A Love Letter to my Garden

This piece in my sketchbook is an ode to my love of gardening! For over 10 years I lived in London in a series of flats with absolutely zero outdoor space, and yet a strong desire to grow things. I dabbled with growing things in pots on windowsills or in the front garden, but invariably things got blown over by the wind or stolen by passers-by, so I gave up and waited until I had a garden of my own. All that pent-up gardening energy means that I have thrown myself into looking after my garden with full force. Most evenings I can be found outside pottering around with a watering can and a pair of secateurs, deadheading and weeding, and just generally admiring.

My garden is pretty well established and some previous owner down the line has done some very thoughtful planting, which means every few weeks we are treated to a new surprise, with irises, hollyhocks and lilies popping up. I’m also full of plans for what I’d like to grow next year, I’d really like to try growing sweetpeas and zinnias. There’s always something to look forward to and something to do with the garden, I’m looking forward to picking tomatoes later in the summer, I’m excited about planting bulbs in the autumn, and i’m waiting with bated breath for my many dahlias to bloom. I could actually ramble about my garden for days, so I will stop now.

This piece was painted with gouache, coloured pencil and neocolor pastel in my Odd Orange sketchbook.

Art Retreat in Valencia

I’ve been back from my art retreat for just over a week and I’m still on a high from what an incredible experience it was, still busily working in my sketchbook recording my memories and making the most of all the inspiration. It’s hard to even know where to start. At the end of April I taught a week long art retreat with UpTrek just outside Valencia Spain with a wonderful group of women and we all had a magical time. During the week we focused on sketching and painting on location, using mixed media, developing a sketchbook practice, understanding colour theory, and capturing people. The week included day trips where we sketched on location in Valencia old town in the City of Arts and Sciences, as well as lots of time spent at the venue where I taught masterclasses and everybody had a chance to work in their sketchbooks and ask for help and advice.

For me as a teacher it was truly an honour to see my student’s work transformed in that week. I’ve done a lot of teaching before, but usually just for a couple of hours, maximum one day. It was really incredible to see students develop as artists, and for me as a teacher to be able to respond to them in real time and tailor the retreat to make sure they got the most out of it that they possibly could. I could see that for many of my students perfectionism and fear of making a mistake was holding them back. Some of my students were spending a really long time sketching and not painting, and when they did paint they were scared to add bold tonal contrast and texture. I took everybody to the Umbracle, a botanical garden in The City Arts and Sciences, and challenged everybody to do a 10 minute painting of a tree. Everybody picked a palm tree or an orange tree, gathered their materials, and then they add 10 minutes to paint it. And that was when the magic happened. People who had previously spent hours agonising over a painting, suddenly painted something beautiful in just 10 minutes, sometimes less. It’s amazing how the time restraint made people bolder and encouraged them to trust their own instincts. Everybody was amazed by what they had created! We did this exercise a few times and it was such a big breakthrough moment for people.

I also loved sharing my passion for painting on location. It was something that most people hadn’t done before, but sitting together painting, chatting, sharing materials and sipping on an orange juice or a Horchata and just felt so natural and people produced beautiful work imbued with memory and atmosphere. Valencia itself is such an incredibly beautiful city and was the perfect place to paint and gather inspiration.

For me the most wonderful thing about this trip, on top of seeing everyone’s artistic development, was how much everybody bonded and what a lovely group it was. We all had so much fun! Every evening at 7 we all gathered to share our sketchbooks over a glass of cava and a canapé. It was a real highlight for everyone. A favourite moment was going to see a flamenco show in Valencia, and our wonderful host Laura teaching us all some flamenco moves before we went. We had such a wonderful time! On the last night the venue hosts surprised me with a little book which they had asked all of my students to write a message in. It was so lovely it made me cry! And a few of my students got a little bit teary eyed as well.
A lot of people have been asking me if I will teach another retreat, and the answer is I would love to! I’m already making plans for next year, so watch this space, and sign up to my newsletter to be the first to hear about any new retreats.

My beautiful students looking very proud of their final pieces.

The Perfect Gouache Sketchbook

If you follow my work on Instagram, or read this blog you probably know that I love working in a sketchbook! However for awhile I’ve been searching for the perfect gouache sketchbook, and when I couldn’t find one I decided to design my own!

