On the day of my birthday my husband had arranged a surprise visit to Danny’s studio in an old textile mill to choose a painting. I always think buying directly from an artist is the best way to buy art if you can – I know that some galleries for example will take most of the sale price in commission, leading to small profits for the artist, and/or inflated prices for the art. I also think it’s much more interesting to know something about the artist who created the work, their working methods, and thought processes. It has to be said though that choosing just one was extremely difficult!

As a fairly new artist, Danny’s original paintings are still relatively affordable, (though I suspect this may not be the case for long and that they may be way out of our price bracket in the not too distant future). However he also produces some prints of his work at a lower price point.

All I have to do is decide where to hang it now….

The video below shows some more of his working practices. It’s all really inspirational, and just makes me want to get the paints out!

Now oil pastels are fairly unfamiliar territory for me. I remember I loved them as a child – their soft oily texture and the richness and depth of their colour meant that I used them again and again, but strangely as an adult I gave up using them and I’m not sure why.

So on receiving these, it was time to break out of my comfort zone and see what I could do with them. Before I could get my hands on them though, my younger son got there first.  So what does a 6 year old do with a new set of oil pastels? Try every colour in the box straight away. He used them in the way most children do, to draw and colour with them like any other crayons. And of course you can use them very like wax crayons, for rubbings for example, or for classic sgraffito work (scratching through the top layer to a different coloured layer beneath), or for resist work with water based paint.

My 6 year old’s first go – trying out all the colours!

His next experiment, combined the oil pastels with the watercolour sprays to create an island scene.

He particularly enjoyed using them with the watercolour spray inks which he loves, while my elder son also seemed to appreciate the bold, rich qualities of the crayons to produce bold graphic drawings.

My elder son used them to create bold colourful drawings.

But as I discovered when I finally got my opportunity to try them out, oil pastels are very much more versatile than wax crayons, capable of being used for a wide range of different styles. I decided to use them to render a seascape from some photographs I took on our last visit to the west of Scotland. The weather was mixed, being early in the year, but the atmospheric effects caused by flurries of snow, sea spray and stray gleams of light from the cloudy sky were quite beautiful, and I thought might suit oil pastel. I started work with the intention of being purely experimental in my approach, rather than being too concerned about the finished result. Always the best way I find, for myself at least.

I decided to use a textured paper intended for use with oil or acrylic paint. The linen look of the paper I thought lent itself well to the pastel, and showed off it’s texture beautifully. I roughed in the background with a few strokes of blue and grey, and then added to it with gray and purple to suggest the distant mountains.

Next, I blended these together with my fingers to soften the effect – the ability to do this with pastels is for me one of the things I most like – it enables you to get directly hands on – personally I always find I do my best work when I can actually use my hands directly, even if it can leave them a bit messy.

After this, I added some dense highlights to the clouds and the water with pieces of white pastel, and blocked in the darker areas of the sand and dunes in the foreground.

I had read that it was possible to use the crayons with white spirit or turpentine, so I dipped a soft brush in white spirit and used that to blend the colours further. I decided that I liked it better if this technique was used sparingly – as I found it made the crayon areas where I used it denser and less delicate, though it was useful for blending large areas quickly, and could always be worked over again to give more texture if necessary.

To add some dynamism to the scene, and give the impression of sleet and spray, and foreground texture, I scratched into the pastel with a knife.

By this point, I had the urge to add some mixed media to the drawing, so I lightly sprayed some watercolour ink around the edges. This was of course resisted by the oil pastel, so it beaded on the surface  giving yet more texture. I also spattered some white acrylic across the scene to represent the flurries of sleet and snow.

Although the finished result is by no means a masterpiece, I learned a lot from the whole process of creating it.  The experience has turned me into a convert to oil pastels once again, and I would like to explore their use with mixed media a little more. However I must admit that I did find it a little challenging using such a very limited range of colours (there were just 12 in the set) but I see that there are larger sets available of up to 96 (drool – see drop dead gorgeous very expensive wooden boxed set below!)

I think they’d be a great portable solution to take travelling especially, because they are compact yet versatile, and would allow you to produce sketches quite quickly, especially using a tinted paper background. (It’s also worth mentioning at this point that ideally finished oil pastel drawings should be protected with fixative spray to prevent the surface from rubbing off).

