Subtleties of Technique

 I usually do not post so much in a single month but I am fielding lots of questions through email about my specific techniques. I try to share this as much as possible with my students in the online and private sessions but some techniques do take a long time to develop. Pointed pen techniques are relatively easy to share and students find a lot of encouragement as they watch these skills develop rapidly on their page. Offhand flourishing is a wonderful skill to develop. Artistic skills will soar as well as your confidence and fluidity with the pen.  Colours can be added easily with coloured pencils and the flourishes look so lively on your page.

When you go beyond pen flourishes, into pen drawing you start to add to your skills and your techniques expand. Maybe touches of gold leaf gilding are added or watercolours are used instead of coloured pencils. Maybe you start to incorporate little birds or animals into your designs. The pointed pen is still used but you are also developing drawing skills along the way.  One skill leads to another. 

Keeping in mind that there is never a time line for these skills, you may want add more intricate drawings and painting skills to your work. This is where your personality can really be seen in your work and your own subtleties start to develop in your technique. As an instructor, I can guide you and share the technique that work for me but it is through he implementation of these techniques that our pathways start to separate. What works for me, the touch that I bring to the page, the colours that ignite my heart and mind, and the specific tools and supplies I use will differ from your own. Your vision and your energy will bring your designs to fruition on the page. I am currently working on a very special project. As I start to bring the images to life I reach for familiar tools and colours that I know will work. When I start to paint woodland creatures like owls, I know which colours on my palette will work. You can see the areas of browns in the image and brush knows where to reach those colours almost instinctively,

I prefer to use tube paints that dry on my palette and use a wet brush to create skins of paint on a ceramic plate. This moist/dry brush technique creates the subtleties and slow developing layers of paint that I want as I paint my illustrations. This process is labour and time intensive  but the technique  works for me. I also find that I prefer using a brush that is almost ruined for any other purpose. I reach for that well worn brush because I seem to know its mind as I work. 

These  subtleties of technique are what I encourage you to look out for in your own work. What colours on your palette are the most used? What do you do to bring that unique touch to your work? What colour combinations do you seek out? Are there patterns or styles in your culture or background that you want to bring forward into your own work? Look inward a bit as you work on personal projects. See what you can develop. Remember that instructors can share guidance with you but our true calling is to nudge you on to your own path and cheer you on as you make your discoveries. Trust your instincts. Pursue the things that you love and see what emerges on the paper.  It's ok if you fail, that is part of the path. It is expected. The owl often represents wisdom. I want to assure you that there is unique wisdom to be found as you spend time developing your techniques. You are never wasting time! Sending you all encouragement as you work on whatever it is that brings you delight. Hugs all around!