This makes me want to paint

+ behind the scenes, designing a new notebook!

As I write this, things are in full swing in the studio - it’s painting season, as I’m working towards my next collection of originals! I’ll be releasing a small number of new works on the 31st May, and today I wanted to share the process behind something new, which will be launching along side the original pieces.

My rule in business and in my art has always been to create more of what you want or need to see in the world. Sometimes that is something deep and meaningful. Other times, it’s something light, fun, that makes me smile - something for the everyday. Today’s post and project falls in the latter. You see, as an avid scribbler of both pictures and words, I burn through notebooks like nobody’s business. I’ve filled up my current notebook, so it seems like a sign - it’s the perfect time to design another! .

Setting myself a loose brief for the design, I want this new notebook to:

• work alongside / be inspired by my new collection of paintings

• feel playful, bright and bring a little extra joy

• make me feel like I want to go paint, think or create something

Sparking off that last point in my relaxed brief, there is one thing more than anything else that’s been helping me get in to zone or mood to paint. That has been my mark making libraries! These are sheets or sketchbook pages of textures, marks, movements & colours.

Mark Making Libraries

I’ve been making these before jumping in to more developed ideas, and honestly nothing has been lighting me up and getting in the creative zone quite like it. I keep opening up my sketchbooks or looking back at these pages again and again- they just make me want to go paint! This seems like a good indicator to tick my get-inspired-to-go-paint box. I’ve also been looking to instill the rawness, the looseness of these marks into my final paintings, so I thought this idea would form a fun connection between my process & final collection of work too.

If you’d like to try making your own, you can create mark making libraries by simply gathering all your favourite textures in one place, and use your favourite palette in the process.

If you want an added layer of intention or helpfulness, try thinking of what you want to be inspired by, and channel that into your decisions. The marks in my library (image above & below) were all inspired by a memory of a specific landscape, and how it made me feel. If you want to find out more about that process of painting how things feel, you might enjoy our workshop recording ‘Semi Abstracted Landscapes’ which runs through this process in more depth. Check that out here.

PLUS they do say, make the work you want to be hired for. I have always loved the brand Gorman who make the most beautiful artist-led prints for textiles and homewear [how beautiful is this painted print by Carolyn Gavin] and they would be on that dream collaboration list. So I’m taking a little inspiration from the celebration of painterly textures into this design too.

You may be thinking (or not, that’s cool too) - why not just stick one of your finished paintings on the cover, or scan in your mark making library and call it a day? Well, I most likely will do that for a future notebook too, and it’s what I did for my first notebook design.

When it comes to art working on the notebook, or any product, I like to have full control of how the art is placed. I enjoy the attention to detail, and the print file has got to allow for technical things like bleed (sneaky extra parts of the image that get cut off / hidden in the manufacturing process - meaning it’s much easier to create the art with the product in mind, rather than try make it work the other way round). So to get around this, I have decided to create my favorite marks, textures and colours separately (not layered or touching) on sheets of paper, and scan these elements in. This means I can play around with proportion, scale and placement to my heart’s content - meaning the notebook cover will be exactly as I envision. Woo!

Here are the pages of movements, colours, marks and textures:

Aaaaand my mark making library design on the notebook:

I’m saving the reveal of the front cover for launch day! If you’re also an avid notebook enthusiast and would like to add one of these to your collection, they will be available from the 31st May directly from my website, alongside the launch of my new paintings. You can sign up to my website newsletter to be notified when this design & and the finished painting collection goes live!

P.S: If you’re looking to get outdoors sketching this summer, and would like some extra tips, tricks and ideas to gently guide & encourage you, we are running a 1 month sketching challenge this June! The aims are to get outdoors sketching either for the first time, or a little more often for the month. It’s not a daily challenge - it’s designed to be flexible, and fit around your life, in little 5-10 minute pockets of time.

I’ll be releasing a video tutorial each week in June, each with a new theme, and seven tips to focus on. If you’d like to take part, join us on the Studio Play tier on Patreon - and if June is a busy month for you, the challenge can be done at any time of year - simply watch back the videos and go at your own pace ☀️

We will also be experimenting and developing ideas from our outdoor sketches in our July online workshops - so if you’ve ever wondered how to develop your work forwards from loose rough sketches, it’ll be a fun live workshop doing just that, bouncing ideas around and sharing our discoveries and sketching adventures!