Fall or Fairytale? – Creating Your Forest
This week, I talk about the colorful bridge that art can build between real and unreal.
This is my latest oil painting called Forest of Wishes. My fall is filled with those – wishes! Wishes that can’t be fulfilled.
I wish winter would only last a day or so. I wish there would be regular life for regular people – not war, not suffering, not lack of anything. And while I am thinking about these melancholic thoughts, it feels like my creativity ignores them and lives in a fairytale. I want to draw you in this fairytale too. I hope these pictures inspire you to create and make life more magical!
Hello Fall – Hello Colors!
In art, colors can make a fairytale. My oil painting brought this older watercolor piece to mind. Like “Forest of Wishes,” this one uses blue in a similar way: to create a connection with the viewer. It’s a reminder that blue can be strong and soulful and approach the viewer, not just stay still in the background.
There’s also a video of painting this!
This painting started with the reference photo, but once the painting process got further, the expression replaced it. And splattering with a brush is a lot of fun!
The Magic of Growth
When I look at our garden, the wonders of summer become visible when trees prepare for fall. They have grown a lot, for example, this monkaburi – a pine tree that we planted a few years ago. Back then, it felt like it would take forever for it to form a gate over our heads, but now it already has a branch that grows over the path.
The magic of growth also happens when filling a blank paper or a canvas. First, there’s very little life, but by adding more colors, shapes, and layers, we can grow a forest.
Sometimes the forest comes in one piece, and other times in many little pieces.
The same applies to artistic growth: sometimes it happens quickly, other times more gradually. I like to break the rules of being a serious artist only and allow play to show me the magic.
I want to learn from Saima, our youngest beagle. She is obsessed with the ball, but when we mention that to her, she seems to laugh: “It’s only a hobby!” At the same time, fetching the ball seems to be both her passionate work, but also a tool for imagining and playing.
Fall Fairytale
In the forest of wishes, we want to use a different mirror for ourselves – not to see the limitations but imagine the potential. It’s an exciting place that has many dangers as well.
Going deep can take us deep down, but when combined with play, the humor steps in. Here’s my wish for a winter that would only last one day!
Ask: “Is it the fall or is it a fairytale – real or unreal?” And then answer: “Today it’s a fairytale, a colorful escape!”
Art can truly add magic to our lives. I feel that life isn’t real without the unreal.
What do you think?
Angel Drawing for the Inner Child
As a child, I had a collection of scrap reliefs – small pictures printed and cut from glossy paper. A very common one was a simple angel with a head between wings. This week, I created my version of an angel drawing.
This is only a small piece on smooth watercolor paper, but the child in me likes it a lot!
My Approach to Drawing and Painting
My desire for art can be summed up in two parts. The first part is to go on an adventure by painting freely.
When I paint, I feel that it’s the only thing that I want to do and where I am good at.
But then, after washing the brushes, comes the second part. A child in me evokes and says: “Draw to me!” Like I often said to my father or to my sisters when I was only a few years old. The child doesn’t require much: “Something pretty!” (Watch a video about my inner child!)
Child’s Enthusiasm in Angel Drawing
I used to adore whatever my father or sisters drew. Now, similarly, I feel the acceptance of the child right from the beginning. No matter how I struggle with any detail, the child’s enthusiasm keeps me drawing.
And even if I had just thought that I should only paint and do nothing else, drawing a small ornament feels as natural and enjoyable. The same creative stream seems to feed both parts of my artistic expression.
A simple sketch gets more ideas when I start adding details. Coloring a halo with yellow feels boring, so I draw clouds, then a rainbow. An unwritten story begins to flow into the image.
Small Tweaks to a Simple Sketch Make the Angel Drawing
Simple shapes become more interesting when I keep drawing. Quick and simple wings get more decoration, and small adjustments to the face and hair add up.
At best, I get the feeling that, like in painting, I can go in any direction and create a world of my own.
This little weather angel became a treasure to my inner child even before it was finished.
And when I handed the angel to her, she was thrilled to have her in the collection.
It feels that if I don’t cut the picture, it’s not ready for play!
Going Detailed with Colored Pencils
It has taken time to find colored pencil techniques to achieve similarly detailed touch like in Animal Inkdom and Magical Inkdom.
Making small pieces with colored pencils is more challenging than with ink pens, but maybe it doesn’t matter. I remember having a huge paper doll as a child. So, I could go larger without disappointing the inner child!
What would you like to create for your inner child?
Wild Botanical Art – Create with Colored Pencils and Watercolors
This week, I created wild botanical art. I drew plants with delicate details like in botanical illustrations, but with a few differences. My plants are not any real species, and the jungle where they grow is more like my inner world at its best, not a real location on the planet.
Watercolors First!
