Let's talk about Yupo!

Ahhh Yupo!  My new most favourite thing ever! I've gotten a lot of questions since I posted my recent experiments the other day on Instagram, so thought I'd take the opportunity to tell you what I know.

I have heard people talking about Yupo for ages, but really didn't have a clue what they were on about.  UNTIL NOW!  

I happened to find myself in my local art shop last week - you know those days where you 'pop' in to buy one 'essential' thing and walk out with a whole bag (read car-load!) of stuff and no money left in your account!?  Yeah it was one of those days!  

Now generally, paint is my go-to when it comes to unnecessary retail therapy, but I happened to find myself meandering down the art paper aisle.  As I was mulling over the various pros and cons of watercolour versus mixed media paper versus canvas paper, I happened upon...YUPO!

I have never seen it before in art shops here in Dubai, and had vague recollections of people raving about it, so thought I would give it a go.  I love to experiment - so anything that presents a new way of working instantly gets me excited!  In laymans terms, I would describe Yupo as a non-absorbent paper, with a satin-like finish that is the total opposite of watercolour paper.  According to the supplier website (www.yupousa.com) "YUPO is the 100% recyclable, waterproof, tree-free Synthetic Paper with attributes and properties that make it the perfect solution for a variety of marketing, design, packaging and labeling needs."  Because the paper is non-absorbent, wet media (such as watercolours, inks, fluid acrylics etc.) behave completely differently than they would on traditional watercolour paper so you are able to get a variety of really interesting effects.

The pieces shown here are my first attempts at experimenting with this paper.  All I used was watered down fluid acrylics and a spray bottle!  I am going to see how these hold up to more fluid layers once they've dried, and would love to try adding other types of media such as oil pastels, inks and marker pens etc. 

As a side note, I don't know what prices are like in the rest of the world, but art supplies in general are pretty expensive here in Dubai.  This pad (containing 10 sheets) cost AED119. (Yup, there's a reason for the term 'starving artist')! I bought mine from Creative Minds in Dubai - but will be exploring whether other art shops stock it in the next coming weeks. 

I hope I've given you some inspiration to give Yupo a go if you get the chance. 

As always, if you have any questions, comments or suggestions then I'd love to hear from you!  Have you tried using Yupo before?  What are your thoughts? 

Sara xo

 

Aims and Intentions for 2017

Happy New Year!  

I have high hopes for 2017, I don't really know why.  I just have a good feeling about it all.  I feel like it will be a time of great change in both my personal and professional life.  Let's hope it's all good - we could all do with more good in our lives. 

First off, I would like to send out a BIG heartful THANK YOU to all of the wonderful people who have loved and supported me on my life's journey this year.  I honestly couldn't have done it without you.  You picked me up on days when I've felt low, and have been there to celebrate all of my successes.  From the bottom of my heart, thank you!

I am not big on setting resolutions.  For some reason the idea has never appealed to me, and they make you feel like you are 'falling short' if for some reason they are not met.  Which I'm not a huge fan of.  On the other hand I love the idea of setting intentions for the new year, and thought you might be interested in hearing about a few of mine. 

Self Love.  This is a big one for me as I am my own biggest critic.  I would like to be kinder to myself and know that sometimes it's ok to fail.  Not everything has to work out exactly as planned.  At the end of the day it is all part of the learning process. 

Focus.  (Even on the boring stuff!).  I get so caught up in all the fun parts such as experimenting and creating that I sort of let everything else slide.  What I've come to realise is that it is ALL important.. whether it's updating my website, replying to emails or editing photos, I need to stop procrastinating and get it done.

Connecting.  I would like to make more connections in the art world.  I feel like I am finally reaching a place where I am creating work that I am proud of and I would love for it to be seen by a wider audience.  This is really hard for me though - I am quite happy to shut myself away to create the work, but I am not so great at putting myself out there and 'selling' myself.  I think that this will be something that I will have to work on throughout my life, but you have to start somewhere.  Even if it is just with baby steps.

I have a lot to work on, but I'm hoping that the journey will be a fun one.  Here's to the new year and to new beginnings.  My wish is that it is filled with huge amounts of love, laughter, health, and happiness! 

Sara xo​

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!