I choose the ground based on what I am going to paint or the colours I am going to be using.  It can tie-in with the overall colour palette, or be a contrasting colour to add depth to the paints layered ontop.  For me, there is nothing scarier than a blank white canvas! Honestly, I find it really intimidating and it usually takes me ages to get started.  I have found that adding a coloured ground REALLY helps with this!

Layer 1: Coloured ground - not a scary white canvas anymore! 

Next, I paint and paint, and then paint some more!  This is the part that I enjoy the most because you really never know where you're going to end up.  I can get into a zone and paint like a crazy woman and finish a piece in a couple of days, OR I can spend weeks coming back and changing things until I am satisfied.  There is no set rule to how I work.  One thing that has really helped my process is to work on at least a couple of pieces at a time.  I had heard other artists suggest this and was a bit wary because I thought I would be spreading myself too thin etc.  But it does just the opposite.  If you get bored or uninspired or things are just not working with a certain piece, you just set it aside and work on the other one.  This gives you time to mix things up and come back to things with fresh eyes.  I highly recommend giving this a go.  It's changed the way I work, and I've been producing more than I ever was before!

Layer 2

Progress shots!  I cannot stress how important this part is to my overall process.  I take a photo of each piece once I am done working for the day.  That way I not only have a record of how the painting has progressed (which is always really interesting to see!) but it also in some ways seems to highlight areas that need further work.  I don't know how or why, but seeing the piece in its entirety in a smaller format (on my phone or ipad) seems to make me notice things that I wouldn't normally 'see' when I'm in front of the canvas itself.  It helps the most with looking at the overall layout of colour on the painting as well as the composition.

How do I know a piece is finished?  This is such a good question, and one that artists get asked all the time!  Generally it's a gut feeling.  I know that doesn't help much, but for me it really does come down to intuition.  You are constantly asking yourself questions while you paint like "what about if I did this here" or "what if I added this colour there".  I think a sense of completion comes about when that internal dialogue stops and you're more satisifed with keeping the majority of elements rather than adding to or changing them.  When I think I'm 'done' with a painting I leave it alone and live with it for a while.  I put it up somewhere where I can see it and just observe it while I am going about other things or working on a new piece.  I generally don't add to a piece once I think it's done, but I like this part of the process because it allows me to enjoy the painting and to highlight the areas that I love about it so that I can incorporate them into future work.

Evolution: the start and the finish

The absolute final stages of a painting are the adding of my signature and then coating it in a layer of varnish.  I cannot express how much I love varnish!  Literally!  I have a slight obsession!  It just seems to bring the piece together in some way and make it look more finished.  It also REALLY seems to make the colours more vibrant.  If you thought they looked good before, they look even better after they've been varnished!  Seriously, if you haven't tried this you need to!  (*On a side-note: It's really difficult to take good pictures after you've added the varnish.  So if you need photos for your website etc. remember to take them before this step!)

And that's my process from start to finish!  I hope you've enjoyed reading about how I work - if you have any comments or questions or even different ways of doing things, I'd love to hear them!