Painting Spring
Studio Stories #4: New paintings, creative endeavours, and shop news
Hello everyone, and happy spring to those of you in the Northern Hemisphere - or happy autumn if you’re in the Southern Hemisphere! I actually have a little bit of spring and a little bit of autumn to share with you today, alongside creative endeavours and news of an upcoming release of new work.
Spring Days Like These
Yes, I’ve been painting spring landscapes! Those of you who have followed me for a while will know that spring is not something I used to paint, having previously been almost exclusively inspired by the autumn and winter seasons, with their dark, rich, and moody colours. But I’m a changed woman, no longer afraid to venture into the lighter, greener side of my painting palette.
The change came about last year while working on a calendar for a publishing company (it’s due to be released later this year, so I’ll let you know when that happens). I quickly realised that if I was going to be working on a calendar and creating an image to represent each month, I was going to have to be able to paint all four seasons. So after a pep talk from my partner Dominic, who seemed to have faith that I could do it and the work would still feel like mine, and a bit of experimentation with the greens in my palette, I found a way to depict the greener seasons that felt like ‘me’.
When spring rolled around this year, I started working on the paintings for my next art zine, which I’m hoping to publish soon. This time I found it so much easier, and I’m enjoying working on this new series immensely. I use watercolour for the main part of each painting and then add the details in gouache.
The ‘Spring Days Like These’ series was partly inspired by this sketchbook drawing* I made recently:
Although this is based upon a summer scene, I loved the path that leads your eye through the composition, so I used this idea for my spring artworks. I’m working on more paintings in this series, and I’ll be sharing those with you soon.
*You can watch the process of this drawing in an hour-long exclusive video for my Patreon and YouTube channel members.
Storyteller Palette
Another thing I did recently was to launch a new watercolour palette with Deep Deep Light, called Storyteller. You can find out more about the palette on their website here, and also on my YouTube channel. I’d like to share a couple of autumn-inspired paintings I’ve made with the Storyteller palette:
*A kind reminder that you can get 10% off any order from Deep Deep Light with the code deepdeepnatasha
Craft Room & Art Studio
I’m also excited to say that I’m finally putting my craft room together (although I still have quite a lot to do!), and I’m giving the studio a massive overhaul at the same time. It’s been wonderful to bring my large wooden desk back into the studio, and I now have so much more space to work. The white sit/stand desk I’ve been using for the past five years has been moved into the craft room. You can see a photo of my current desk below, and watch a desk tour where I share all of my art materials and vintage treasures here!
Another thing I’ve done is to paint a table for my craft room! I’ve had this vintage table for a few years and wanted to do something special to it, so I painted and distressed the top, and then decorated it with a patterned design and a moth:
I can’t wait to share more of the craft room and studio with you! If you’re interested in following the renovation journey, I have several videos on YouTube where I’m documenting the process.
Shop Update News
Lastly, I wanted to mention that I will be releasing the new collection of original paintings in early June, and I will let you know exactly when this is happening nearer the time. I’m also going to be launching something I’m calling ‘art bundles’. These will contain a copy of my Winter Nights zine, alongside a print, postcard set, bookmarks, and stickers, all featuring artwork from the zine. I’ve placed an order with the printing company and I’m just waiting for it to arrive. I’m hoping that these will be an affordable and fun way to collect my work, and I’m going to do the same when I release the Spring zine as well. The shop is open at the moment, but the new work and bundles won’t be added until June.
Thank you for reading, and I’d love to hear from you in the comments section below. See you all soon, and in the meantime, enjoy the rest of May!
Natasha xxx
I think the spring palette looks great!
I love your work and am drooling over your beautiful desk! 💕