Book update: three projects down. (Patreon)

Hi everyone,

Just a quick book progress update.

I’ve now completed three projects for the book, and one thing I can already say is… this is a huge amount of work! (I can't show you the projects - I'm sorry).

I decided early on that I wanted to complete the projects first before writing too much of the rest of the book. What I’ve discovered is that every project involves far more planning than a normal painting or video tutorial.

Before I paint anything for the book, I do a full study first. That part is essential for me because it helps me work through all the problems before I commit to the final painting. It lets me test colours, techniques, composition and even the order of the steps. Sometimes I may need to do more than one study.

The steps themselves are one of the hardest parts. They have to be methodical and easy to follow. I can’t jump around the painting the way I sometimes do in a video tutorial, and I also have to think about the limited space available on the page. With video, I can often go back and fix or adjust things later. In a book, every step and every photo has to count.

The latest painting took me four days to complete because I’m constantly switching between painting, photographing and writing. I paint a step, photograph it while I’m working, photograph it again when the step is complete, then stop and check the images before I continue. The more photos I take, the more flexibility the editor has when laying out the pages later.

Then I need to write the instructions straight away before I forget exactly what I did, while also trying to keep the wording clear, simple and not too long.

It feels like I’m constantly switching between the creative side of my brain and the technical side, which can be exhausting at times.

Even the weather affects things! If I start photographing while it’s sunny and halfway through the clouds roll in or it starts raining, the lighting changes in the studio and suddenly the lighting in the photos no longer matches. Sometimes I have to stop altogether and wait for the light to improve before I can continue.

There’s a lot involved in creating a book like this… a lot more than I ever realised before starting it. But I’m really happy with how the projects are coming along so far, and I think all the extra planning and preparation will make the book much stronger in the end.

PS: Thank you to everyone who replied to my paper stretching question recently. Your responses were really helpful and have given me some useful information and ideas for the book.

PPS: I’ve also managed to complete a few more paintings that will become tutorials for you in the coming months……pictured below.

Louise