2022 Calendar

 Hello!

For the so many times I have been wanting to write on my blog in the last few months, 

always I had to do it only in my mind, as life was far too busy!

But I have wonderful news,

my 2022 Calendar is out in the world!

This project came from my drawings in the woods,

on the Isle of Wight, where I live.

I spent so many hours in the woods, during these crazy time of lockdown,

and I loved the calm and energy that Nature brings.

There is a sense of magic in there,

every corner is filled with nurturing beauty.

If I sat in the same spot for a while,

 I started to notice sounds, and scents, and to look at things differently.

At a different scale, a different pace.

I also wanted to give to each month, a little tiny story to keep company and inspiration,

 together with lots of fun days to celebrate.

Some days where too hot, some too stormy, but always I will have 

great memories of these times spent "alone".

Also, when it happens that I visit those places again, is like going to see an old friend.

I see them changed, and it is always magic.

All images were done in my Royal Talens sketchbook,

with a variety of medium.

Then I edited them digitally.

I love to print locally, as I want to supervise the process and make sure the colours are true to life.

My packaging are also done with special care

 (look at my homemade stamp, woodland deliveries ready!)

When possible, I ship plastic free.

This product, made ALL by the efforts of one mind and one heart, 

now are ready to travel the world, and meet all the lovely people

who love nature, and handmade things.

Thank you always for your support, you can find my

woodland shop here

For breakfast... Me? I'm having pencils

 I am not the only creative person

that at the start of the year

felt not creative, burnt out and tired as ever...

So, following the suggestion of some arty friends,

I joined a breakfast drawing club.

Yes, we meet at breakfast time

(actually we are in different time zone,

so some of us might have late breakfast, or even dinner!)

and we draw.

We use photos as references, our ones, or from a variety of 

Free Stock websites (see here, here and here )

and we time our drawings, starting with quick warm ups, then longer "poses" .

The goal is to move our hand on paper, stop feeling precious 

in our work and with materials, and keep practising, together.

Right now, that the word "together" has the most muted meaning of history.

I found this habit started to shift my way of working..

I am not willing to spend ages to perfect a drawing anymore, and I love mark making more than ever.

I think a lot about texture and constantly try new colour palettes.

As a freelance artist, I spend lots of time on my own,

and I have felt very isolated in the last years.

Well, this experience gave me a community, lots of laughs and...

many filled sketchbooks!

I even set up my own group,

that I called Earth Drawing Club (as we are all nature lovers!)

I love the arty chats and encouragement we give to each other,

not only about the drawings, but for ongoing projects and personal life too!

Thanks to these chat, I also found an interesting book

about inner critic, which seems to be always on the look for turning a nice drawing experience 

into a tough art critique... I leave you the link here if you are interested, 

I got the audio version and loved listening in my walks...

I encourage everyone to give this a try, even if it sounds silly at first.

You might discover a new love!

Speak soon,

happy drawing!

Lucia

Real life Exhibition

 Hey,

real life event are happening again!

I will have a super colourful exhibition

at Monkton Arts,

in Ryde (Isle of Wight)

from April the 14th for all the month.

Open Wednesdays and Thursdays from 10,30 to 4pm.

I have on display new work and I will be there for a chat 

on Wednesday the 21st , if you fancy !

Arty Walks are back!

 Hi folks,

My Arty Walks are back!

This is an event I started last year, where I guide

nature lovers through some interesting parts of the Isle of Wight,

we learn about wild foraging, 

and then we sit in a nice location and sketch!

It has been so fun so far, and with the social restrictions

slightly lifting, I couldn't wait to start again...

The first will be this Saturday April 17th 2021,

In Alverstone.

I will share my sketchbooks and tips for sketching outdoors, and also

foraging recipes and tasty nibbles.

To book your place or for  information on next walks,

drop me a message on my Instagram page,

or through my Website 

Let's Illustrate a recipe! For Kids

                                            "What if Art could find its way to the kitchen?

And food could become an imaginative activity too?

To answer these questions

I made a free video tutorial for kids,

 now available on my Website (here) and Youtube channel (here).

We are going to create our own

favourite recipe book (print this cover if you like!)

The video is all about fun, imagination, and healthy taste, and

here you can download the recipes to go with the activity

And if you fancy, print also the characters cutouts!

I hope your kids will enjoy!

Location drawing

Location drawing is my biggest and best discovery  of 2020.

