The Coloured Pencil Chronicles | Chapter Thirty | June

June has been another jam-packed month at the Bonny Snowdon Academy with new tutorials, a trip to Amsterdam, planning for a new course, a new office and so much more! Let's dive in with more details!

New Drawings:

This month I was able to finish my cowgirl drawing! It was a really big piece on a new surface and I absolutely love it and I loved drawing it! I drew her on a new surface because I’m still really struggling with the quality of Clairefontaine Pastelmat, you just don’t know what you’re going to get any more and it’s such a shame because when you get a good quality piece it really is just the most amazing surface. So my cowgirl is on Rising Museum Board which I’m really enjoying working on and my latest tutorial, which came out this month for my Ignite Members, is a kangaroo and I’ve done it on Rising Museum Board. It comes in different thicknesses and it takes pencil really nicely, not too dissimilar from hot press paper. I talk more about this surface and the techniques in the video at the top of this blog. 

We also completed a new piece in Art Club this month of a swan with its reflection in the water. We worked on it across 3-weeks and we didn’t go into a huge amount of detail, but we were able to create a piece that’s really quite dramatic and has a lovely result. 

Trip to Amsterdam:

I went to Amsterdam and I got to see Esther Hicks again and it was just amazing. If you haven’t been to see her or listened to her you should! And, whilst I was there, I was able to get a lot of work done and I officially started my new pet portrait business course!  I’m really excited because I know there are a lot of artists out there who find marketing a bit tricky or a bit daunting, so I want to make the whole process a bit simpler and share everything I’ve done over the past 7 or 8 years. This is something I’ve been wanting to do for ages and it’s very much still in the first stages, but I’m so excited about it because I really think it is going to help so many artists within my community. 

Business Updates:

You’ve probably heard me say it a lot by now, but we are always super busy here at the Bonny Snowdon Academy and the business has kind of reached a point where it has outgrown the office at the bottom of my garden, so as of this month, I’ve officially taken on a new office space where Lucy and Amy are going to start working next month. It’s bigger and the furniture is arriving on Saturday so it is going to be all lovely and it will allow room for our new team member! I have a new team member starting in July as a community manager which is super exciting and I’ll definitely introduce her to you soon. 

So, lots of big things in the works and if you want to hear even more about all the things I’ve discussed plus get an insight into what’s coming up and some book recommendations, make sure to watch the video at the top of this blog!