Finding your way by breaking the rules

I’ve added a few new materials and tools to my plein air sketching and painting kit this year, and I’ve been taking them outside with me through the winter - learning how to use them outside.

With lots of painting trips planned for this year ahead, I wanted to spend some time preparing and adjusting my outdoor painting set up, to make it easier and more lightweight in preparation of spring fast arriving - so I can make the process of painting outside as frictionless as possible, and get painting as often as I can!

I will of course share with you what I have added to my kit, but more than that, I’ve made this latest video to chat about the process of getting comfortable with new materials: because new supplies can really change how you create, or what you create, and things can feel a bit awkward or unfamiliar in that process.

So naturally to be able to do this properly, I’ve filmed me using them for the very first time ever, and the first time outdoors too - and I’ve chosen to film this somewhat humbling process of using a new media in public, to take you along with me. This deffo isn’t a video about mastering a new supply on the first try!

I basically wanted to make this video to encourage you to push past that awkward phase, to let you know it’s totally normal, and ok for your work to look a little different, or not ‘yours’ as you get to grips and experiment. And to have fun in that process too of course :)

My new art materials are:

• Derwent Inktense (palette #02)

• Caran D’ache Studio Gouache

If you have any suggestions of ways you love to use these materials, please let me know in a comment! I’m just getting to grips with them too, and have already been learning a lot since filming this video back in February.

I’ve travelled to & through some incredibly beautiful fishing villages in this latest vlog, so definitely recommend grabbing a cuppa (and maybe your sketchbook & new materials too?!)… However, if you’re short on time, here are my main takeaways summarised for you here:

The main takeaways I’ve been learning so far as I discover in this video & painting adventure are;

• Don’t go cold turkey…
  and just use the new supplies on their own. Especially if you’re a mixed media enthusiast, and the joy comes from experimenting! You might find it easier like me to add the newbies in alongside the things you already know & love.

• New brush shapes and sizes…
  I got very lured in with the new, clean, super smooth, TINY paintbrushes that came with my new paint palettes, and quickly felt at sea. Turns out, my huge, scratchy, half broken brushes are essential for me to make work that feels like mine, and having both new brush and new material was a little too much at once!

• The most important reminder…
  for me was in just how important it is to play with the materials and break the rules. There’s no correct way to use a material (I believe anyway). So mixing, layering, scratching, experimenting with them and the combos that ‘shouldn’t’ be combined or layered in certain orders might just be your ticket to finding what feels like you. That texture, colour combo, process, whatever it is. I made a magical discovery by doing things the wrong way in this video, and I am so so happy I did!

You can watch the latest art adventure right here:

As always, I hope you are well, and happy sketching & painting 🌱

Best,

Orla