For children, they are a great way of covering large areas of bright dense colour without using paint, and are therefore potentially a little less messy. You can also get water soluble oil pastels now too, which I haven’t tried, but which I understand you can use with washes of water on top to turn it into paint, in the same way as using turpentine on traditional oil pastels. Water soluble pastels would arguably be more suitable for young children, though of course you would lose the ability to use them for resist work, so I suppose it depends what you want them for.

If you’ve not tried oil pastels, why not give them a go?

Disclosure: this post contains affiliate links.

Coloured elastic bands – an old favourite!

I experimented with the following:

• Buttons
• Coins
• Feathers
• coloured matchsticks
• torn up pieces of tissue paper
• Confetti created from hole punches in different coloured paper
• Postage Stamps.

This one was made with postage stamps and a coloured paper background. I think it’s my favourite!

I think next time I’m going to try using some old family photographs, and experiment with pieces of coloured wool, embroidery threads or string.

This one simply uses colourful buttons.

In order to get the best results, bear the following in mind:

• Make sure you keep the scanner glass clean. This is most important as even a few tiny specks can ruin your finished paper.
• Make sure you scan at 300 dpi for nice sharp printouts – (my scanner always defaults to 72 dpi unless I change it).
• If you want a coloured background for your paper, lay a piece of coloured paper on top of your items to be scanned.
• If necessary (and I found it nearly always is) do a little editing of the scan afterwards – nothing fancy is required, all I had to do was increase the brightness, and occasionally the saturation of the colours to get a good result. Even the most basic image editing software will let you do that easily.

And this one uses coloured matchsticks…

This one uses brightly coloured feathers…

And finally – coloured dots from punching holes in paper.

There’s lots more scanner art to explore on Artful Adventures if you’re interested:

Scanner Art

Halloween Scanner Art

Forest Critters

Botanical Papers Part 1

Botanical Papers Part 2

For this reason I was especially pleased to come across Babyccino Kids – an online shopping portal for top quality children’s boutiques around the world. As a mum of 2 young boys myself, I’m always on the look out for unusual and good quality items both for them, and also as gifts for children of friends and relatives. So many of the larger stores on the high street just offer the same old things which you see everywhere. This can be great for everyday stuff, particularly if you’re on a tight budget, but when you’re looking for something special, something distinctive or unique, then the larger stores will rarely satisfy that need,  geared up as they are mainly for volume selling.

And it seems I’m not the only person who thinks so. Last Christmas I noticed that Babyccino Kids was recommended by the London Times as a great place to do some Christmas shopping. The site also invites you to become a member and gain exclusive access to discounts and promotions as well as the chance to win products and prizes.

The range of exclusive boutiques on there seemed like a good fit for Artful Kids, but the owners of Babyccino kids are pretty fussy in who they select to be a part of their site, so I was particularly pleased to be invited to join, and to be able to add the Babyccino Kids seal of quality to Artful Kids.

So if you’re looking to treat yourself or the kids I recommend that you check out the range of boutiques on there….

The Artful Kids shopfront on Babyccino Kids

Oh, and don’t forget our Creative Spring promotion, which gives you 20% off everything ordered from the Artful Kids website, is now live. Just use the code SPRING at checkout. It’s only available until midnight on the 14th, so don’t miss out!

To create these glitter notecards (they could equally well be bookmarks or gift tags, depending on how you cut them up) I used a stiff black card, which needs to be stiff enough to resist buckling when wet. You can of course use any colour card you wish, and I found that using the same colour glitter as the card base to create a white on white design for example or black on black looked especially stylish. While you could use glitter glue to try and create a similar effect, I found that the density of glitter was much greater using this approach, and that it was easier to create a looser and more fluid design.

PVA glue was used to draw the design, squeezing it directly out of the bottle in loose squiggles and scribbles onto A4 sheets of card resting on silicone release paper (the kind that stickers or sticky labels are mounted on). The silicone release paper is important because it means that you can go right over the edges of the card with the glue, creating a better all over design that is not constricted by the edges. If you don’t use silicone release paper for this, you will find you glue the card to whatever it is resting on, making it difficult to remove without tearing.

Glitter was then sprinkled over the design, and I means LOTS and LOTS of it. In fact a complete small pot was used on each sheet so the glue was completely smothered, before leaving it all to dry. This is not as extravagant as it sounds, because once dry, most of the glitter can be shaken off onto a sheet of paper, and funelled straight back into the pot for use again.

