Tag: Art
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June in Photos
It’s been a busy one, folks. My kid finished Gr 2 (with three dress up spirit days thrown into the mix), Jan and I were fully vaccinated, and we’re surviving an intense heatwave. There was a lot of drawing, yummy treats, and time spent outdoors. Here are some highlights. Have a good one. Yolandie
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I’ve Added a Social Media Manager to my Team, Introducing LuminLore, and Other News
Friends, it’s been a WEEK. In fact, it’s been a few weeks, and I kind of feel like scrambled eggs. So much has happened, so I figured it was about time to fill you in. I’m fully vaccinated I’m so happy that the second vaccination has officially been crossed off my list, though I will […]
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May in Photos
I did a photo a day challenge in May, and I’m happy to say I actually stuck with it! Up until the last few days, anyway. Still, I did better than I imagined I would, and I’m proud of that. Most of these photos were featured on my Instagram as part of the challenge, though […]
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Chalk Fun Day
I’m in that weird ‘just finished a book’ phase of the writing cycle. During this time, I struggle to focus on anything for long periods of time and my mind constantly wanders. I reckon it’s because so much of my brain capacity is allocated to storylines and keeping the plot together while I’m writing. My […]
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Some Weekend Stuff
It was a busy one, folks. Kayla wanted a girls’ day, so that’s how my Friday went down. In the late afternoon, I had another buddy write with the fabulous JR Rainsville, and actually got some stuff done! With the lockdown restrictions tightening again, the only time we can see other people is while outdoors. […]
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A Summary
I feel like this is the first time this week I’ve sat down and attempted to actually get my ducks in a row. At this stage, they’re all over, running and quacking and pooping wherever they want. It’s chaos. Feathers everywhere. Please send help and or coffee. A lot has been happening. I’ve been revamping […]
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I Fell, And Other Life Stories
This post will come to you in four parts. Part One – I Fell People who know me well know I’m super clumsy. I can trip on air (and I have). I’m hasty by nature. Everything has to be done quickly, so it’s quickly this, quickly that, and scurrying in between. Ents would hate me. […]
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My Glasses Broke & Other Life Snippets
Do I like change? No. And especially not while my anxiety is breaking free of its adamant prison in my head, but hey? Whatcha gonna do about it? So, new glasses. The old ones broke so randomly I’m still not exactly sure what happened. Maybe the cold? Old age? Eh. But I think I’m mostly […]
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The Currents Post
Friends, one of my cousins asked me to pick up these currents posts last year sometime, and it just slipped my mind. Sorry, Tanja. Better late than never? Let’s jump right in. For the first time in many, many years, I’m listening to an audiobook. I don’t have anything against audiobooks, really, it’s just that […]
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The Update Post
What exactly happened while I was away? So. Damn. Much. Let me catch you up. With the virus gaining momentum in South Africa, the risk grew for my loved ones (and is still growing). We’re lucky enough to have no Covid-related deaths in our direct family, but people I care about were now exposed, some […]
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Now Available – Faux Stained Glass Bookmarks
Yay! I have a brand new online store here on my website, from where you can purchase my original design bookmarks. There are fifteen different designs, available as complete bookmarks or line art, so you can colour them yourself. I have three inspired by books or characters I love, a bunch of nature-inspired designs, and […]
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Have a Free Colouring Book
A Trial of Sparks & Kindling is set to land in July! The first ARC’s have gone out and are already being read. Eek. This part of the publishing process is both my favourite and what freaks me out most. Like, the book is done. Out there. It’s out of my hands now, and that’s […]
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I’ve Been Busy
Friends, I think a great many of us vote to have 2020 struck from the record. It’s only June, and most of us feel aged by ten years, never mind six months. It’s been strange in my house, too. To summarise, my mental state hasn’t been what it should be, and I’ve been beyond tired. […]
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Art Inspired By A Trial of Sparks & Kindling
