Over the past few days, I’ve been painting scenes and impressions from my life in London. Last weekend, my friends and I visited the Seven Sisters cliffs. Although the weather wasn’t ideal, the view was still magnificent. I took photos and later expressed the landscape through watercolor and colored pencil, exploring different textures. On the beach, I picked up pebbles and seashells and drew them using markers and pencils.
The next day, I bought acrylic markers and painted the graffiti I saw during our street art field trip. I also tried a technique I learned online—choosing colors based on brightness rather than hue—to paint a portrait of my friend.
A few days later, during the Mid-Autumn Festival, my friends and I went to Chinatown for traditional food and mooncakes. Back home, I made a bowl of noodles that turned out to be one of the best I’ve ever cooked, and I captured both dishes in watercolor and colored pencil with a semi-realistic approach.
Recently, I went sketching in the park and painted small flowers using a blended watercolor technique. Finally, I drew a character from a story I love, combining watercolor and soluble pencils, and finished it with highlights in white acrylic marker
In this experiment, I started by observing my surroundings and extracting colors from the environment. In the first chapter, my inspiration came from the arrangement of fruits in a fruit stand. I used different materials such as watercolor pencils and sketching techniques. What I am most satisfied with in this experiment is the landscape I painted, as landscapes make me feel calm and peaceful. However, I think I still need to improve my ability to depict human figures. In my future experiments, I plan to draw more inspiration from people and incorporate that into my work.
During this session, we went to soho and observed the humanistic features of London as we walked. I discovered graffiti hidden in the alleys, elaborately designed clothes in the shop Windows, and magazines filled in the small shops. I also went into the horniman museum and garden to immerse myself in nature, to observe the trunks and textures of various plants, to touch small animals and observe the texture of their fur and the texture of their horns.No matter where I go, when I walk on the road, I always observe nature. I find that the world needs nature. Places without nature seem very desolate. But once a place is filled with plants and animals, everything seems very warm and full of vitality. At the very beginning, I just copied what I saw. Later on, I would use more materials and more different ways to express the nature I saw.
In this project, I started by observing my surroundings and recording what caught my attention through drawing. I tried to collect colors and shapes from daily life — from the busy streets of London to quiet museum spaces. Each piece reflects a small part of what I saw and how I felt in those moments.
In “Chinatown Lanterns,” I focused on the bright color contrasts and lively atmosphere of hanging lights. I used gouache and markers to express the strong rhythm and energy of the street. “Japanese Ramen” was more personal and calm — I drew it with colored pencils to show warmth and a sense of comfort in everyday life. At the Horniman Museum, I looked closely at natural objects like seashells and plants, layering colors to create soft and delicate textures.
What I enjoyed most about this project was the process of observing and responding freely. Some drawings turned out imperfect, but they feel honest and spontaneous. Through this work, I’ve learned to notice details that I might have ignored before, and to let my feelings guide the way I draw.
In this work, I have been drawn to the layering of petals, the rhythm of ripples on water, and the fine lines of leaf veins. There is a quiet strength in these subtle forms. Every time I observe closely, I discover new structures and rhythms.
My work mainly uses markers and watercolors, I start by sketching a few casual lines and then let the colors naturally blend and flow. In this process, I gradually perceive the rhythm of the patterns. They are not deliberately designed, but grow organically with the movement of my hand and the diffusion of the paint. Sometimes, unexpected shapes and layers emerge during the painting, and this randomness gives the work a greater sense of life.
[Group collaborative mixed media drawing inspired by Emily Kam Kngwarray exhibition at Tate Modern. Watercolours, marker pen, oil pastel, pencil.]
[The Australian outback. Inspired by a projection of images of Australian landscapes at The Emily Kan kngwarray exhibition. Oil pastel and marker pen.]
[The Australian outback. Inspired by a projection of images of Australian landscapes at The Emily Kan kngwarray exhibition. Oil pastel and marker pen.]
[‘Passing through’ Capturing a visiter at the Emiliy kam Kngwarray exhibition. Oil pastel, marker pen, fineliner pen.]
[‘Sat at the canal’ Watercolour and ink.]
[Restaurant window on the way to Tate modern. Watercolour and ink.]
[Inspired by fallen autumnal leaves. Watercolour and collaged magazine pages.]
[A trip on the tube. Watercolour and fineliner pen.]
[Dinner at my desk. Watercolour, pencil and ink.]
[My flatmate’s fridge. Marker pen and pencil.]
[An autumnal walk. Collage and fineliner pen.]
[Suit and tie on show at the Blitz exhibition at The Design museum. Pencil and marker pen.]
In this first task of focusing on colour I chose to just draw anything I came across in my daily life that interested me. This gave me a wide range of references to draw from and always kept me on the lookout for colours I liked. Exploring items in my day to day life for colour shape and pattern has inspired me to appreciate these details in my everyday life more.
Typically I like working with a mix of media in my work usually to create a contrast so I enjoyed that aspect of this task. I think the mix of materials that worked best that I haven’t tried much before was a combination of watercolour paints, pencil and marker pen. This is because I could lay the initial placements of colour and shapes with the watercolour paints first, add the lines with pencil and then the more noticeable details with the markers pen. You can see this in my drawings of my fridge and desk.
Another area I feel was successful are my drawings from the Emily Kam Kngwarray exhibition. For these I tried to emulate her layered style of mark making, although I didn’t have the same materials she typically uses in her work, so I focused on areas of colour to create an abstract representation of the reference images. I think that from drawing from the same place of reference as Kngwarray I could better understand the correlation between her work and the Australian landscape that she draws inspiration from. I think the most challenging part of this talking colour task was accurately translating the colours as I found at most times I seemed to develop a new colour palette for the drawing compared to my reference.
[Pattern development from fridge drawing. Image 1, Watercolour paint and oilpastel on ink background. Image 2, Watercolour paint. Image 3, Collaged copy of image 2 and then repeated in photoshop. Image 4, oil pastel, monoprinting.]
[Pattern development from restaurant window drawing. Image 1, Ink drawing, collaged, then repeated in photoshop. Image 2, Ink and watercolour paint.]
[Close up of Art nouveau style lamp, watercolour and marker pen, image 2 watercolour and marker pen.]
[Close up of shirt and tie, watercolour and marker pen.]
[Pattern developemnt from ‘sat at the canal drawing’, Inks and watercolours.]
For the second task of pattern I chose to explore some new items in my day to day life but also to develop some of my drawings from the first task. I explored some new techniques in this half of the task for example, transferring watercolours paint designs from acetate onto a ink background and combining college with oil pastels. I also explored scanning, repeating and enlarging small parts of my drawings to inspire areas for pattern development. I really enjoyed these new techniques and the layered effect they created. The drawings from this task I think were most successful and could be developed into knit in the future are my ‘sat by the canal’ pattern painting, for its loose brushstrokes of colour that could be interpreted into knit stitches such as laddering or stripes with e-wrap vertical stripes. The other drawing I think was most successful was my pattern development from my fridge drawing. This is because I was able to interpret this is in many processes giving such different outcomes. This task has definitely encouraged me to try many new materials and techniques which I would love to carry into my work in the future to expand my range skills and quality of outcomes.
Lola Evans: I love the way that you’re paint using watercolour it feels very free and playful. For example the cliff landscapes…