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Welcome to your Studio Insiders' newsletter
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Hi Insiders!
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Bonne fête des mères!
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It's Mother's Day in France today, so that gives us another excuse to offer you a free gift!
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FREE Flowers Sketch Bundle
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Our "Fête des Mères" Gift to You!
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You can choose either of our Flowers Sketch Bundles, absolutely FREE if you visit our website and download it sometime over the next seven days.
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Just choose the minimum price ($2.50) for the bundle you want, add it to your basket, and use the coupon code FETEDESMERES at checkout.
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If you don't yet have an account on our website, please reply to this email or submit this form and we'll set one up for you!
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NEW on Etsy!
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I've been busy adding new original paintings for sale on Etsy, many of which are from our Brilliant Birds challenge last month. Every original painting is carefully hand packaged by me, and I include a free gift. If you're buying as a gift I'm always very happy to include a personalised handwritten note!
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This Week on YouTube
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Can pencils boost your creativity?
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This has been an underlying theme of this week's YouTube videos. After a considerable amount of experimentation, and with the help of inspiration from channels like Katie Moody's, I think I've finally found a way of using watercolor pencils that I find freeing, not inhibiting. If you too have had a love-hate relationship with watercolor pencils, then this week's content is just for you!
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In my first video of the week I used my old set of "traditional" watercolor pencils by Faber Castell. I have 100 but the range seems to have expanded to 120 now.
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Faber Castell offer many different sets of their Albrecht Durer watercolor pencils, but this tin is an amazing deal right now, with 46% off.
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The pencils are arranged in three layers, and are in easy to remove metal trays.
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Derwent Inktense: They're Ink, and they're Intense!
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In my second video of the week I moved from Germany to the UK, and explored Derwent's Inktense pencils. They look like normal watercolor pencils and you use them like normal watercolor pencils, but because they are ink-based they dry permanent - and that means you can add layers without lifting the color on the previous layer.
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I really had fun with this painting, enjoying the burst of color as I added water to the pencil marks. I only have a set of 12, but I'm planning to add to them now!
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There is a wide range of formats of the Inktense range (sticks and pans as well as pencils) and there are some bargains to be had right now, with 30-40% off.
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If you are yet to take the plunge and buy your first supplies, or if you have a friend or relative in that position, I really do believe that this set offers everything you or they need to get started. For $20 you'll have materials that are high enough quality not to hold you back, and low enough cost to free you from inhibitions and fear of wasting supplies.
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As good as Kuretake?
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If you already own a set of Kuretake Gansai Tambi, chances are you don't need these. But if you haven't taken the plunge into the world of Japanese-style large pan semi-opaque watercolors, these are a very good starting point. They're on sale right now on Amazon at less than half price - but they're going out of stock country by country so don't hang about!!
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This painting is sitting next to me on my desk as I write, and I have to say, I'm amazed by its vibrancy! The yellows and oranges in this new Medisi Nano set from Lightwish are much brighter than the photo suggests - and nothing lifts the mood quite like yellow and orange!
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Here's the video in which I swatch, test and play...
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Most Popular...
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Last Thursday's exploration of the wonderful world of Derwent Inktense has won the popularity contest this week!
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To Inspire You...
As I prepared yesterday's YouTube video I was thinking about the question of coming to creativity later in life, and the struggle many of us have with feeling that our art is "worth it" or "important enough" to justify devoting time to. Many of us struggle with guilt, or procrastination, or what we call perfectionism, all of which are really just ways of persuading ourselves that there are more important things we should be doing.
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And yet deep down we all know that creating is what makes us human. Whether it's art or an argument, we're always creating something.
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Rather than asking yourself whether your art is good enough, why not turn the question around and ask yourself whether any of those other things you "should" be doing would create anything more beautiful, or more loving? And if the answer is no, why not pick up a paintbrush?
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For what it’s worth …
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to be whoever you want to be.
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You can change or stay the same.
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There are no rules to this thing.
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We can make the best or the worst of it.
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I hope you make the best of it.
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I hope you see things that startle you.
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I hope you feel things you never felt before.
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I hope you meet people who have a different point of view.
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I hope you live a life you’re proud of
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I hope you have the courage to start all over again.
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inspired by the letters of F Scott Fitzgerald
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ps. Links to Amazon are affiliate links, which means that we will receive a small commission if you choose to buy, at no extra cost to you.
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Thanks for reading, and we hope you enjoyed this edition of the Insiders' Newsletter.
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