I mentioned a while back that I’d commissioned the epic Doodleeeeeeeee to create a doodle artwork inspired by my favourite line in A Trial of Sparks & Kindling. Doodleeeeeeeee (check out this awesome insta account) worked fast, and I got to see this artwork last weekend. And let me tell you, it blows my mind. […]
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7 Easy Tutorials to try During Isolation/Lockdown
With more places around the globe entering states of lockdown, I figure we might as well make art. I haven’t uploaded a tutorial in forever, because my wrist hurt too much to actually make anything. Now that I’ve regained some range of movement, I’ll get on a few tutorials for you again. So, if you […]
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How I Paint Auroras
My husband is pretty much obsessed with the northern lights, or aurora borealis. He’s one of those people who will jump in his car in the middle of the night to chase auroras, and talks about the beauty of this phenomenon basically non stop. I really appreciate the gorgeousness of the auroras too, but folks, […]
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Quick Watercolour Lightning Tutorial
It’s been pretty much forever since I’ve last done a watercolour tutorial. Aside from the wrist injury that has kept me from making art, everything else comes in second while I’m writing. Still, I keep getting requests for stuff, and I feel guilty for not blogging about art for so long. The request for a […]
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Living on the Veg – Cross-stitch
I’ve recently taken up a new hobby–as if I didn’t have enough half-done art projects strewn about. I’ve never done anything like this before, because I’m not particularly blessed when it comes to needle and thread. Yet, here we are. Cross-stitch. And, like with all other new projects, I hurled myself into this hobby willy-nilly, […]
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Quick Review – Posca Paint Pens
I haven’t been using these pens for that long, but I still wanted to chat about Posca’s Paint Pens. Since I am still a noob, I’ll let you know if my opinions change in the future. My hubs bought me the set of eight, extra fine (0.7mm) Posca paint markers for my birthday last month. […]
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Graphic Ballpoint Landscape
It’s Thursday, which has become synonymous with throwbacks. Today we’re doing something new. I’ve been itching to try making a timelapse of an art process for you, and I figured I’d combine that with a tutorial. I made the original artwork during Inktober 2018, and since I struggled so much to wrap my head around […]
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A Watercolour Comparison
This post is basically a result of a question I’ve been asking myself almost constantly lately–which watercolours do I love more? Now, we all know I’m a huge lover of my Farber Castell watercolour pencils. They’re so pigmented, so versatile, so lovely. But then I got a set of W&N Cotman colours for Christmas, and […]
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Review – Winsor & Newton Cotman Pocket Watercolour Set
Who could think that twelve half-pans of paint could be so magical? But this is a review, so it probably isn’t the best idea to give away the punchline in the first sentence. 😛 The set comes with these colours: Cadmium Yellow Pale Cadmium Yellow Cadmium Red Pale Alizarin Crimson Ultramarine Cobalt Blue Viridian Sap […]
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Watercolour Doodles
Sometime mid-last year, I saw a video of someone’s art journal on Instagram or Facebook–I don’t remember where. Anyway, this journal was glorious. The kind of thing that makes you want to weep because it’s so beautiful and your art won’t ever come close to that level of magnificence. *pro tip, don’t compare yourself to […]
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Snowy Watercolour
Inspired by the snow and the Rocky Mountains, I painted a little watercolour a few weeks ago. The feedback was really positive, so I figured I try something similar and make it a tutorial for you at the same time. This is a super easy project that will make an awesome gift too. So let’s […]
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Inktober 2018
So, amid the craziness of packing to move from Toronto to Calgary, I also participated in Inktober 2018. I didn’t complete the challenge this year, but it’s understandable. I mean, my life was pretty much upside down and my creative juices were depleted. I didn’t have the energy to think up anything to draw, so I […]
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Draw and Paint a Barn Owl
This tutorial is brought to you by request. 🙂 I love interacting with you, so please keep them coming! This is a super easy tutorial. This project took me about an hour to complete from start to finish, with interruptions from the kid of the house. You can also check out my bird tutorial here! […]
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Life Update
