I’ve been writing articles for this blog since 2016. My focus from the start was art and creativity because I had just finished an art course and I was transitioning away from freelance web design (which I had taught myself for fun over a period of several years after leaving University with an Archaeology degree…
In this article I will briefly outline the basic process of starting creative projects and then list some related software tools. Coming up with Ideas Write it Down Take notes whenever you have an idea or see something interesting you want to look into in more detail later. Unless you have amazing memory retention it…
My Experience with Making Patterns I haven’t written about seamless patterns on this blog before but I started learning how to do them several years ago around 2016 when I first got a copy of Affinity Designer. I even got paid by Affinity for making my first ever pattern design as part of there promotion…
During the art course I did from 2014–2015 I had to research and try different traditional methods for creating art. Previously to the course I had only used pencil, Biro and digital (Photoshop and Corel Painter). I’ve been drawing from an early age but I didn’t have access to expensive art mediums, just the basic…
Illustration is a method of communicating with images (visual communication), whether it be a story, a message or a feeling. Using art and words together helps explain or clarify otherwise difficult or complicated ideas. It helps create interest in new or unknown subjects and is good for holding peoples attention spans. There are different types…
Practising basic skills is more important than finding the right brushes or software. These basic skills are called the art fundamentals. Without foundational knowledge you will be more likely to get frustrated with your artwork. I’ve learned that even a tiny bit of knowledge can make a huge difference to your artwork. You can think…
Coming up with ideas for what to create can be pretty tricky, here are some methods I use. Random Generation The random generator approach is fun. Random generator websites exist for making generated phrases which might spark an idea or a whole picture in your mind. You can find lots of random idea generators on…
There are some more podcasts in particular I’ve found around the internet. Here is a round up of the ones I’ve listened to so far. Edit: I keep adding more as I find them so check back from time to time :-). Most are art related but listening to other topics such as science, social…