The A4 sheets were then trimmed and cut up into 4 smaller notecards – sharp scissors are needed for this in order to cut effectively through the glue and glitter areas. I also pressed the reverse of the cards with an iron over a cloth, to ensure that they were completely flat, though you may not need to do this if the card is thick enough.

I think these would make a lovely gift idea tied with a ribbon and accompanied by matching envelopes and a metallic pen.

So I am particularly pleased to finally be able to  introduce my very first Artful Kids kit, the Pocket Eco Sketch Kit, which combines a recycled mini sketchbook with a set of 5 fairly traded twig pencil crayons,  all packaged in recycled hand made paper and bound with rustic twine.

Hopefully this will be the first of many since I am currently working on a few more ideas which I hope to be able to get off the ground this year. Watch this space!

It also makes a pretty cool and economical technique for creating art, and one that I thought would also be fun for my youngest to try.  It’s easy and accessible, and can have very effective results. So I tried one out on my own first, then prepared a second canvas for my son, with a little help and some suggestions from him as to what paper we should choose to make up the layers.

As a foundation we re-used some old canvases I had lying around (I knew they’d come in useful some day!) It’s been such a long time since we did any work on canvas, but you could just as easily create them on sheets of stiff card or board. The canvases were prepared by pasting sheets of coloured tissue paper onto the canvas in layers, alternated with sheets of newspaper, magazines and comics, wrapping paper – anything that was quite thin and decorative and which was no longer needed. We used wall-paper paste for this since you don’t need a strong glue, and I let each layer dry before adding the next, as otherwise there was a tendency for the damp paper beneath to rip as you brushed on more paste. It’s a great way to use up some of those old magazines, leaflets and comics, and I think we used about 6 layers on each.

Once we were ready to start, we sprayed the paper covered canvases with water and let it soak in for a minute or two, before beginning to peel bits away with our fingers. I did find that initially I had to discourage my son from removing complete layers of paper like pass the parcel, explaining to him that the idea was to leave patches here and there, and eventually he got the hang of it.

You can further embellish the torn paper composition in any way you like – for example I added a small amount of metal leaf to mine, but you could add paint, or crayon, glitter or anything you want. Once dry I gave the canvases 2 coats of matt UV acrylic varnish so that they would be a bit stronger and more durable.

In some respects this technique is the opposite of collage, because although you can get a similar effect by applying torn paper to a surface in layers, the whole point of this was to dig down and ‘excavate’ or remove layers, and I think the result is distinctively different.

For more artwork with comics, check out our earlier Super-Hero Comic Collage.

And if, like me, you love texture, check out my Pinterest Board devoted to the subject.

So when I was contacted by an artist looking for new opportunities to sell her range of hand-painted personalised fairy canvases, I was happy to take a look at them with a view to adding them to the range of children’s wall-art currently offered by Artful Kids.

Created by artist and experienced illustrator Heather Moseley, the 30x30x1.5cm canvases are painted in acrylics with added glitter for sparkle, and are available in 3 different styles.  Each one has a charming delicacy which make them perfect for a little girl’s room, and in addition to personalising the canvas with the name of your choice,  Heather is happy to change the fairy’s hair style and colour to match that of the intended recipient, creating a very personal gift  that it is completely unique, signed by the artist and ready to hang.

If you are an artist who creates unique wall-art for children, whether it be canvases, watercolours or prints, and are looking for new outlets for your work, Artful Kids would be happy to hear from you. Artwork will be selected on the basis of offering a range of different styles and media which fit with the ethos of Artful Kids, and I’m particularly keen to expand the range of non-personalised artwork.

Meanwhile, if you have the time and the energy to create some DIY children’s Wall-Art, check out our Pinterest board devoted to the theme for inspiration.

As a lifelong enthusiast for gorgeous sketchbooks, this is a subject on which I could write at length. Don’t worry, I don’t plan to do that here, since I suspect for anyone other than fellow enthusiasts it would be extremely boring, but I thought it might be helpful to outline some of the factors that might influence your choice of sketchbook, in relation to the alternatives out there.

Of course it goes without saying that as with most things, the choice of sketchbook you make is going to be influenced mainly by what you plan to use it for. So for example, do you want to keep a record or journal that you will refer back to, or are you likely to want to remove the  pages? What medium will you mainly be working with? What size do you want? Does it need to be easily portable? Is it intended as a gift? And of course, how much money do you want to spend on it?