Folks, it’s that time again for me – editing. As you can imagine, I’m pretty much consumed by fixing my novel at this stage. Where everything else is concerned, this meme has me covered. Still, I must take a break from accepting changes now and then, so here we are. I haven’t done one of […]
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Drawing Birds
I’ve never done a drawing tutorial, so this is scary. 🙂 Still, it’s been requested a time or two and I figured there’s nothing lost in trying. I chose small birds for this tutorial since they’re SO EASY to master, both in terms of drawing and painting. So yes, I’m totally saying this is a […]
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Rainy Watercolour Tutorial
This was such a fun little project, especially after about two weeks with a stiff wrist that demanded I let my art supplies gather dust. It’s nothing serious, please don’t worry. Just an old injury acting up. I wanted to try something with mixed media this time, so I used watercolours (I picked up a […]
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Current Favourites
I’m always the slightest bit late with my favourites post, so that title should have been March Favourites, but I missed the deadline. It’s time to schedule these things, I know. 😛 I’ve been revising again, folks. Scatterbrained isn’t a strong enough word. Anyway, let’s get right to it. I’m currently reading two books, both […]
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Watercolour Forest Tutorial
In moments when my anxiety runs away with me, I often reach for my art supplies. There’s something super soothing about the way watercolours flow and blend together. No? Maybe it’s just me. I also find that in these anxious moments, I paint forests. Don’t ask me why. I really have no specific answer for […]
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Keeping it Current
It’s been a really long time since I’ve blogged about what’s currently on my reading, watching and listening to lists. Since I’ve been a little absent from the internet in general and took some time off last week, I figured this would be a good post to help me ease back into blogging. So let’s […]
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Simple Watercolour Pencil Trees
When looking through my watercolour journal, I realised two things: trees remain my favourite thing to paint, and the theme so far is somehow season-related. Totally unplanned, but the pages transition from autumn to winter. More on this later. Since I so love forests and trees, I figured I could show you how I like […]
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Step-By-Step Illustration
I’ve started painting again, amid the madness that is immigration, and it’s such a relief to be creative again. I’ve always found art to be an anchor in times when my life has been hurled into chaos. Usually, I depend on detailed doodles or photorealistic portrait drawing to soothe my nerves, so I never imagined […]
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Autumn Watercolour
Huge excitement hit my house yesterday when my brand new Moleskine watercolour journal arrived. And, of course, like an energised kid, I had to try it out immediately. I drew inspiration from the colouring and falling leaves here in the north – something I’ve always wanted to try painting. At the same time, I wanted […]
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Colourful Watercolour
This isn’t a tutorial as much as a photo-diary of the steps I followed to create this painting. It’s really very simple, so I’m tagging it as beginner. Honestly, the most difficult part is getting the violin symmetrical! If that’s something you struggle with, you can always try to find a stencil or print out […]
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Easy Watercolour Feathers
Since my feather banner is so popular, I figured I’d show you how I made it. This tutorial is super simple, anybody can paint feathers! What makes it even better is how fast this process is. I painted these in less than half an hour, they dried for about an hour, and the outlines took […]
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Watercolour Mountains
I’ve been looking at some photos from our trip to the German Alps last year and art inspiration struck. The initial inspiration doubled when a tutorial opportunity threw itself at my feet. Blog post sorted. #ftw I pulled out my watercolour pencils and went on to sketch some misty mountains. I apologise for the lighting of these photos. […]
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Watercolour Pencil Tricks
Yay, a tutorial, inspired by my friend Tallulah. 🙂 Before we get started though, a disclaimer. This is how I use these things. Some other, more experienced artist will probably tell you not to do what I do, and that’s OK. Like everything in life, we all need to find our own personal hacks to make […]
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Simple City Map