A5 in size with beautiful heavyweight white paper with a subtle texture perfect for gouache. The pages are thick enough that it holds paint well without it bleeding through to the other side meaning you can work on both sides of the paper. The paper is bright white with a subtle texture and the sketchbook is soft back and saddlestitched, which makes it really easy to scan and reproduce your work. There are two specially designed covers, both of which are fun, colourful and cute. I didn’t want the artwork on the cover to detract from the artist’s own artwork inside the sketchbook, but at the same time I wanted the sketchbooks to be really cute and to be instantly recognisable as an Emma Block sketchbook, hopefully I’ve found that balance! I’m so so excited to see what people create with them!

Gouache Sketchbook Online Course with Domestika

I am very excited to announce that I have a brand-new online course available with Domestika!! I’ve been working on this course with Domestika for quite some time and filmed it in their beautiful Islington studio earlier in the year. This course is all about one of my favourite things, working with gouache in a sketchbook! We look at using gouache, creating different consistencies of paint, creating textures, using different types of brush, colour theory as well as selecting reference photos, sketching and creating a final piece. We also look at how to scan, edit and reproduce your work, and even how to add hand lettering. I had so much fun filming this course and I am so excited to share the magic of working in a sketchbook with gouache with you!

You can watch the trailer to find out more.

Gouache Techniques for Sketchbook Illustration - A course by Emma Block from Domestika on Vimeo.

If this sounds like something you would be interested in click here to sign up at a special discount price, the course will be going live in one weeks time.

Filming this course was a really big deal for me as it was my first time being away from Herbie for that length of time. Just two weeks before he had been in hospital after a serious allergic reaction, so I was pretty anxious about the whole thing, but in the end I missed him way more than he missed me, which is usually the way with kids. I had so much fun making your course and I really hope you enjoy it.

A Feature in Art Supplies by Uppercase

My work has been featured in the beautiful new book Art Supplies, by Uppercase magazine. If you haven’t heard of them, Uppercase produce beautiful magazines and books focused on arts and crafts. This encyclopedia is packed with interviews from artists and artisans who are all united by a deep love of art materials. The photography in the book is just gorgeous, so many luscious colours and textures! It’s such an honour to be included. I love that this close-up photo of my crusty and trusty enamel paint palette has an entire page to itself. Here is a little excerpt from the interview with me. You can buy a copy here.

Here is a little excerpt from the interview with me. 

‘Dipping between the two gives Emma options, depending on what feel she is after: "People often ask me how I choose which one I use for a project, but I just have a sort of gut feeling. They both have such unique personalities. I find watercolours to be soft, romantic, light and delicate on the page. They can feel modern and fresh, or slightly traditional."
Gouache, on the other hand, plays nicely with other art supplies: “Gouache has a much bolder character; you can create such a richness of colour and texture, and it works so well with other mediums like coloured pencils. I love the versatility of gouache, the variety of textures that can be created and how you can control it with square and angled brushes. I also love the immediacy of it; gouache is quite a forgiving medium and will work well on most papers or sketchbooks, unlike watercolours which are a little bit more fussy.”’

Slow Travel with a Toddler

I’ve just got back from a holiday to Mallorca and it was truly blissful. It was our first holiday since having a baby and we brought my parents along as reinforcements. I kept my expectations low as I’d heard ‘it’s not a holiday, it’s parenting in a different location’ a million times, but to be honest it was lovely. I think the key was taking it very slowly (and having a 4 to 1 adult to toddler ratio). We didn’t sight-see, we didn’t go to markets or galleries, we didn’t do day-trips and we only ate out three times. We just relaxed and took things at Herbie’s pace and found that with his naps and early bed time there was actually a lot of time to just chill out and read. I even had time to set up a still life of some lemons I picked in the garden and paint them. We even embraced the cloudy days, painting the moody skies and wrapping up warm and going to the beach regardless. Here’s to taking things slowly. You can read my top tips for slow travel here, buy a copy of my guided journal Slow Travel here and see more of Mallorca in my post from 2018.

Petit Pleasures design for Papier

Papier asked me to create a fun illustrated pattern showing people enjoying various hobbies. I used rough gouache texture and a palette of soft complimentary colours. It has been used for their excellent wellness and productivity planners.

