Tag: video

Categories
Art & Craft Tutorials, Guides & Advice

How to set up your art space for mixed media and art journaling

My top 5 tips for organizing your art space and having a great setup. Watch the short video below or read the transcript underneath.

Tip 1. A Tidy Start

Clutter kills creativity. OK maybe not, but a clutter of art supplies when I start makes me feel overwhelmed with too many choices. A clean desk means I can start with a sense of calm and go from there.

Tip 2. Workspace Aplenty

I’m sure lots of you can relate to having only a small space to work in. It’s important to have more surface than just what you need for your journal or substrate. That way you can have the materials you’re working with around you. Set up a foldable table if possible.

Tip 3. Get Organized

Everything should have its own place. It will help you find this quickly and also makes tidying up much easier.

Tip 4. Quick Access

When it’s hidden away, I don’t use it and forget I have it. All my favourite art supplies are within arms reach and visible. That way I can quickly grab what I need without having to get up. It really helps me stay in the creative flow.

Tip 5. Get Rid Of It!

If you don’t use it, lose it! It clutters up your art space and makes you feel like you ‘should’ use it. If you don’t use or enjoy certain supplies, get rid of them (Freecycle, charity shop, arty friends) and make space for things you DO like.

Categories
Art & Craft Art Journal Tutorials, Guides & Advice Videos

Do It For Fun, Do It For You

I’ve made 13 short art journal videos in the last 20 days. That’s a reason in itself to celebrate! But what it also gives me the opportunity to do is examine my ways of working, my habits and my reasons. And then to share these insights with you in the hope that you find it useful too!

The thing I’ve noticed most of all from doing a challenge in which I only spend 15 minutes on a page and from recording the process, is that I want art to be easy and fun. That’s also why I’m sharing these videos. The art making is for me, but the video making is to share and give back, because I so appreciate everyone out there who shares their process and helps people like me get inspired, be entertained and get better!

It would be really easy NOT to share these videos of quick pages. After all they’re not masterpieces, nor super in-depth tutorials, but I think the key to what they do have is that they are fun and lighthearted. I want to show that you can make something nice in 15 minutes, that you don’t need to take it too seriously, that it can be beautiful or it can be average.

I think a lot of us feel held back by the thought that whatever we do (and especially whatever we share) needs to be somehow GOOD or MEANINGFUL. We think it has to be WORTHY. And then we attach a load of restrictions on ourselves in terms of what fulfills those criteria. What I’m saying is: it doesn’t have to be any of those things. Let go of the harsh judgements and requirements or the worry of what others may think, and instead do it for fun. Do it because it makes you feel joyful.

In sharing everything I attempt (even the messes and fuckups) I’m hoping that you get inspired to make art too and embrace the joy and let things be what they are. Let’s remove the pressure and let ourselves play!

Also, in case you were wondering, the days in November for which there are no videos are simply because I didn’t have the time or capability to film on those days, not because I’m filtering what I share.

Here are 3 of my favourite videos, and as a bonus the 4th video is the fuckup. Important! I call it a fuckup tongue in cheek. I am not feeling badly or being down on myself, I’m just being humorous because I don’t particularly like that page, but I see it as part of the process and I fully accept it and love it in its own way. I encourage you to do the same with your ‘oopsies’, love them and let go.


Day 19: Smudgy smudgy with oil pastels & oil bar


Day 5: Neocolor II and stenciling fun


Day 9: Drippy drippy inks


Day 12: A weird alien type person, wtf??

Categories
Art & Craft Paintings Videos

New Beginnings – Video & Giveaway

new-beginnings

I’ve been arty & crafty for a long time, but recently it has felt like a new beginning. A renewed enthusiasm unlike any time before and a much greater connection with my artistic self. It is ironic, as it was through focussing on the journey (i.e. being less occupied with the end result) that I have actually gained a much greater sense of direction and purpose with regards to my art.

One of my tentative goals this year is to make more art videos. I love browsing art videos on YouTube, I find them a great source of inspiration. I really want to add to the happy arty videos and hopefully in the process entertain and inspire people to also create. I’m currently figuring out the best workflow in terms of recording myself and editing. I can assure you there has been much swearing!! The editing is SO time consuming (and not my favourite part admittedly!) so for the moment I will try to aim for a new video every 1-2 months.

This first video has an exciting giveaway that you can enter to win this painting.

2014-01-21-Begin-Again

2014-01-21-Begin-Again-Det01

2014-01-21-Begin-Again-Det03

2014-01-21-Begin-Again-Det02

So to enter the giveaway leave a comment on this post. For a bonus entry into the giveaway share the link to this article (https://iris-impressions.com/2014/01/new-beginnings-video-giveaway) on your blog, Twitter or Facebook and let me know where to find it (make sure anything you post is public).

I’m going on a big adventure holiday to the US soon, MEGA excited!! I will draw the winner once I am back on Tuesday 4 March.