Category: blog

When I work outdoors, I travel light. Charcoal, soft pastels, pastel pencils, a sketchbook, drawing board, and enough awareness to catch what might otherwise go unseen. I don’t take paints. They’ve never felt necessary. For me, it’s charcoal and pastel that respond best to what I’m drawn to: the shifting light, the textures of place, […]

Planning your painting before laying a brush to paper is essential when it comes to watercolor. You have to know where you will use which technique, where you would like the white of the paper to remain, how you will build your painting from light to dark, etc. The reason why this is so important […]

Artists do not merely look at the world; they learn to see it — with attention, with purpose, and often, with evolving sensitivity. What we rarely consider is how the very tools we use to make art shape this act of seeing. Each medium — from charcoal to chalk, from pencil to brush — carries […]

I’ve often found, when I’m deeply immersed in creating art, that I enter a space similar to the mindset I’ve experienced in Japanese martial arts. A phrase from Kenjutsu always comes to mind: enzan no metsuke — “gazing at the far mountain.” It’s about seeing without staring, taking everything in without focusing on any one thing, yet […]

In recent North Coast Artists “Think-Factory” get-togethers, we’ve begun to look at how we as artists value our work (how we price our art), and, as we begin to grow in terms of exposure and marketing reach, we’ve had cause to reflect on the quality of work we are putting out there, both as the […]

I have to chuckle to myself. Yesterday (or was it the day before?), I had the perfect idea for an article, yet because I had a million-and-one other things on the go simultaneously, when it came to actually drafting it, the aforementioned ‘perfect idea’ had vanished into the ethers. Today, as I reach the very […]

A recent barefoot hike with friends through the lush indigenous forest of Everton Conservancy, in Durban’s Upper Highway area, offered up, just as I had hoped, the topic for this month’s article. After recent rainfall, the earth underfoot was cool and energizing, although slippery in places, as our path took us alongside the equally refreshing […]

I’ve known a great many creatives over the years, of varying levels of expertise and talent, some more well-known than others, either locally or abroad, yet to me, each and every one are equally representative of that infinite creative essence I refer to as Source*. When using the term ‘creatives’, I include all manner of […]

As I pen this article on the 11th of November 2024, it’s been two days since yet another glorious North Coast Artists’ gathering — always a coming-together of friends for the love of visual art, from all walks of life and spanning perhaps three generations. As always, it’s a wonderful source of inspiration and creative […]

Creating en plein air allows us to discard reference imagery gleaned off any other of the plethora of online image resources out there; it’s a living, limitless, three-dimensional image bank, and it’s all right there in front of us, waiting for us to zoom in or zoom out to our heart’s content.  I was chatting to a […]

Since moving back to Malawi four years ago, I have had to adapt and plan to accommodate the challenges of being a watercolor artist here. We live in a beautiful space on the beach of Lake Malawi, but it is a country with so many challenges. Still one of the poorest countries in the world […]

In last month’s blog post, I probed the question of how we determine the value of our art. It’s a very pertinent subject, particularly for us at North Coast Artists, as we slowly begin delving into the potential of gaining international exposure for our work — so for this article I’d like to explore the topic a […]

Picasso famously said “good artists borrow, great artists steal.” Sometimes artists plagiarise without even thinking about it and some don’t consider the ethical ramifications. I was teaching an art class years ago where I put out a bunch of photos for people who did not bring their own photos. The works were later exhibited. A […]

Each and every single one of us has an unwritten, unconscious, yet nevertheless indelible value, and we are continuously exhibiting our value through our thoughts and deeds. All too often, however, we allow others to define that value. When it comes to art, many of us artists have great difficulty in placing a value or […]

Every now and then you meet someone or have an experience that makes you take stock of your own situation, a reminder of that irksome gratitude for what you have;  when the reality check confronts you,  restoring your faith in human kind. This story is about courage, resilience and a determination to overcome and give […]

Of Ocean & Art And I have loved thee, Ocean! and my joyOf youthful sports was on thy breast to beBorne like thy bubbles, onward: from a boyI wantoned with thy breakers — they to meWere a delight; and if the freshening seaMade them a terror — ’twas a pleasing fear,For I was as it […]

(Still thinking…) In last month’s blog, I spoke of a personal journey with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and how it had proved to be a great time saver in my creative process. In essence, AI is the science of making machines that can think like humans. One thing is for certain: AI is here to stay…and […]

Last year, I wrote an article about the burgeoning realm of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its negative effects on the human factor in perceiving art and imagery. Not that I wish to recant the claims I’d made, but I have had cause to reflect on my standpoint and shift perspective somewhat over the intervening months […]

The answer is yes and again yes! I highly recommend that every artist should enter art competitions.  I was terrified when I first did. The thrill of eventually being recognized, even if only a mention, was a major WOW for me.  It is a huge challenge to enter and especially when you are an inexperienced […]

From time to time, the subject of plagiarism comes up on my scope, and I feel it begs addressing — so I hope to shed a little light on the matter.  The definition of plagiarism is, according to Oxford Dictionary: “the practice of taking someone else’s work or ideas and passing them off as one’s […]