Getting Better at Drawing People

People often ask me how to get better at drawing people. The way to get better at drawing anything really is to draw from life and to practice. The best way to understand anatomy and facial structure is to go to a life drawing lesson, and I believe their are online life drawing classes. For me the best way to get better at drawing people in a more natural way, understanding how to show movement and body language, is people watching. Obviously at the moment location drawing trips can be tricky, so these are the two ways I’ve been drawing people in lockdown.

Number one, look out of your window. I live on busy road, people walk past my window all the time walking their dogs, going to the park, carrying their shopping. I try to take a mental picture of their outfit and posture and do a very quick sketch as they walk past.

Another great tool for drawing people going about their everyday lives is Google Maps! I’ve seen a lot of artists use Google Maps during lockdown for painting buildings and landscapes, but it’s also great for people. You can see enough of people walking down the street to get a sense of their character, how they dress, how they walk, but you don’t get caught up in tiny details as you can’t really see anyone’s face. I love visiting different areas I know on Google Maps and seeing how differently people behave in different spaced, people walking in a relaxed way by the seaside or people powerwalking or slumped over in the city. I’ve noticed how often couples and friends dress alike, and how they usually walk perfectly in step with each other.

The top row of the sketches were all created from google images, and the bottom row of people spotted from my window. I find these pages full of little people really useful and often adapt them for projects when I need someone walking or standing in a particular way.

Social Distancing Postcards for Pai

Pai Skincare asked me to illustrate a set of five social distancing themed postcards to send out with their orders. The idea is that people can send them out to friends and family who they can’t currently see during the lockdown.

Keeping a Sketchbook

Sketches from Paris

When I was at university keeping a sketchbook was of utmost importance. We had a sketchbook for each project we worked on and a personal sketchbook. We spent a huge amount of time drawing from life on location, in London and on class trips around the world. When I asked my tutors if I could take a week off school to go to Paris on my own and sketch they said yes. At the time I didn’t quite get the true importance of regular sketching, and sketches seemed like a means to an end, a way of progressing through a project. But when you sketch regularly you build up a personal reference library for yourself, that you can use it for years to come. When I’m starting a project and need reference images or inspiration the first place I go is to my sketchbooks. Whether I need an image of some roof tops, some spring flowers, or a couple walking, I know that I will have a sketch of that somewhere. Of course I could find reference photos online for all of those things, but it’s just so lovely to be able to use my own sketches as reference, to turn the pages of my sketchbook and have all the memories of that time and that project come flooding back.

Sketches from Peru

I fell out of love with sketchbooks for a few years, I think because I’ve always struggled with pencil sketches. I think in terms of colour, texture and shape, not line, so pencil was always a bit limiting for me. When I realised I could just paint straight into my sketchbooks instead of worrying about pencils it reinvigorated my sketchbook practice.

A sketchbook should be whatever you need it to be, it can be full of pencil sketches, notes, doodles, paint swatches, paintings both finished and half completed. Sketchbook is a place to record experiences and ideas.

Sketches from Mallorca

Sketches from Tuscany

Sketchbooks I like:

For watercolours – Hanhemule Watercolour Book

For gouache: Moleksine Art

For pencil sketches - Moleksine Cahier

Fabriano Bouquet Collection of 7

Finding your Style

I often get questions from people about finding their style, and yesterday I had a really great question. Somebody asked me how she could learn from me, but not just make replicas of what I teach and really make the drawings and paintings her own. I thought this was a great question, so I thought I would share my answer here in case it’s useful to anybody else.

Just for fun I have included some examples of my work from as early as 2006 up to last year. As you can see my style has changed hugely over this time as I’ve experimented with materials and my drawing skills have improved.

Personal work completed whilst I was at sixth form College

It is definitely tricky when you’re starting out for your work not to look too much like the illustrators that you admire.

Personal work completed whilst I was at sixth form college

My first piece of advice for finding own style is to draw from life. Set up a still life and sketch it, paint a vase of flowers, sketch your pet, try a self portrait. Drawing from life is really important to develop your drawing skills and to help you find your style.

