Observational doodles - tiny studies

Inspired by Création CeeCee, what started as quick and simple watercolour and mixed media doodles in a 3x3 grid, these tiny artworks have taken a life of their own. They now take days rather than an hour or so, as I can't resist painting the tiny details! I still call them doodles, but they're now a lot more involved. The challenge I set for myself is to

  1. go for a photo walk
  2. observe and photograph nine related things (usually more, so I can pick and choose)
  3. choose a limited colour palette
  4. swatch nine patches using a related set of colours and a range of tonal values
  5. create nine tiny watercolour artworks in the patches, often embellished with gold watercolour, pen, ink, pencil, and other mixed media.

I love using these studies to explore new ideas, colour spaces, and subjects. They look super-cute as framed sets too. Most have a seasonal theme, and I usually try to pop a bird into each.

Initially, I didn't intend to sell them, but when I started posting them on Instagram, I got requests to buy them. So as well as the originals, I now also create prints in limited-editions of 30. If I've used gold accents, I embellish the prints too, for that extra touch! 

I always use the same grid, so the painted area of the artworks are matched for size. The originals may vary in overall paper size and type, but the prints are all on A5 fine-art paper.

Do you like setting yourself artistic challenges too?

Fine-art prints

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    Hand signed

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  • Three fine-art prints in small, medium, and large sizes

    Multiple sizes

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  • Print of a tui coming out of the printer

    Archival printing

    Each print is created with archival inks and archival heavy-weight fine-art paper.
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