Mini tutorial 1: This too shall pass

We are living in uncertain and scary times right now.  No one can really tell what will happen in the future, and we’re being bombarded with horror stories from around the world that predict the worst.

I’ve been pretty anxious these past few days, thinking a lot about what’s to come, about loved ones who might be vulnerable and, on a more selfish level, about the way that everyday life will change for quite a while and how everything that I always just took for granted can change within what feels like a second. About how just popping into a bar for a few drinks, going out for dinner or simply just hugging a friend is such a privilege. 

So with being anxious, reading a lot of news and just thinking a lot about things that I can’t control anyway, I decided to get out of my head and create. And I’d like for you to join me. Hopefully it will help you too, to get out of your head and ease the anxiety like it does for me. So as of today (17-3) I will share a mini water colour, calligraphy or brush lettering tutorial every day, on here, through social media and my newsletter. With a little message of hope, positivity and encouragement every day to help keep spirits up as much as I can. Sign up below if you would like to receive the tutorials in your inbox.

So here we go, the first tutorial is a little water colour brush lettering tutorial. I used:

• Synthetic Kolinsky round size 6 brush
• Winsor & Newton professional grade water colour 
• cold pressed water colour paper

If you’re just getting started with water colour and don’t have any supplies yet: these are definitely the best supplies to use and luckily we can still order things online! Splendith is my webshop of choice to get creative supplies, Judith has all the best stuff and I would love for you to support her little business at a time like this. 

So I’m not really comfortable with talking on video yet, but will try to do so for the next tutorials, haha! For this one I’ll explain in written word 😉 So as you can see in the video:

• Pressure is everything in brush lettering, just like in modern calligraphy: On an upstroke, don’t put a lot of pressure on your brush and just use the tip of your brush. On downstrokes push the brush down a little more, so you use more of the ‘belly’ of the brush which will create a thicker line.
• Make sure you have enough water on your brush, wet your brush very well then pick up the pigment from your pallet. As you can see I keep doing this and I wet my brush quite a lot so that it will run over the paper smoothly.
• Hold your brush in about a 35 degree angle and drag the hairs of your brush over the paper rather than pushing them.

If you’re watching the video with sound on, that’s my dog squeaky barking in her sleep from somewhere around the second L of ‘shall’, haha! She never barks when she’s awake, just in her sleep!I

I hope I’ve inspired you to put brush to paper and just have a little play around with it. If you have any questions or would like to show me your results, leave a comment below, send me an email or comment on my Instagram. I’m always here to help, give advice or just for a chat! I’m convinced that just creating things, getting out of your head into your body and focusing on what’s in front of you helps to remain calm and keep your sanity at a time like this. And remember, this too shall pass. No matter how hopeless or negative a situation seems sometimes, nothing is ever permanent. We will get through this together and the sun will come out again.

Lots of love,