It started off with a chat with Ness Wood, mentor at Orange Beak Studio , where I booked

an online tutorial to see how I could improve my art.

Ness's suggestion was to "go out and draw from observation", 

and since it was summer, and lockdown in the Uk had been lifted, I decided to give it a go.

The first times I mostly had to do with my fear, on the page, but every time I went out to draw, it got a bit easier. Easier to accept mistake and to brave experimentation.

I tried new materials, less paint and more dry tools, like coloured pencils and markers (easier to carry).

I used gouache to correct things, and that made me feel more relaxed: mistakes can be fixed!

If there was a sketch I particularly liked, once back in the studio I carried on working on it. 

I could see new themes, likings and rhythms coming up.

Generally I try to go out once a week, even now that is autumn. I plan my day according to the forecast. The coldest I sat down to draw was 4 degrees, and it was bearable for an hour, to lay down the composition and fix in my mind the values, take some pictures and... lots of hot rosehip tea.

Location drawing reminded me that I got a BA degree in landscape painting... it seems ages ago!

At university we went out with giant canvases and paint what we saw, and what I like was to be out, but not so much to paint realistically.

What  I really love of this new habit , is that I can travel light (ish!)

and that I can play with my imagination. Wildly.

I see stories and animals in my drawings, and I let them in.

I can decide which colours to use, even if they are not true to nature

( as long as I stick with the values, light and dark areas).

This excites me immensely. 

Nature and art are my favourite things on the planet, and I got to enjoy them both at the same time!

The way I decide about my subject is

by walking around, and waiting to see a place, even just a corner, that makes me feel

the magic I felt when I was a child.

I loved to tuck myself under trees and bushes and imagine I was a creature of the woods.

I lived their stories in my mind, by finding their homes.

What I take with me , basically is:

-Sketchbooks, I use Royal Talens

-My colour sketchbook, a place where I note all my favourite colour combination

-Markers, I like Tombow dual tip and Ecoline Brush markers

-Coloured pencils, my favourites are Luminance by Caran D'Ache

-A selection of acrylic gouache , by Holbein Acryla Goauche

Then a tiny container for water, couple of kitchen papers or tissues, and a

small plastic box with a secure lid,

where I put some wet tissues and some tracing paper cut to size on top, 

and this is a simple "stay-wet" palette if I need.

Brushes (nothing fancy), sharpener and rubber. 

Ta-daaa!

If you feel inspired, in the spring I will do more of my Arty walks

on the Isle of Wight,

where I share tips and inspiration to sketch outdoors.

On my Instagram feed, 

Lucia.elfina.para 

I post also the photos of the places where I go,

if you fancy a look!

Woodland treasures

 Here in Britain

Autumn has arrived.

With all its treasures, and a more chilled air.

The woodlands are beautiful in this season, and I feel so grateful

to be able to sit there, observe, listen and draw.

 

This is my first year spent drawing outside

and I cherish these moments

like the ones spent with a loved one. Precious.

I also went for a few days in Italy, 

while was still possible to travel without to many restrictions

(at least from Britain to Italy).

The things I treasure the most of this trip

are the days out in Nature.

Every place has its special feeling, scents, and colours.

I  find Italian woods very different the British ones,

they are drier in a way, but still vibrant and full of life 

and perhaps more sweet scents...

 I have of them lots of memories

of walking with my little dog, almost 10 years ago now.

What I like of nature, and hope you will agree,

is that it always gives something new, always has a new light, different air, sounds...

Always welcomes you in a different mood, but always listens.

The possibility to spend time in a place, visit it often, to get familiar with it, 

and to experience its ever changing atmospheres, is what makes me feel at HOME.

Autumn is also a time where many of us feel the need to retreat,

to find the space inside.

And this is also what I feel, these days, specially when it gets dark.

Yesterday I went out collecting acorns to make ACORN COFFEE, 

a recipe I discovered this year and put in my 2021 Woodland Calendar.

This special drink is also what I will take with me this Saturday in my 

second Arty Walk, to taste together while we walk in the woods.

During these weeks,

I have also added new items to my Etsy shop,

You can now order a framed print of your favourite image I created,

a service many people had asked me for , and now is available!

Plus new homemade treasures on the way,

for your Christmas gifts (also listed in my Etsy shop)!

I am sure this autumn will gift us

many colours and discoveries!

Till next time,

take care of yourself... there is not a bigger treasure.