Sparks of inspiration June ’24
Some good things to share in June
Here are some things that inspired me in my creative practice recently.
Hopefully, you’ll find something useful, fun and inspiring for yourself!
Creative ideas and tips
Four ideas to help you make a better painting - Alice Sheridan. Very useful and clear tips on how to push trough the middle phase of creating a piece of art.
Traveling Artist: Painting In North Carolina - Sandi Hester. This year I finally started making art during our trips, so this video was super inspiring and helpful.
Embracing Artistic Exploration Without Needing To Know “The Why” - Laura Horn. As artists we often get caught into the idea of finding our “why”, style or voice, but we also need to give ourselves room for being bold and experimental to evolve and grow.
Colour explorations
Pigment based art materials & Color theory. This is a super handy library of pigments, brands and colour mixes - you can even compare different brands. I am surprised I didn’t find this resource earlier!
Hue, Value, Chroma. The 3 Keys to Colour Mixing - Will Kemp. Colour theory can be intimidating, but I love finding articles devoted to specific aspects of colour theory and colour mixing. Will also provides detailed examples and explanations!
Mixed Media Color Studio - Kellee Wynne Conrad. This is a fun book with mixed media projects and a specific focus on colour and its properties. I find that to truly master colour an artist needs to be exposed to several approaches in order to find their way with it. My go to recommendation on starting with colour theory is always Blue and Yellow Don't Make Green by Michael Wilcox, but because it’s quite a deep dive into the science behind colour, I feel that books like Kellee’s are a good addition. The simple exercises help to practice in a more playful way.
On authenticity in art
Standing for You - Louise Fletcher - The Art2Life Podcast. Louise and Nicholas are both wonderful teachers and artists and they inspire me in so many ways. I enjoyed this conversation about being yourself in your art and life so much! It’s honest, vulnerable and truly inspiring.
Episodes 449-454 of the Creative pep talk podcast by Andy J. Pizza - an absolutely brilliant discussion on authenticity and finding your creative voice. Highly recommend! I listened to all of it in one go!
Art making manifesto - Helen Wells. Helen writes about her art manifesto as a list of guiding principles of her creative life. As she puts it herself - it’s both a set of beliefs and intention that guide her in her practice. I always find it so inspiring to learn about an artist’s vision, creative goals and values.
An artist who inspired me
Right now I am exploring abstracts a lot and work by Nino Yuniardi gives me so much joy. I learned about his art in this episode of the Learn to Paint podcast and now I can’t stop admiring his artwork! I also love how he names his paintings like weird recipes - “Orange marmalade with roasted soy beans” - that’s just brilliant!
I hope you found something to inspire you! Please leave a comment, if something resonated with you! I would love to hear from you!
Thank you for being here and until next time!
Lisa