30 days of Mandalas births........'The Mandala Orb'

April 2016 I set myself the project of creating 30 mandalas as a way of making sure I made art everyday.

Not only did it get the creative juices flowing but it also developed as I combined my love of colour with hand drawn mandalas and so the mandala orb was born.

I absolutely love creating these gorgeous little gems. Colour plays a big part in my life and artwork so to be able to find a way of incorporating it into my detailed drawings has been really fun!

My next project is to paint BIG mandala orbs! .....I can't wait to get started!!!

Traveling through a painting

Here's a quick look at my latest painting. I've only just started it and after a couple of layers some really interesting things are happening. Already there are gorgeous patterns, marks and real depth thats appearing.

Sometimes I love to get up close and personal to a painting to really see the textures and each little part on its own, all the parts that sometimes get lost when you look at a painting as a whole.

I also do this in art galleries, I like to get as close to a painting as possible (without touching it) to really admire each brush stroke or mark in its own glory. All these small elements are little gems that really add the beautiful depth, detail and soul to the whole painting!

I can't wait to see where this one goes!
Zoe :)

Watch me painting....

I love to paint abstract pieces, this one from last year show my process of building up layers. I love to see a painting appearing as if by magic on the page!

Zoe Howarth Video; a snippet of my creative world

Zoe Howarth; Mixed media, Art Journaling and Paint: http://youtu.be/VOVbyyJfXD0

The magic of Abstract and Doodles!

During some experimenting in my recent work I have discovered a surprising magic in combining my love of yummy textured abstract painting with fine line doodling!

A couple of my recent posts show these 2 techniques separately;
  "Being brave with layers" and
  "Black and White Doodles - Patterns Everyday"

Combining these 2 very different techniques has been really exciting and has surprised me to find that I can use my doodles to accent certain areas and brush marks of my abstract paintings.

Here's a snippet of some pieces I've been working on over the last few weeks. This is definitely something I want to play with and develop more!

Lush Layer Love!!! ♡

So after being brave and pushing myself with my painted layering process I'm putting this new found love into practice.  By repeating the process I hope that it will make it easier each time and help to grow my creative confidence as I go, striving onward into the unknown!

Here I have started with some intuitive abstract painting.

Then adding a layer of stencilling in contrasting colours.

One of my favourite layers is then to go back in with blocks of paint that I smudge into the paper with my finger. This layer really helps to tie the previous layers together. 

Lastly I love to add in details with fine line pens, adding in doodles and decorative shapes that give a focal point. 

Being brave with layers

Sometimes it's hard to take the next step with a painting. To be bold and throw yourself in headfirst with the next layer, moving the painting forward into unknown territory.  But this is the learning curve. This is where the real magic happens, the surprises, the new direction. This is what helps build the story of the painting and create something special.

Painting process, from start to finish!

Painted Pattern Pages

I love creating patterned pages to use as collage papers.  I tear then up and use the pieces as added colour/texture/detail in the backgrounds of my paintings. A great way to start adding layers to create something totally unique to you! Love the process, that's where the magic happens!

Layer#27 Stencil relief

I really love this technique. The strong bold sections of untouched colour combined with the the suggested outlines of the stencils and the textured white areas. The brayer has left previous layers to peak through here and there adding subtle hints of hidden depths. I think this could look even more beautiful with detail drawn over the top.

Layer#26 Abstract painting

Patterns Everyday; Combining #1 & #2

Starting with my expressive abstract page (Patterns Everyday #2) I have collaged small pieces of my painted patterns (Patterns Everyday #1) to add extra details and layer up my page. I have then painted, doodled and stamped over the top to create the final page.

Layer#25: Pattern Collage

I have really loved working with my painted pattern pages. This has been a really fun way to add lots of painted areas and new detail to my painting whilst being able to test the placement of the patterns before committing to their final position.

I love incorporating them into the background colours and shapes from previous layers and helping all aspects work together as a whole new composition! Next step; paint over collage!!!

Layer#24 February's first layer: composition

Layer#23 Mark making, homemade style!

Today I really felt the urge to extend the arc that was appearing across the canvas.  It almost looks like a huge whirl of crazy paint that is literally engulfing the layer below just in the same way as a wave crashes in a torrent of white foam.

I have been quite expensive with this layer, creating my own mark making tools which includes a piece of cardboard that I used in the same way I would use a spatula, smearing and scraping the paint across the canvas.

I then used the wrong end of a paint brush to scratch into the think paint, creating interesting marks and texture.

It was then time for a contrast so I dipped a piece of string into some white gesso and proceeded to slap the canvas with the string. It left some beautiful strong marks all with a lovely curve to them.

I finished by using my fingers to splatter and spray the remaining white gesso (mixed with water) over the slapped areas.

I really enjoyed painting in this way, it made me feel really free and expressive, somehow coming away from it newly light hearted.

Layer#22 Stencilling

Added pattern detail through stencilling.

Layer#21 Blue acrylic arc

I don't know why I love blue so much but I do.maybe it's because I live by the sea?! That might explain the urge I had to create a large blue arc, I suppose it's quite representative of a wave.

I love the combination of creating bold solid colour with acrylic paint and then adding water to areas which loosens up the paint creating more of a transparent wash. Adding gravity to the mix creates these gorgeous striking streaky watery drips that cut their way across the piece.  Blue bold and beautiful!

Layer#20 Line quality

Having stripped back to quite a plain canvas I felt this was a good opportunity to stick with monochrome and add detail using different qualities of line.

I chose a colouring pencil, a charcoal stick, a biro and some heavy body acrylic paint- all black in colour to really differentiate between the mediums.

There were some surprising results. A combination of both fine and delicate lines with bold and chunky expressive marks creates a really beautiful and elegant combination that I think would work well as the finishing touches to a painting not just to add interesting detail to yet another layer as I have done here.

The biro created whirly swirly marks that are quite similar to handwriting but look so beautiful peaking out from behind the sporadic dark marks of the heavy acrylic.  The charcoal can smudge and blur as well as create gorgeous crisp lines as the pencil leaves a ghost like streak along side.

I think what I love most about these lines is the overall effect, how they seem to compliment one another to create something far more beautiful than each would individually.