Makings and Musings Community

It was so warm here this weekend,( and it was a long weekend here in the UK too), a bit too warm for painting in my studio. However, I did make lots of sketches whilst sitting in the garden and I did these larger A3 pages this afternoon.

Hello everyone,

I wanted to ask you something and see what you think.

I am going on holiday for the first week of June, which means I will not be here for our usual Thursday art class on the 4th of June because I will be in Albania. This trip has come together quite spontaneously, and unfortunately I cannot bring all of my usual teaching equipment with me like my laptop, tripod, camera setup and all the bits I need to properly host a full class.

However… I had another idea that could actually be really lovely.

Instead of a structured class, we could do a very relaxed creative get-together on Zoom for an hour or so. You could all bring your own art materials and work on a project of your choice whilst we spend some creative time together online. I will just use my phone to join from…

This is how far I got, new cupboards are in, most art materials stored away (Still sorting through some things) and I’m planning to paint a mural on the other wall :)

I also need to decide what to do with the big pile of paintings I made over the years, many practice art pieces and lots from old classes (prior to 2021)

Thank you Irene for my prize which has just arrived. I'm getting through pencils so fast since joining this community, and these are the colours I use most of

Hi everyone, this is what I’m up to this weekend, removing this monster of a corner unit, cleaning the walls and redesigning my studio space 🤗

It’s a job long overdue but it’s going to look great once it’s finished!

Hi everyone,

I decided to run a little (big) poll to see what art materials you all have and what you would like to learn about. You can select all the topics you are interested in.

It is helpful for me to know what peaks your curiosity and perhaps there is things I should include that I have not used for a while.

I am planning to film more art material reviews (as I did with the alcohol inks for example). These are one off recordings to introduce you to new art materials. I can also include specific art materials in my weekly zoom sessions - as a material specific session or included in mixed media.

Hi everyone, Last Thursday we spoke about paint brushes and I promised to put together a little list of recommendations.

I have a huge amount of brushes but to be honest, there is only a few that I use most.

These are my favourites at the moment:

Travel set (beautiful and practical)

I’ve been really enjoying this compact set from Fuumuui. It’s perfect for taking out and about as the bristles are protected and there is different sizes and shapes in the set.

• Fuumuui travel brush set

  
  

https://makingsandmusings.thrivecart.com/l/membership-creative-community-recordings-group-live-events-etc/

There are 91 classes in the new library at the moment and I will add the rest over the next weeks. Please do have a look around and let me know what you think!

This group is staying exactly the same, the library will just be an new addition:

Hello everyone,

I wanted to let you know about a small change that will be happening next week, and I want to explain it clearly so there are no surprises.

First of all, please know that your membership stays exactly as it is.

This community group will remain the same. You will still be able to share your art, ask questions, connect with one another and with me. I will still upload the recordings the day after our live sessions, just as I always have. Nothing is being taken away.

What is changing is that I have created a new library where you will be able to watch past class recordings much more easily.

Over the years, I have built up almost 300 class recordings. Many of them are already inside this group, but they can be quite difficult to find. I wanted to create a better, simpler way for you…

I really enjoyed the colours in this but the items are not very realistic!

I would like to try this process again soon.

Hello everyone, a quick update about the Zoom link for our Thursday classes.

I have now created a brand new recurring Zoom meeting with a new link. The links I shared previously will no longer work, so please make sure you use the new link from now on. This new one will be the link for all Thursday sessions going forward, until further notice.

This is the new link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83455631687

It turns out the issue was caused by a technical problem with the old recurring meeting. The links looked exactly the same, but behind the scenes Zoom had created a different version, which meant it did not work properly for some people. I have done a bit of digging and I now understand what went wrong, so this should be properly fixed.

Thank you so much to those of you who flagged the issue, that was really helpful.

I’ve just shared a new video underneath where I explore alcohol inks.

This is not a material we’ll be using in our community classes, so there is no need to rush out and buy anything.

I simply wanted to show you what alcohol inks are, how they behave, and what they can do. It’s very much an inspiration and curiosity video rather than a tutorial to follow along with.

If you already have some alcohol inks at home, you might enjoy giving them a little play after watching. And if you ever come across them in a shop, you’ll now have a sense of what they’re used for.

It’s all about exploring and learning together, without pressure. I hope you enjoy having a little look at this playful material with me.

Hi everyone, I hope you had a lovely Christmas period. Some of us spent these days with family, some with friends and others alone. Whatever your situation is and if you celebrate or not, I hope you have had a lovely few days with joy and creativity!

I’m almost back home with lots of creative plans for you to join in with soon!

Hi everyone, I love seeing your creations while I’m away both here and the wintery paintings in the courses group!

I naturally took some art materials with me on holiday, a few pens, pencils and a small set of watercolours.

Hi everyone,

I have just added all current members to my new course, Wintery Watercolours. You should have received an email a moment ago with the steps to sign in.

You now have full access to the course. When you click the link in your email, you can sign in with your email address and create a new password. Once you have done that, you will be able to reach the course any time.

A new painting will open each day for seven days. You will keep access to the whole course for as long as you like.

If you have any trouble logging in, please tell me. I am here to help today. You do need to set a new password, so please look out for that step.