If you’ve ever wanted to draw a map, this is the post for you. But please don’t go if you’ve never considered map-making! This is one of those things anyone can draw. Plus, it’s pretty therapeutic. I’ve developed a strange obsession with cartography over the years and I thought I’d show you how I draw […]
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Rocket Girl
My apologies for ending another week with a doll repaint, but I’m so excited about her I can’t contain myself. This, by the way, is what it looks like when a writer doesn’t write. I shared a preview of Kjersti with you last week, but I’ve since finished her. She’s got brand new hair and […]
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Meet the Girls
This hobby found me in the weirdest way. I’ve never learned to paint with watercolours. For a control freak like me, watercolour is a difficult medium – it’s got a mind of its own. I’ve always preferred pencils, oil and acrylics, because I can decide exactly where each brushstroke will go on the canvas. And by […]
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Weekend Recap
I’d call it a Weekend in Pictures post, only I took too few photos for that. I don’t understand how the picture-drought happened, to be honest. We got up to SO MUCH, I just didn’t think to snap the events. Those moments I did shoot fall off the other side of the spectrum. I have 32 […]
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The June Report
My… month in pictures? The monthly recap? As far as alternative titles go, these aren’t the best. Sorry. 🙂 Since I didn’t do a single post with photos from this month, I thought I’d give you an overview today (all my WIP posts were of adventures from past months). I’ve been toying with this recap post idea for a […]
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Review – Farber Castell Albrecht Durer Watercolour Pencils
A lot of my art-loving friends have asked me how I find these pencils and, since you want to read about art related stuff, I figured I’d do a review. I got these puppies last Christmas and have been using them at least twice a week since. Without spoiling the review, I love them. I’ve […]
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YouTube Artists I Love
The other day, I asked you what you want to see on the blog. The answer was pretty strong in the art-direction. (By the way, if you have more suggestions for the blog, don’t be afraid to share them. 🙂 ) I thought I’d kick this off by sharing some of the artists that inspire […]
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The Random Post
This is the end. We had a blast, saw amazing things and bonded with our tribe. We miss them terribly. The house is still quiet. Going through all of these photos somehow amplifies that. But, before I get too soppy, let’s get on with the post. While I shared all the main events with you, I […]
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Cologne 3.0
There’s a feeling that fills your chest when you round that corner, or take that step out of the train station in Cologne. The first and most undeniable structure in the heart of the city is the Cologne Cathedral – majestic, impossible and awe-inspiring. It claims your every thought and emotion with its sheer size, […]
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Fanart Feb Results
Because February wasn’t hectic enough to start with, you know. That’s why I figured I’d do this thing. Like with Inktober, the idea was to make art every day of February, sticking to the fandoms you love. In the end, I failed to draw every day, but at least I had fun making those artworks […]
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Artist Focus – CaptainNutmeg
I haven’t blogged about an artist who inspires me in way too long. Considering Wednesday’s post was such a serious topic, I figured I’d share some beautiful art with you today. I discovered CaptainNutmeg‘s art when one of his/her artworks were featured on DeviantArt’s daily deviations. I totally fell in love with the style, especially […]
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Hello February
Wel, lookie here. A brand new month. I’ve been gone for a week, I know. A mini-plague descended on my house and we’ve been recovering. Meanwhile, I’ve also been up to my eyebrows in edits. Even sick, obsessive nature won’t let me go. It’s a blessing and a curse. This is going to be a […]
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What Inktober Taught Me
So this year, I took part in the Inktober initiative for the first time. If you’ve never heard of Inktober, like…? Your rock must be on Saturn or something. 😛 Basically, you draw something every day in October. As the name of the initiative suggests, you’re invited to make your art using ink. Obviously, this […]
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The Things That Repeat in my Mind
It’s been ages since I updated you on any of my obsessions. Today, I’m going to fix that. As many of you know, I’m currently revising The Physician’s Apprentice. My editor‘s advice was to flesh out some scenes, so I’m adding words. This means a particular kind of madness has come over me. You know […]