- June - Collage is the new Photoshop

Monthly update from my art studio

Hello friend,

This month of May was already remarkably colourful, lots of purples, blues and yellows. They are complementary colours; it’s funny how nature knows how to put itself in the spotlight :)

This vlog shows you what I was up to in the studio last month:

---

Collage is the new Photoshop

I am continually looking for ways to slow down. A few years ago, the constant looking at flickering screens, the stress of ever-approaching deadlines, caused me to consciously shift and make my work more analogue. I used to add colour to my drawings digitally, creating all the sketches and compositions in Photoshop as well. But doing these things by hand is much more satisfying to me, and the process is a much calmer one. You can move elements around in Photoshop, but you can also cut out your sketches or your drawings and rearrange them on the spot. If something doesn't quite work out with painting, you just stick something on top of it. It makes the process much more fluid and natural for me. It is obviously a slower process, but because sunlight also plays a part, it becomes extra layered, and the artwork is different every time.

---

Trip To France

My family and I went on a trip to the South of France. It’s gorgeous out there! We wandered along the beautiful coloured houses and soaked up the much needed sun. I took my sketchbooks with me, and recorded some nice memories in them. If you’d like to see the sketchbook tour, you can watch it here (for free):

Travel Sketchbook Tour - Trip To The South Of France

I also made a video showing you the painting process of a landscape, you can watch it here:

Timelapse: A Côte D'Azur Landscape in My Sketchbook

---

Want to join us next month for a drawing session?

We have 3 great sessions planned!

✂️🍅🥑 Mini Veggie Collages - Thursday 19th of June at 16:00 (4PM) CEST
Let’s collage together! Nothing too complicated, just an hour of relaxed shape cutting and arranging. We’ll do some yummy vegetables, or you can collage the ingredients of your lunch or dinner if you want :)
SIGN UP HERE

🎨📖🖼️✨ Golden Finishing Hour - Tuesday 24th of June 16:00 (4PM) CEST
An hour where we meet to work in a sketchbook we want to finish (or fill it a little more), or complete/work on a larger piece that is waiting for us. Such a good idea because I have so many artworks I’d like to catch up on!
This session is for all members ❤️
SIGN UP HERE

🌸🦋🌷 Summer Wildflowers - Thursday 26th of June 20:00 (8PM) CEST Join me and

Melanie Chadwick

for a special drawing session! We hosted a wildflower session in March and will now do a Summer themed one together :)
SIGN UP HERE

---

In the Club:

A bouquet from the Cotswolds drawing session in my sketchbook

Artworks by

Meg T. Justice Art and Notes

,

Nanette Martin

,

Mags

,

Charlotte Hamilton

and

Lenore Grubinger

Last month was so much fun, we did a drawing session Drawing the Cotswolds and the Côte D’Azur (with the wonderful

Charlotte Hamilton

), so many beautiful artworks were made!

Want to catch up on videos?

Here’s a selection of posts from our (paid) archive:

• Drawing Spring Flowers Session

• Botanical Explorations

• William Morris Replay

• Camouflage in Nature Replay - Drawing Animals

• 1001 Unfinished Sketchbooks

• How To Make Your Own Art Toolbox

Videos for free members:

• Kraftpaper Clairefontaine Sketchbook Tour

• My Favourite (Botanical) Art Supplies from 2024

• How To Paint Pansies, A Drawing Exercise To Lift Your Spirit

---

---

Create A Nature Palette

This month, I invite you to create your own nature palette. It's a fairly intuitive way of collecting colours (you just collect what you like), and often it produces very colourful palettes with unexpected colour combinations. Look around your garden or your local park, and collect small leaves, petals, and fallen flowers. I collected these with my students in the greenhouses during my botanical drawing classes.

---

This month: Collage!

I’d love to explore collage with you a little bit more, so I’ll record a video showing you how I use collage to create a bird. Which bird would you like me to make? Let me know in the comments!
I’ll also send out a post for paid members with lots of inspiration, how to prep for a collage and we’ll do a collage session together.

Next Month

In July, we’ll dive into colour! If you’d like me to do a video on a specific topic, let me know in the comments!

---

Lovelies

1. The new special edition Neocolors. Although they trick you into buying a tin of 10 colours, and only 3 of them are special edition….they are still yummy. My fav: the Aucuba Green and Light Heliotrope 💚

2. Evening walks with my fam

3. Re-watching TV series while I work. The Big Bang Theory is my all-time fav.

4. Spending less time on social media. It frees up so much time!

---

Thank you for taking a peek into my world! If you enjoyed this, please give it a like or a comment. Enjoy wonderful June and keep an eye out for those pretty purples,