Learn all about my creative practice as I share my whole process from inspiration to finished artwork.
Imagine stepping into a woodland on a sunny summer morning, where bird song fills the air and the woodland floor is rich and full with flora and vibrant plant life. Wildflowers such as sweet smelling honeysuckle and wild rose twist and tangle their way up the trucks and branches of surrounding trees...
It’s easy to get lost in the enchantment of the place!
It’s these enchanting moments that I look to capture in my paintings, offering nature loving folk artwork to bring into their homes and lift living spaces with the wild beauty and hidden wonders of woodland life. This creative practice has developed over a good few years, and has become a process that brings me so much joy while still always exploring and developing along the way.
Let me walk you through my creative practice, and delve a little deeper into each stage of the process, from initial inspiration to the final artwork.
Where I always start
1. Finding Inspiration in Woodlands
Discovering the hidden wonders found in woodlands and wild landscapes is the starting point for each piece of artwork. Being outdoors exploring the natural world provides never-ending inspiration and ideas.
During these walking explorations I take notice of the nature around me and often come across moments that catch my eye and inspire new designs.
Once I watched a jay gathering acorns from under an oak tree to store them for the winter ahead. Another time I stopped to watch wrens darting through a woodland hedgerow of brambles.
Many of the artworks are inspired by these moments, each telling a story of the small yet enchanting fragments of woodland life.
Gathering inspiration
2. Exploring Woodlands in Sketchbooks
Sketchbooks are such valuable creative tools which allow artists to note down thoughts, inspiration and sparked ideas. While out and about, I use my sketchbook to make quick sketches or line drawings which can be referenced later in the creative process.
Once back in the studio, these pages are revisited to refine ideas and develop new artwork designs. Testing different colour palettes in a sketchbook is a great way to try out colour combination ideas before committing to anything. This stage of working in a sketchbook is just a great way to stretch creative ideas, play with bold colours and really experiment and explore!
Planning and designing
3. Sketching a Nature Inspired Design
Once a painting is in mind, then the next stage of the process involves sketching out the design:
- Firstly, I begin with a very (very!) quick sketch. This step allows for the overall shapes and composition of the design to be put down on paper.
- Following this, the individual elements of the design are drawn out in more detail, this part takes a long time as I will often revisit, think over and rework the design – usually over a few days.
- Lastly, any additional details to the sketch are added to prepare the final design for painting
Bringing the art to life
4. Painting Nature Inspired Artwork
Gouache is absolutely my go to medium for painting!
This water-based paint produces a wonderful matte finish, is very versatile and lends itself so well to working on fine details. Using the highest quality Windsor & Newton paints ensures that the artwork achieves the best and longest lasting finish.
Painting is a truly enjoyable part of the creative process. By the time painting begins, much of the design and planning aspects of creating the artwork are already complete. So this allows the painting stage to be very much a calm, meditative process where I’m focused on fine clean lines, sharp details and beautiful colour combinations which make up the final artwork.
Sharing the artwork
5. Original Paintings and Art Prints for your Home
‘Decorating your home with themes of nature, flora and fauna is a wonderful way to bring a sense of nature connection into your living space. It’s a pleasure to create and offer art which allows others to bring the beauty and enchantment of nature into their homes’
The artwork is offered in two ways, as original paintings or as beautiful professionally printed art prints.
Creating art prints from an original painting involves ensuring the most beautiful reproduction. The finish must be the best quality and perfect for easily bringing into the home. This is why all of my art prints are professionally giclée printed onto fine art paper, ensuring the best and most beautiful finish.
The final step of the creative process is sharing the artwork with nature lovers, wildlife enthusiasts, woodland dwellers and all other folk looking to bring nature into their home.
Whether as an original painting or a carefully crafted art print, my goal is to offer artworks that inspire and connect with the beauty of nature, and enrich living spaces with the wonder and enchantment of the natural world.
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading a little about my creative practice and the process behind creating the artwork.
I’ve laid out each stage in a very methodical way here, but really the whole process flows quite naturally, and these stages often blend into one another when working in practice. But hopefully you now have an overall picture of how my artwork makes its way from enchanting woodlands to nature inspired homes and living spaces.
Do you have a question for me?
If you have any specific questions or would like to know a little more detail about any part of my process then please feel free to comment below or email me at hello@clairetuxworth.com and I’d be very happy to share more!