Finding Visual Voice – Prepare for the Free Webinar!
What to Think About Finding Visual Voice? – Watch the video!
Currently, I look at my art with a different point of view than when I created it. Non-art-related things in the past can also get integrated into art. Watch the video to dive deeper into these insights and to see examples!
Free Webinar – Save Your Spot!
Let’s meet! I am broadcasting live from my studio and talk about finding your visual voice. I have a subtitle: “How to start the journey?” because I think it’s a thing we need to rediscover again and again!
When you register, enter your time zone, and you will see when the webinar begins where you live. Save your spot even if you couldn’t come just at that very moment. You can then watch the recording later that week! >> Register here
Draw and Paint Flowers Like Never Before – Sign up for Floral Fantasies!
I am rerunning my best technique workshop so far, Floral Fantasies in 3 Styles. It’s about taking the best tricks from three visual approaches and immersing into the beauty of flowers. The workshop is now in the early-bird sale, so reserve your spot!
IT to Full Time Artist – Interview
Big changes take time! In this interview of iCreateDaily, I tell how I got the courage to leave my day job over 3 years ago.
Get a free mini-course! – Subscribe to my weekly emails!
Mixed Media Sketchbook as a Tool for Self-Discovery
This week, I am talking about using a mixed media sketchbook or an art journal in a new way.
Mixed Media Sketchbook – Watch the video!
Bloom and Fly! – Set Your Goals and Start Creating!
My community Bloom and Fly is for all who want to start and keep on creating. You can get help and encouragement for any art project, and we also have monthly themes.
January’s theme is “Mixed Media Sketchbook as a Tool for Setting Your Goals.” You will get ideas on how to use a sketchbook or an art journal for creative goals. Rather than feeling restricted, you will feel energized by the possibilities behind the goals. An art journal can be a playbook that keeps you moving forward!
Make sure that 2018 is your year of art – Join Bloom and Fly!
Painting Fantasy Portraits
This year, I have been thinking a lot about the balance between technical skills and the imagination. It seems that when I focus on either one, the other one suffers. Now when the year is nearly in the end, I have wanted to play with the imagination and cared less about the execution. I have always enjoyed creating intuitively: starting without intention and then figuring out what I want to express once the work has progressed.
Fantasy Figures Keep On Appearing!
Recently, I have seen fantasy figures whatever I am creating. I don’t know if it’s because I have been following fantasy artists lately or just that I haven’t been playing with portraits for a while. Here’s one of the colorful clusters from my sketchbook that I turned into a fantasy figure.
I had a lot of fun with her imagining that she is a digital nomad, re-connecting with nature, running away from her phone!
Fantasy Portrait in Oil
I also have two oil paintings in progress, and the first one is a kind of portrait too. After the geometric background, I wanted to put a giant pansy in the center, and then couldn’t resist adding a face. I have painted it using a reference for the most important facial features. Then I completed the person with a more loose approach.
This is just a beginning of the painting. It will have more details and color.
Painting Fantasy Portraits – An Intuitive Approach
The best fantasy is never borrowed but takes place in your imagination. I think the way to get connected to it, is to start freely without any reference photos. The painting that is shown at the beginning of this post looked like this before I discovered that there’s a face!
Painting this one was an exciting process, and fortunately, I recorded some parts of it. I used a couple of tricks that I learned from my skillful artist friend Eeva Nikunen: using a dead color when exploring values and adding an even color wash over the whole painting to make it more unified.
Painting Fantasy Portraits – Watch the Video!
Happy Holidays! – See You in “Bloom and Fly”!
I am not sure whether I blog next week or not. So with this painting about the new year, I want to wish you Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Thank you for being there!
And of course, I hope to see you in Bloom and Fly at the beginning of January! We’ll start by planning your creative goals, then pick easy ideas from Rococo, explore abstracts together, etc. I will help you to express yourself so that it’s adventurous and imaginative! >> Sign up here!