Personal work completed while I was at university

The other thing is it’s important not to just be taking inspiration from contemporary illustrators. Create work inspired by your favourite films, or the books that you love. Look at illustration throughout history. Look at fine art, set design, photography. Try to find really broad sources of inspiration that represent your interests, and that will help you find your style.

Work from my final year of university

I hope that was helpful! Have you found your style, or are you still finding it?

Recent work from my sketchbook

Patterned Papers for Mollie Makes

I was excited to be asked to illustrate this months pull out prints for Mollie Makes. It’s so lovely when when one of your oldest clients (I’ve been working with them since 2013!) let you try out something new. For the set of prints and patterned papers I wanted to play around with a limited colour palette, contrasting areas of bold colour and delicate line work, plus lots of lovely texture. I’m so pleased with how they’ve turned out. The patterns on the back can be used for craft projects and the prints on the front can be pinned to your wall or framed.

Teaching with Watercolor Summit 0.2 Gouache Edition

One of my big goals for this year is to teach my first online workshop, and I am so pleased to announce that I am! I am so, so excited to be teaching along with seven other amazing artists in the Watercolour Summit 2.0 Gouache Edition. It’s an online creative summit, which means people from all around the world can join in.
I’m so excited to be sharing my knowledge on painting with gouache, with a particular focus on painting people.
Registration opens in April. Go to artsummits.com/emmab to sign up.

How to Sketch While You Travel

Is there anything more relaxing than sitting painting in the sunshine whilst on holiday? However it’s so easy to pack your paints and sketchbook in your suitcase and then leave them there all week! I’m definitely guilty of taking my art materials on holiday, but never actually using them. When you are on holiday and you’ve got a limited amount of time to do and see things it can be difficult to make time to sketch. Here are my top tips for making it happen.

Preparation

Paint
Think carefully about the materials you are bringing. You want to choose things that are compact and lightweight. At home I use a Schmincke Horadam Watercolour Set that comes in a metal tin, however this is very heavy, so on holiday I take this Winsor & Newton Watercolour Set which comes in a light plastic palette with lots of mixing space. It's the perfect paint palette for travelling with.

This was my first time travelling with gouache. I had just bought a set of Holbein Artists Gouache, which come in tiny 5 mL tubes. These teeny tiny tubes are perfect for travelling as they take up no space at all.

Brushes
Water brushes, brushes that contain water in the handle, are ideal for painting on the go. I also like to bring small travel brushes with me. The set of Winsor and Newton watercolours I linked to above comes with a size 5 brush with a short handle so it fits perfectly inside the palette. You can get travel watercolour brushes with detachable or retractable handles that keep the bristles intact whilst travelling.

Sketchbook
I might be completely biased, but I love my sketchbooks from Papier. Yes, they might have my illustrations on the front, but the paper inside is great for pencil sketching, gouache and watercolours. The sketchbook is paperback and staple bound so it opens up completely flat and is very light to pack. The pages are thick enough that you can paint on both side.

Pencils
If you are packing traditional pencils make sure you bring a pencil sharpener, and if you are taking a mechanical pencil make sure you bring some spare leads. I bought my Blackwing pencil with me which has a great rubber on the end.

Pencil case
I used a make up bag as a giant pencil case which I could fit my sketchbook, paint set, brushes and pencils into. Having everything all in one bag made it easy to keep everything together.

Choose your Colour Palette
It’s a good idea to pick a colour palette before you go as it will allow you to limit the amount of art supplies you need to bring. Some people might say that you never know what will inspire you, and therefore what colours you will need, but realistically knowing that I was going somewhere with stone houses with green shutters and lots of orange groves that I would need a good green, orange and stone colour.  Think about the place that you are going and the colours you are most likely to use. For example if I was going to Japan during cherry blossom season I would want to take some great pinks with me. If you are bringing watercolours you will probably just bring the whole set, this applies more to tubes of gouache, colour pencils or felt tip pens. On my holiday I brought five tubes of gouache - white, raw umber, permanent yellow, permanent green and flame red. I also took a set of watercolours.

Top tip -

If you are short of space you can just take a set of watercolours and a tube of white gouache. You can mix the pigment from the watercolours with the white on the palette to make gouache of different colours. 

