Highs and Lows
Hello! It’s been a little while. I hope you are enjoying the summer?
Firstly, this newsletter is coming to you a tad later than planned. There is a discipline in writing a monthly update and I put pressure on myself to always write something that I feel passionate about. If I’ve been going through a low energy and mood dip then the first thing that goes is the newsletter and social media. So much for consistency…
I’ve been stuck in a bit of a vicious cycle with poor sleep/insomnia, mood swings and chronic neck pain and when all this is going off in tandem its hard not to spin out and enter a bit of a back hole.
I’m doing everything I should on paper - eating and drinking healthily, morning walks in the sunshine, reading before bed, stretching, taking supplements… Gah the list goes on. I have serious sympathy for all fellow sleep sufferers/insomniacs/new parents out there juggling life, work and everything else on top.
Lack of sleep heightens everything and of course affects creative output. So much of my identity and self-worth is tied up in my work and it often feels like everything is hanging there by a thread. It feels incredibly precarious to rely on it so much for my mental wellbeing. It’s not very healthy but I don’t know any other way to be.
So that’s where my muddled head’s been at the past few weeks.
Something that’s lifting my spirits has been trying out new materials. I’ve had a bit of a love/hate relationship with Holbein acryla gouache and now I think I’m starting to get the hang of it. I find the texture gloopy and gross - not nearly as nice to use as water-based gouache but the colours dry perfectly matte and don’t darken or lighten so it’s very easy to get them accurate. Also you can layer them up nicely without any lift.
I’ve been trying to not take myself and my work quite so seriously - painting more for the fun of it - and nothing too challenging. For me that’s plants, flowers, insects. Some of these were reworked from old jobs which meant I didn’t have to think too hard and could just enjoy the calm and quite comforting process of just mixing and laying down colour.
I use a handmade wet palette with these paints as they dry so quickly. They scan and photograph beautifully and so lend themselves quite well to design/illustration work.
I had been lusting after this little box of Japanese watercolours for the past month. I’m off on holiday in a few weeks and I fancied taking it along as I’m planning to keep a painted sketchbook of sorts.
I’ve got a big box of Kuretake Gansai Tambi paints already but I couldn’t resist the colour selection for this one. I think it’s called the Art Nouveau set - they released it just last year.
Just look at them!
First things first I wouldn’t put them in the same league as super high-quality-finely-milled watercolour pigments especially as they aren’t lightfast. But I love the fact they hover somewhere between watercolour and gouache - the colours intense and bold with some opacity.
For best effect the paints can be used straight from the pan (they rewet easily) and I’d advise minimal mixing as they can get muddy - but I kind of love these limitations - just working with the set colours - the coverage is so smooth and the paint glides dreamily onto the paper in such a way that makes me salivate ha ha.
I painted these critters using the set - laying down washes of colour that bled into each other. The details were made using a little bit of acryla gouache.
I’ve only found this set available to buy in the UK on icky Amazon - but if anyone know where it can be bought elsewhere then please do pop a link in the comments!
Watching: Fran recently recommended this Japanese TV series about Manga artists over on her channel. I immediately jumped to the episode with Junji Ito as I’m a big fan of his horror manga. It’s amazing to get such a detailed insight into his work process - just ignore the annoying male-gazey chat at the beginning…
Reading: Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver - I think Kingsolver is fast becoming one of my favourite novelists. Each book is so different in subject and I find myself completely transported away by her writing. There has been so much shit talk about Appalachia and it’s people (thanks Deliverance!) this makes me want to learn more about it’s history.
Listening: Landmarks by Robert Macfarlane - This book is all about the lost and forgotten glossary of words that connect to nature, landscape and place. I found myself furiously scribbling notes - everything is a gem - Macfarlane’s writing is poetic and there is such an infectious joy and passion for nature that I find really inspiring. I got it out of my local library on BorrowBox.
I’ve barely left Hastings in the past few months and need to go see some exhibitions! Has anyone got any good recommendations?
Catch up with you all (much sooner) next time!
Have a great rest of July,
Ellie