Size

Sketchbooks come in all shapes and sizes, from the truly portable, miniature travel journal designed to slip into your pocket, to large A1 size books and pads which are more likely to be used at home or in the studio. The larger books can become quite costly, depending on the quality of paper used,but offer a much larger ‘canvas’ particularly for more complex or finished work.

A6 size leather bound travel journal with lined and blank pages. Also available in A5.

Weight of Paper

The weight (or thickness) of paper used is dictated partly by what media you intend to use in your sketchbook.  For example a thicker (heavier) paper tends to be more expensive and ensures that you can use both sides without the image from one side showing through. It will also stand up much better to the use of water and paint without tearing or buckling. Paper intended for use with wet media will often be described as ‘sized’ meaning that it has an additional coating to strengthen it.

In the metric system, paper weight is measured by ‘gsm’ i.e grams per square metre – the higher the gsm, the thicker the paper. However, the US sometimes uses a different system called Basis Weight which I am unfamiliar with, so for an explanation of it I refer you to the Wikipedia entry.

Binding

Whether you choose a gummed block, spiral binding or a bound book for your sketchbook, again depends upon how you plan to use it. The sheets of paper in a gummed block are designed to be taken off and removed, 1 sheet at a time as you use them. They are not intended to remain as a book. At the other end of the scale, proper bound books are not designed to have their individual sheets removed. You can tear a sheet out, but this is likely to make other pages fall out too. These books are best for journals, and artwork which you intend to keep in the book for reference or as a long-term record. They are great for travel journals for example. Spiral bound pads can offer a good compromise between the two in that artwork can be kept and displayed in the book, or removed without damaging the book in any way. They are also usually relatively inexpensive in comparison to bound books, though perhaps not quite so stylish!

Type of Paper

Another vast subject in it’s own right, there are specialist papers for watercolour, oil and acrylic, pastels, pen and ink and markers…. so again, the choice you make is really down to what you plan to use your sketchbook for. The texture, weight and absorbency of the paper you use can help or hinder the artwork created on it. For example, very smooth papers such as Bristol Board are often chosen for work with marker pens or pen and ink, while a rougher ‘toothed’ paper is often preferred for watercolours. The smoothest papers are often described as ‘hot-pressed’ (meaning that the texture is flattened out of it during the manufacturing process). A general good all-rounder is cartridge paper. However even plain white cartridge paper can vary enormously – it might be bright white, or it can be more creamy in colour, and the weight and absorbency can also vary hugely, so if you can, it’s always worth feeling the paper between your fingers first before you buy so that you know exactly what you’re getting.

A further consideration is what the paper is actually made from. So for example, Eco sketchbooks are made entirely from recycled materials, while acid-free paper is designed to be longer lasting – an important consideration if you want the artwork to be anything other than ephemeral.These papers will not rapidly age, yellow and become brittle as the cheapest papers (especially those normally given to children) usually do. Some of the best quality papers are made from cotton rag, while other papers are made from plant materials such as hemp or rice.

Sketchbooks with special coloured and textured papers can make great backgrounds for mixed media, or use with pastels. While travel journals may offer plain or lined paper depending on whether it is going to be purely written or illustrated or alternatively for maximum flexibility a combination of both.

Appearance

Lets face it there are some drop dead gorgeous sketchbooks out there, but they often don’t come cheap. I have a beautiful hand-made small leather bound sketch book which I was given as a gift. I keep on saving it for something special. Rather like a best dress which never gets worn, it’s in danger of never being used! This is a consideration to keep in mind if you are buying for yourself! It’s also worth considering sturdy sketchbooks with plain covers and good quality paper which you can customise and embellish yourself. That way you will have a sketchbook that is both beautiful and unique.

A6 sized Eco sketchbook with plain covers made from recycled paper – perfect for customising!

Added extras

Other things to consider are whether there is something to hold the book shut (useful for sketchbooks which are frequently used out and about or carried in a bag), or whether there are any additional pockets to hold loose scraps of paper.

At the end of the day I am personally of the firm belief that you can’t have too many sketchbooks, it is after all difficult if not impossible to choose just one that will meet every need, and a variety of sizes, paper types and bindings will probably be needed by most creative types.

All the sketchbooks illustrated and linked to here are available from Artful Kids – just click on the image or link for more information….