Simply Draw & Paint it
Hi !
Here I share my thoughts about living a creative life, about how I found more and more fun and joy in making art and looking for creativity by getting rid of my demons like fear, perfectionism, what-might-other-people-think, ugliness (what’s that anyway?), Art with a big A, dogma’s …. Everybody is an artist and everybody is creative!
Please feel free to share your story in the comments in my posts! I read all the comments and I would love to hear from you!
Tell me your story here: info @ barbaraluel.com
Thank you so much !
Thank you thank you thank you ! I felt overwhelmed by your love and support to my previous blogpost where I was screaming out my overwhelm and despair because of my moving of houses. That really meant so much to me! Thank you ! I'm slowly getting used to the new house...
Ouch, that hurts!
Practice what you preach…. I thought I’d always find time to sketch and paint, but that’s not true…. I didn’t touch my art supplies for more about 2 weeks… Those boxes were the last thing I made… And then I also had to pack my studio. We moved to a house..
I need more playing!
Do you find time to play in your sketchbook? I don't find enough time.... So I made a Skillshare class about it.... (teach what you most need to learn to make sure you remember it ) My new class is all about taking time to play in my sketchbook 🙂 My sketchbook is...
Art in troubled times
When the world is literally falling apart in wars, human and natural disasters “This is precisely the time when artists go to work,” Toni Morrison wrote in her electrifying case for the artist’s task in troubled times. “There is no time for despair, no place for...
Boost your sketching skills with a creative challenge!
Hello my dearest ! How are you? I hope this first month of the year is going smoothly for you! When the new year starts I always have plenty of good resolution to boost my art skills, and doing creative challenges is always one of them! So I made an online class...
4 ideas to improve your sketching skills in 2022
On the last week of the year I'm always taking time to reflect on the past year and on the coming year. It's the slowest and most busy week of the year, where I end up puzzled for not having done what I wanted to do. I found a nice list of questions to reflect on the...
The most common creative block?
Hello my dearest ! It's that time of the year again: december ! And we're still in a pandemic year, with all exacerbated emotions, highs and lows… How has this year been for you? Have you been creating and drawing and painting? How do you plan on fueling...
Painting Autumn
I'm fascinated by the explosion of autumn colours each year ! The smell of the earth with the falling leaves, the changes in temperature and the colours of the trees... Fall is inspiration for many writers as well.... Time to paint, to eat with friends in the evening...
Don’t feel guilty !
"Don't feel guilty about spending (or wasting) your time on making art.", I got in my mailbox from Danny Gregory. I found that's really a great message I want to share with you, because I've been feeling this a lot, and I read a lot of similar messages from readers...
Exciting drawing days !
The beginning of autumn is for me always a beautiful time, but as well an overwhelming time. Light is changing, colors are changing. Life is changing... I'm in total overwhelm for the moment! We will be moving out of our house in a couple of months, my hubby and I,...
Sketch Anywhere and Everywhere You Desire!
The presale of my online course with Class101 just started ! This course is for everyone who wants to create colorful daily memories, because when you observe and sketch something, the colors, the smells, the sounds, the emotions and the light of that place will stay...
Capturing the moment in your sketchbook
This is a very special "post confinement" summer... 2021 will be remembered. I just came back from the magical île de la Réunion where I was invited to give 6 workshops at the travel sketchbook festival "Festival Embarquement immédiat" and it was very emotional for...
Preparing for a creative Summer
I’m finally preparing for summer ! The sun has come to Brussels, birds are singing, the confinement is ending here and we’re meeting again with urbansketchers to go sketching outside together. Restaurants and terraces have opened and most of us are vaccinated now…. Everything is going to be all right !
Afraid to ruin my sketchbook !
I got this great question from Neha yesterday on Instagram that made my heart jump because I still feel it sometimes as well: “I have this terrible issue with not being able to paint or sketch because I find my sketchbooks too precious.... I know I need to stop this,...
Take time to play
I've written about this before... "Take time to play"! But I insist, because it's sooooo important to grow your drawing and painting skills. Because when we take ourselves too seriously and we stop playing, we end up doing always the same thing, creating always the...
Mix yourself all shades of pink !
In my previous blogpost I was talking about my spring pocket palettes, and about my pink pocket palette.
The pink watercolor tubes I bought to make that palette are not all available any more. Some beautiful Holbein pinks I bought in Japan are sold out.
Celebrate the beauty of spring
Spring is always an exciting time, with the cherry blossoms and the magnolia’s blooming.
Part of the excitement is the Fear of Missing Out, because I know it doesn’t last long! Cherry blossoms, an ephemeral symbol of renewal…
A creative habit
One year has gone by.
I’ve been thinking about past pandemic year, with all exacerbated emotions, very much lows, and very much highs… a lot of emotions and stress and tension, both at home and at work.
For some of us, quarantine was a time of renewed creative energy, and for others, it was a necessary pause from a busy pre-pandemic life and a busy new pandemic life with all organisation of daily life upside down. How is this one year milestone is affecting you?
Skills versus talent
What if talent isn’t nearly as important as skill? Are there creators who have made up for lack of magical talent by earning a skill instead?
What skills would transform your work?
Does anyone else have that skill?
Do you care enough to learn it? What would it require for you to gain the skill you need?
Layers of looking and playing
I hope you’re going well in this first month of 2021?
I want to share some creative inspiration with you, to get you going and make the best out of this year !
First of all I want to talk about Ian Fennelly’s book that was published at the end of 2020 by Studio 51 Boutique.
As you probably know if you already took a workshop with him: Ian is a very generous teacher, and this is a very generous book in which he shares his creative process with a lot of details, loads of images and beautiful descriptions.
