Experience the simple joy and mindful benefits of creating observational art in nature with award-winning illustrator Emma Carlisle.
Discover Emma’s top tips for getting started with painting outdoors, and watch her free step-by-step tutorial on how to make a mixed media artwork ‘en plein air' using materials from Griffin of Easton, an inspiring new destination for fine stationery and artists' materials within Easton Walled Gardens in Lincolnshire.
“I’m going to be using a carefully chosen selection of Wallace Seymour materials from Griffin of Easton to walk you through techniques, tips and advice for combining gouache and ink to create mixed media artworks at home and out on location,” says Emma.
“I’ll be using the Kendal Green Ink, the Violet Grey Gouache, the Sinabrese Gouache and the Yellow Ochre Light Gouache. I’ve also got a really special Turquoise Cobalt Deep Lustre Ancient Drawing Material, a Pith sketchbook, a jar of paint water, some kitchen roll and a selection of paintbrushes.”
WATCH THE TUTORIAL
Lesson 1: Play
“A low-pressure way to learn how to use the materials at home before you take them out on location, seeing how they react with and layer over each other.”
Lesson 2: Mark-making in the landscape
“Tips and advice for working on location and how we can use the materials we've experimented with in our sketchbook.”
Lesson 3: Adding detail
“Adding final details with pencil, bringing together some of the looser marks we've made and using observations from being out on location to add details such as trees, hedgerows and tone.”
Keen to give drawing outdoors a go? Read Emma’s 10 top tips for getting started:
1. It all starts with a sketchbook…
“Firstly, find a simple sketchbook that you're happy with. I prefer a smooth sketchbook for pencil crayons because if you have a rough paper, it'll pick up all the texture. But my friend who's a watercolor artist prefers cold-pressed paper that's got that texture in it, so it depends what materials you like using.”
2. Remember, there are no rules…
“You don’t have to use sketchbooks in a prescriptive way.. You could work on one side of the page, or you could work in panels, or you could work across the whole thing. What I love about a sketchbook is if you don't like what you’ve drawn, you can just turn the page and start again, or you can simply close the sketchbook.”
3. Multi-tasking materials make light work…
“Multi-purpose materials are great when you're out on location because one thing can create multiple different textures. I love having a selection of materials that do multiple things, like a pencil, crayon or pastel that’s also water soluble, or a gouache that you can layer thickly or thin-down. That dual-purpose element is brilliant. Plus it definitely helps with traveling light!”
4. Make notes to refer to back home…
“If I find myself out on location and I don't have a particular material or colour with me to capture something I’ve seen, I just make notes in my sketchbook to describe what it was and then work on it when I get back home.”
5. Keep one sketchbook for play…
“I have a sketchbook which is purely for playing around with different materials. So I'll see how gouache layers over ink, for example, and then flip it and see what happens if I put the gouache down first with ink over the top. Then I'll bring in other materials – like a water-soluble crayon or a coloured pencil crayon – and see how that sits with the other elements. You’ll probably end up with a big mess, but you’ll have learned through making it. And then you can take those learned techniques out on location with you.”
6. Keep an open mind…
“Often I don't actually know what's going to happen on the page until I've sat down in front of the object or view. So if I see something like a daffodil, one day I might want to capture that in one material and one day I might want to do it in different material. Try not to plan ahead too much or set expectations that might be hard to meet.”
7. Limit materials to let creativity flow…
“I used to take absolutely everything out with me – acrylic markers, paint, ink, pencils, crayons, pens, multiple sketchbooks, and even things that I would never normally choose like collage and Pritt Sticks and scissors. When you're first starting, it's hard to narrow it down because you don’t yet know what you like working with. But I find that the fewer things you have with you, the harder you have to work and the more creative you can become. It forces you to be cleverer with what you're using and even unlock new ways of using those limited materials.”
8. Mix it up depending on the season…
“Having some core materials and colours that go out with you everywhere is great, and then you can add in different pops to your kit depending on the season. In spring, for example, you could add a pop of yellow for daffodils or purple for some crocuses.”
9. Lean into layering materials…
“I like how versatile ink can be. You can put it down in layers, and then you can work over the top of that. I also like putting gouache directly onto the sketchbook page – so not even using a palette – just blobbing out gouache colours and then mixing them on the page. You can mix the gouache either with water, or with the inks, which is interesting because it'll change the colour of the gouache slightly, but it'll also make it harmonise with the ink colour.”
10. Refresh and wind down, naturally…
“I've always got the land&water lavender Natural Hand Gel in my bag, which smells amazing and is great for refreshing your hands on location. And then I've also got the Bath & Body Oil, which makes me feel like I’ve been to a spa. I've had so many compliments since I've started using it!”
