March Inspiration: Books, Courses and New Favourite Art Material

Hello lovely people! March passed by so quickly. For me, it was a time full of experimentation, learning and spring vibes. I feel extremely grateful for being able to spend this time closer to nature and witness how everything is waking up from a winter sleep. There is so much beauty around: all those flowers and buds, different birds singing their songs and making nests, and even bunnies started to appear more often here.

This month I studied a lot, from drawing to graphic design and I feel my skills improved quite well during this time. I even got a job as a graphic designer which I'm so happy about! I also spent some time experimenting with new materials and techniques - I'll show you everything below.

This month has been much happier and more organised than previous ones, and I'm excited to share what I found along the way. So here's everything that inspired me this month.

Books:

“The World According to David Hockney”. It’s a small very inspiring book with tons of insights from this amazing painter. I love the way he reflects on life and art, and the way he sees everything. Hockney said: “The more I look and think about it, the more I see. Simple little things are unbelievably rich.”
“The Complete Maus” by Art Spiegelman. It’s a very powerful graphic novel about Spiegelman’s parents who survived the holocaust. I can’t even describe how fascinated I am by his way of storytelling through simple images and text and how deeply heartbreaking the story is. If you haven’t read this one I’d highly recommend reading it!

Courses:

Traditional Drawing Techniques with Procreate by Laura Pérez. I was trying to get back to digital art a bit and this course inspired me a lot to experiment more and to try using brushes in a bit different way from what I used to. Plus it was fun to work with drawing people as this year I focus on practicing this more.
Graphic Design Specialization by CalArts. This is a whole specialisation with 5 courses inside - a great start for graphic design. I used to watch a few courses on Skillshare however this specialisation feels more structured and complex and I really enjoy it so far. There are fundamentals of graphic design, typography, image-making, design history and branding courses. I’m currently going through the design history course and I can’t wait to get to the most exciting for my course about branding.
Foundations of Portrait in Gouache by Emily Hughes. I absolutely loved working with gouache and seeing new techniques of painting. This was also a very challenging course and I ended up mixing up proportions a bit - I was so excited about painting all the mid tones that I completely forgot to look from the distance and check the face features placements. That itself is a good lesson and I can’t wait to try practicing more with this.
Figure Drawing Fundamentals Part 1: Bare Basics by Pedro Loureiro. This is the core basics of figure drawing. Very well explained with lots of practice and good examples. There are actually 3 parts, but I watched only the first one yet.
Portrait Foundations by Anna Korteweg. This course was so much needed for me, I learned to draw clay heads 15 years ago or even more but I haven’t drawn real people portraits much. I just started this one yesterday and I love how Anna explains everything, so easy to follow!

Everything else:

Moonstruck (1987). I was so happy to watch it again after 10 years or so. My friend used to study cinematography and theatre back then and this is one of the movies I still remember watching with her. I love everything about it - it’s heartwarming, full of symbolism, fun moments and thoughts to reflect on. And, of course, there are so many great actors - Cher, Nicolas Cage and even Olympia Dukakis.
Boho Beautiful Yoga. I have been using their app for 3 years already and I can’t recommend it enough - it’s just everything I need and more. I have an elbow injury now so I was worried I couldn't practice for some time. But then I found a class with no pressure on my hands which is perfect for such cases. I truly love what they do, their classes improved my life so much.
Sennelier oil pastels. I tried this landscape set and I am so excited about this material! It’s so soft, pigmented and textured - it’s a pure joy to draw with them. I used a gouache underpainting for my first sketches and it turned out really good. I also want to try their portrait set - as I am very into practising drawing people lately it can be a very rewarding experience to draw them with these pastels.
Museum of Cornish Life in Helston. It’s such a wonderful place to go - there are so many interesting things, from Roman coins, kitchen utensils, and pieces of furniture, to large carriages and even a 1700s cider press. Very inspiring and informative museum - and it’s also dog friendly which is a big plus for me.
The Wild Pencil YouTube channel. I’ve been subscribed to Magda’s Instagram for quite a while and I really love her work. Recently she started a YouTube channel with lovely painting tutorials and a beautiful sketchbook tour - highly recommend subscribing if you like to watch such types of content.

I hope this was interesting for you and wish you all the most beautiful April!

Anna