Make it Happen
 

Make Time
Doing a sketch or painting takes a bit of time, it’s not like taking a quick photo. Plan times when you are likely to be able to do some painting and take your sketchbook out with you. I found that waiting for my food to arrive in a restaurant was a great time to sketch, as we were always eating outside in picturesque locations.

Compromise
One of the tricky parts of painting on holiday is compromising the people you are travelling with. Explain to your travel partner that you want to do some painting and suggest that they have a go sketching as well, or bring a book to read. On holiday I did lots of painting and my husband read. 

Edit
Don’t feel like you have to paint everything you see in front of you. If you are inspired by one small detail of what you can see, like a particular person, a beautiful tree, or a cute dog it is fine to just paint that one thing. It’s also fine if you don’t finish your painting or sketch in one sitting. Take photos of the scene and use them, plus your memory, to finish it later.

Save it for Later
If there is something you want to paint and you don’t have time grab a sneaky photo and paint it later. I always like to do some holiday paintings in my sketchbook when I get home whilst it is all still fresh in my mind.

Enjoy the Moment
Don’t worry about creating a masterpiece or a beautiful sketchbook. Painting on holiday is about the experience, not just the end result. Painting while travelling is a great way to force yourself to slow down and really take in your surroundings. Enjoy the moment and don’t worry too much about the outcome.

I hope those tips have inspired you to get painting on your next holiday. Let me know if you have any questions. Here are some great blog posts about sketching while traveling from my friends Jackie and Viktorija.

More from my trip to Mallorca coming up soon!

My Favourite Art Materials

I often get asked about the art materials I use, so I thought I'd list some of my favourites here.

For years I have used Winsor and Newton watercolours and gouache. Gouache is essentially an opaque watercolour so I use them both together. I have recently invested in a set of watercolours from Schmincke. They are about five times the price of a Windsor and Newton Cotman range, but there is a big difference in quality. The Schmincke set a much more highly pigmented and the colours are very vibrant. The paint has a different consistency to which makes it much easier to pick up large amounts of colour with one brushstroke. They have taken a little bit of getting used to as the colours are almost too bright for my usual work. They are a beautiful set of paints to invest in, but if you're just starting out I would recommend sticking with the Winsor and Newton as they are still great quality and really good value. If you know how to mix colours a set of 12 to 20 colours should be fine. I really like the ProArte Prolene brushes, Cotman brushes from Winsor and Newton and the Aquafine Brushes from Daler Rowney , they’re great for painting and brush lettering. I also love to use sable brushes, Series 7 Kolinsky are the best, but the Pro Arte sable brushes are good too.

Schmincke Horadam Watercolour Set
Winsor & Newton Watercolour Set
Winsor & Newton Designers Gouache
Winsor & Newton Cotman Watercolour Brushes
Pro Arte Series Sable Brushes
Daler Rowney Aquafine watercolor brushes
Winsor & Newton Series 7 Kolinsky Sable Water Colour Brush
Pentel Aquash Water Brush Pens

When it comes to coloured pencils I’m mostly concerned with the colour and quality of the pencil, so I use lots of different brands. I like the softness of water soluble pencils best.

Caran Dache Prismalo Aquarelle Pencils
Staedtler Karat Aquarell Watercolour Pencils

I don’t use a sketchbook as much as I used too. I love the romance of them, but when it comes to scanning in sketches or using a Wooden Artist Lightbox
it makes more sense just to sketch onto A4 printer paper. I do like to take a sketchbook with me when I travel though. I was taught to stretch watercolour paper when I was studying art GCSE, and I've never done it since. I just really can't be bothered wetting, taping and waiting for paper to dry. I use blocks of watercolour paper that don't need stretching. My favourite band is Fluid and I use the hot and cold press paper. Hot pressed has a smooth surface and Cold Pressed has more texture.

Flexi-Sketch Book
Moleskine Cahier Sketchbook
Daler – Rowney Heavyweight Cartridge Pad
Fluid Watercolor Paper Block
Cass Art Heavy Weight Cartridge

My favourite art shops in London are London Graphic Centre and Cass Art. They both have online shops, and most of the materials mentioned can be bought on Amazon.

I hope this was helpful! Let me know if you have any questions.