Here is the login link once more (to use after you set a password by clicking the email you received) :…

Hi Everyone, Next week is the last zoom class of 2025. What would you like to do?

Hello lovely creatives,

I wanted to let you know a little bit in advance that the Makings and Musings Creative Community will be taking a short winter break this year. I’m going to take a proper rest — me and my husband are heading off on our honeymoon, and I’m planning to leave all things work-related behind for a few weeks. We are going to Egypt and I am so excited about it!

That means there will be no live sessions from 7th December until early January. My last live session before the break will be on Wednesday 4th December, and I’ll be back for our first session of the new year on Wednesday 8th January (unless I decide to add one on New Year’s Day, but probably not!).

During this break, there are two options for your membership:

• ✳️ Pause your membership — payments will be paused, and you won’t have access to…

I love being part of this group and learning together. I think it's so inspiring to share our processes and Art and love seeing everyone's Art. I hope I'm not being too keen to share mine. I am getting carried away with excitement 😄

For September I looked at another art material to show you. This time it’s Conté Sticks.

They are a bit of a mix between charcoal and pastel sticks but harder (and therefore more precise).

Watch here:

I’m curious to hear if you know these and if you ever tried them.

Xxx irene

Thank you for the gifts Irene. Lovely. Made my day 🙂 look forward to getting creative

Hi everyone,

Staedtler is hosting an art competition this month (until the 15th October) and they have asked me to help promote it. Because of that I have some lovely art materials from Staedtler to give away in this months giveaway. There are loads of great prizes in the competition, the first prize is a trip to their headquarters in Germany and loads of art materials too.

I’ll tell you more about it on Thursday 😊

The theme is ‘Inspired by Nature’

https://www.staedtler.com/uk/en/discover/design-journey-international-creative-challenge-2025/?utm_campaign=DJ-Creative-Challenge-Social&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=instagram

A warm welcome to the new members who joined the community this week!

Please have a look around and use the topic buttons to find recordings to watch.

We are drawing together on zoom on MONDAY this week (instead of Thursday) and we are using colour pencils.

I’m visiting the birthplace of John Constable this weekend, enjoying the English countryside and going for some long walks.

See you tomorrow, and if you cannot make it live the recording will be available shortly after.

In this workshop I share one of my favourite mediums with you – watercolour pencils. They are such a joy because they combine the precision of a coloured pencil with the softness and flow of watercolour paint.

Watch Here:

I begin by showing you different ways to use them: sketching dry, adding water afterwards, and even dipping the pencil straight into water for stronger marks. I explain why these pencils are wonderful for travel sketching and why I prefer starting with colour instead of graphite.

Together we explore a peaceful countryside landscape. I guide you through placing the horizon, hills and a lake, and we add a little sheep in the foreground using very simple shapes. You will see how I block in colours, layer greens and blues to create depth, and keep the sheep light so we can return with details later.

I show you how adding water brings…

Hi everyone, I hope you all are having a lovely week! Alan and I had the most amazing wedding this weekend! It was calm but also full of joy and love with lots of food, music and dancing 🥰 I’m more than happy to share a few more pictures in a few days but for the time being we are going away together on a walking holiday through the English country side.

I am sure youbwill all really enjoy Bel’s class next week (I’m a little sad I cannot join in myself 😊) and I’ll see you all the week after!

Xxx Irene

In this class, I will guide you in drawing your own personal map. Together, we explore how to turn your experiences, memories, and dreams into a beautiful and imaginative artwork. You will learn simple drawing techniques that help you shape islands, forests, mountains, and other landmarks—each one representing something meaningful in your life.

Watch Here:

You can follow along with me, or you can make the map truly your own by adding symbols and stories that matter to you.

I created five themes to help get you started:

• A meaningful journey

It arrived a week ago. What a pleasant surprise to discover an international package in my mailbox. There are two items I invite you to notice: One is the blue sun print. My daughter and I made them oftrn on camping trips. The other is a teeny tiny, light violet item I challenge you to find. Great fun, gave me a chuckle. Looking forward to breaking in the small sketchbook on one of my walks.

Thank You, Irene. This is a special tradition you are building.

PS. the photo's sides are cut short in this post. I couldn't find a way to change it.

Hello Creative Community!

I wanted to let you know that I’ve created a new group just for anyone who has ever joined one of my Makings and Musings courses.

This new group is the perfect place to share pictures of your artwork, ask questions, share your progress, and connect with other course participants.

If you’ve taken a course with me before or are currently in one, I’d love to see you there!

Here’s the link to join: https://www.makingsandmusings.com/group/courses/discussion

Hope to see you soon!

Grab a material to draw blobs with, and something for details.

I used a marker for the large shapes and a pencil for the lines.

and don't forget to share your drawings in the homework group- I love o see your creations!

Homework group

#artclass #class #drawing #colourpencil #crayon #shoes #illustration #draw #mixedmedia

Sketch notes, or visual note taking is a fun way of recording your thoughts.

In this class I will introduce you to the basics. How to organise your page, the basic shapes to use for any drawing and we are sketchnoting a route we regularly walk or run.

Burnishing is a colour pencil drawing technique that creates soft blends and smooth textures. In this session I show you how I use it to create this drawing of a balloon puppy.