Explore and Draw

Dear Reader,It’s with great pleasure that I can announce the launch of my new course Let’s Decorate! - bright ideas for painting everyday objectsIt’s been something I have been working on in the background before I gave birth and over the last few months have been slowly chippping away a bit at a time to bring it to completion. I must admit I didn’t think I’d ever finish it working in such short bursts, but I’m so glad I peservered and can now tell you all about it. Read on for more details…This course arose from a desire to be surrounded by beautiful, everyday objects in my home, featuring favourite subjects like wild flowers, fruit and elements from the natural world. I was particularly inspired by a visit to a sunflower field last year and this got me wanting to paint them on everything.I've always loved to paint murals, back in my twenties I was a mural artist in a school and it was actually how I started dating Tony when he commissioned me to paint a mural on his flat walls. A job that should have taken a week took 3 months as we would find all sorts of things to chat about!I digress…back to the courseWhat you’ll doIn this course we’ll look at 3 types of acrylic paint- heavy body, soft body and acrylic gouache, noting their qualities and discuss what kind of project they would suit best. I’ll then guide you through four projects to paint and give you detailed steps for sourcing materials, preparing surfaces and painting your objects. Working in acrylic paint to transform a space is a great way to brighten your home on a smaller scale and through painting everyday objects there’s also a special sense of accomplishment that comes with customising your space. On the course you’ll gain inspiration and practical know-how to bring your decorative ideas to life and work on similar pieces for your home.If this sounds just up your street or you’re curious to find out more then please hop over to the purchase page here. Any questions just ping them over to me or go to the bottom of the sales page for FAQ.Thanks for reading and I look forward to speaking again soon,PS Seasalt & Serpentine Paid community-I’m offering a 25% discount for you- watch out for the next email with the coupon code. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit melaniechadwick.substack.com/subscribe

Dear Listener,Welcome to another episode of Explore and Draw.In each episode I’ll take you with me on a walk, observing and commenting on the landscape around me. I’ll find a place to draw and then share the finished sketch with you below.In today’s podcast episode I decided to trek down to the most southerly point on the Lizard peninsula. It was such a beautiful morning, sunny, blue skies a bit windy but definitely warmer than last week. The light was bright but just in the right spot for sketching the cliffs and the lighthouse on the horizon.The materials used were a mix of mediums including Derwent’s Tinted Charcoal Paint pan set, Viarco’s water soluble graphite, Caran D’ache Neocolor IIs and a mix of pencils. If you want to join the live draw-along on Monday 24th February I mentioned here is the link:Feel free to use these photos for a sketch-along and if you want to share your sketches join the SSS chat. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit melaniechadwick.substack.com/subscribe

Hello readers!I’m delighted to announce the result of our first giveaway here on Substack.Thankyou to everyone who took the time to comment and enter on my November round-up post. It was really a pleasure to read your comments and hear also which Derwent pencils are your favourite and which you’d like to try.I’ve listed the pencils that are included in the giveaway in case you want to build your own pencil tin.x 10 Lightfast Lichen Green, Mustard, Autumn Red, Foliage, Green Earth, Mid Ultramarine, Golden Sun, Seaweed, Pine, Forestx 6 Drawing Olive Earth, Yellow Ochre, Brown Ochre, Light Sienna, Ruby Earth, Chocolatex 4 Coloursoft Ginger, Grey Green, Pimentox 3 Graphitint Meadow, Autumn Brown, Ocean Bluex 1 Watercolour Blue GreySo without further ado to find out the winner please watch the video above!Remember if you’d like to purchase any of Derwent pencils on their GB site you can enter this code MIXED-MEDIA-MC at checkout to get 30% off voucher is valid until 31st December 2024.And if you’d like to purchase my 2025 calendar you can do so here. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit melaniechadwick.substack.com/subscribe

Dear Listener,Welcome to another episode of Explore and Draw.In each episode I’ll take you with me on a walk, observing and commenting on the landscape around me. I’ll find a place to draw and then share the finished sketch with you below.Today I drove across the Lizard peninsula to the Helford area, parked at Kestle Barton and made the muddy walk down to the woods just above Helford Village. My intention was to do a couple of things- record the audio of the woodland sounds for my upcoming Wildflower course and secondly record another episode for this podcast and sketch the trees. The weather was damp and branches were saturated with rain having had a heavy downpour during the night. Thankfully I brought my foldable stool with me so was able to pitch up on the path and laid out my pencils on the foldable mat. See the set up below- the pencils are in my handy Sendak pencil roll.The moss on the trees was such a bright green- it looked like it was on steroids!And here’s the photo of the sketch I created on location.Thanks for joining me today. PS. For those who are interested my Wildflower sketching and illustration course will be opening for pre-sale on Monday- watch your inboxes for the announcement or check my Teachable courses page then.PPS. Until the 1st March I have a special discount for those interested in upgrading to paid- click the button for more details or read this post. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit melaniechadwick.substack.com/subscribe

Dear Listener,Welcome to another episode of Explore and Draw.In each episode I’ll take you with me on a walk, observing and commenting on the landscape around me. I’ll find a place to draw and then share the finished sketch with you below.Today I walked to Mullion Meadows and sat sketching the trees- inspired by my Tree prompt in my 2024 Calendar. Below is my set-up on a stone bench, and I sat on my foldable stool.The weather was bright and sunny, and other than one rain shower it was surprisingly warm.Below is my finished sketchbook spread.Thanks for joining me today This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit melaniechadwick.substack.com/subscribe