Before putting colored pencils into work, I made some backgrounds with watercolors. I had very smooth watercolor paper – hot press quality. My friend Eeva Nikunen recommended Arches Hot Press paper that she has used for detailed graphite drawings. It’s a bit pricey but so smooth and lovely for colored pencils too. However, any smooth watercolor paper would work with this technique.
I used a lot of water for the first layer and made random splotches with a spraying bottle. This kind of wild watercolor painting is fun, but when I tried to pick one of the four experiments for colored pencils, I found the results uninspiring. So I asked myself what kinds of nature’s shapes or colors would I want to see more, and answered: “All kinds of hays inspire me a lot!”
Love for Sharp-Shaped Botanicals
We have lots of house plants that have sharp leaves.
And when I walk in nature, I always look for hays and how light hits them.
So, then after some drying time, I made thin lines that went wildly here and there.
After the lines, I found the green one on the bottom left very inviting, so I chose that for coloring.
Coloring Freely and Wildly
Colored pencils work well on the watercolor background and smooth paper. It was enjoyable to color freely. I didn’t follow the shapes or lines painted in watercolor but created new layers.
I have started to store my colored pencils in shallow plastic boxes grouped in color families. This way, every pencil gets seen, and the differences between tones are easy to identify.
Should Plant People Draw Plants?
My husband and I are plant people. Our home is filled with house plants and we have all kinds of plants in our garden. It has been quite a job to save the plants from our new puppy Saima!
Plants have also always been present in my paintings. But recently, I have thought that maybe I could focus more on them with colored pencils too. It often feels that I come home when I am inspired by plants and travel abroad when I am creating something else. I want to challenge myself out of my comfort zone, but if there’s a strong resonation, like a secret companionship, should I listen to it?
More Wild Botanical Art – Playing Mode On!
It was so much fun to work on this project that I wanted to do more. So, I colored these small scraps – a fruit and a leaf!
And then it was playing time. How wild can this go?
Create Wild Botanical Art – Five Tips!
- Start by creating a wilderness that calls you.
- Color layers of random shapes and lines. When you see something that could be a plant, turn it into one!
- Don’t worry about identifying the plants – treat them as rarities that only you can find!
- Make detailed a little more detailed – botanical art goes crazy with details!
- Revamp – Add some plants from your box of joy!
- Bonus tip: Nature is full of curves, so make sure you also have some.
Botanical Art by Ernst Haeckel
Many years ago, a blog reader mentioned Ernst Haeckel’s botanical art. Since then, I have admired his work. Here’s a part of his illustration from 1904. Lots of greens spiced with warm colors and so many details!
Mine is not nearly as sharp and detailed as Haeckel’s, but I approve it anyway. Plants have different personalities, and so do their interpretations!
Tell me, do you like drawing plants? What kinds of plants especially?
Intuitive Coloring Explained + Extended Black Friday Sale!
This week, I have a new free video for you, inspiration from my drawing classes, and there’s also an extended Black Friday Sale going on! Exciting!
Extended Black Friday Sale – Shop Here!
All classes are 25% OFF!
Now is the time to get the classes you have been thinking about!
>> Shop Here!
The sale ends on Nov 29, midnight PST.
Intuitive Coloring Explained – Watch the Video!
This video is an excerpt of the live speech that I gave for my art community Bloom and Fly this month. It introduces a fresh way to think about drawing and coloring. Lots of art-making inspiration is packed into this 6-minute video!
The classes mentioned in the video – Intuitive Coloring, Inspirational Drawing, Animal Inkdom, and Magical Inkdom, as well as all my painting classes – are 25% OFF during the extended Black Friday Sale. >> Shop Here!
More Inspiration from My Drawing Classes
The longer I draw, the more things come together. Not only so that I find more inspiration from the individual previous pieces, but also so that they describe a world that’s lively and ever-expanding. I also feel that my classes are like doorways to building a world of your own.
In Intuitive Coloring, we travel from one meadow to another lesson by lesson and play on the way.
In Animal Inkdom, we start with little creatures and the animals get bigger lesson by lesson.
Insects and butterflies are simple to draw, but decoration makes them look fantastic!
Animal Inkdom is one of my most popular classes, maybe because it’s so playful! I had to edit out some of the laughs and smiles because I had so much fun drawing these that it would be a bit disturbing! And after Animal Inkdom, I couldn’t stop, but made an independent sequel – Magical Inkdom!
Art is a journey, so combining previous work with the new one, has often made me see new possibilities.
Inspirational Drawing is based on doodling and creating meshes from lines, but also on picking inspiration from images. I still collect inspirational images and use them indirectly in this way.
All Classes Are 25% OFF!
Now is the time to get the classes you have been thinking about!
>> Shop Here!
The sale ends on Nov 29, midnight PST.