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I'm so excited to be included in this month's SurfGirl magazine! I copy arrived in my letterbox and it looks beeeeyoootiful! I've written a tutorial for creating your own quiver of surfy bookmarks. I was also interviewed for the SurfGirl website and you can also see me painting over there too! Check it out the interview here: https://www.surfgirlmag.com/2019/12/speed-painting-with-mermaids-coin-art/ 
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 Hey! I wanted to share my fresh prints! I recently completed this series after starting the first one as a class demo. This is my first series of work combining watercolour and gouache together. It was a big learning curve and I really enjoyed being a stylist - decorating each room and deciding on a colour scheme for each one. Which one is your favourite?  These illustrations will be available as A4 prints and as a 4-pack of greeting cards in my Etsy store next week!   Do you take online classes? What's your preferred platform? If you're interested in learning how to paint you own boho bungalow, or about using gouache and watercolour together, check out my Skillshare class! You can sign up for 2 free months and watch a load of classes for free. 
My 'Level Up Your Watercolours - Master Layers' class is up on Skillshare. I'm really excited about this one because it is designed for beginners to help students master the fundamental skill of watercolouring: Layers!
It is the key skill to building depth, and adding detail and definition to your watercolour illustrations. From my experience teaching classes in person, this is the concept that is foreign to many students. So I've created a class that builds, lesson by lesson, to help you master complex layering. For the final project we paint a sea turtle. In the class I cover: transparency, glazing, order of layers, mixing washes, negative painting, and complex layering and loads more. Check out the preview here:
My class is hosted by Skillshare. If you haven't heard of the platform before, it is an online learning community with thousands of classes available for free to subscribers. You can sign up below and get 2 months' free membership. A great way to watch classes for free and try before you commit to any payments.
https://www.skillshare.com/r/user/hannahkatarski Let me know what you think! 
I am excited to announce the launch of my Spring workshop series! I have four new workshops running from my home studio in Melville, Western Australia. Take one class or all four and kick-start your watercolour journey. These classes are aimed at beginners and dabblers. All materials are supplied and classes are limited to ten adults.  Spring Florals Learn how to paint gorgeous soft roses and arrange them in a bouquet or wreath with a range of leaves and filler flowers. We'll cover wet-in-wet painting and simple layering which you will be able to replicate at home on greeting cards and other projects.  Travel Journalling with Watercolours This popular class is back! We pack so much into this class to equip you for your next adventure. The workshop covers travelling light with journalling materials, layout ideas to add interest, ways to incorporate text and images, and when and where to journal.  Colour-mixing Masterclass Mixing colours can be a real challenge and can make painting frustrating. In this hands on workshop we cover basic colour theory in a practical way and get you well on the way to mixing cohesive colour schemes and accurate colours. You'll be so inspired and colour-confident after completing this class!  Beachy Christmas Cards Want to give the gift of handmade this Christmas? We'll cover some easy techniques you can use to paint a swag of Christmas cards. I'll teach you ink and wash, wet in wet, layering techniques and some clever ways to replicate your design to save time. Excited? Check out dates and more here. If you freak out about the idea of having no idea - I'm here to help you. I don't ever find myself with a shortage of ideas. In fact, I'm so time-poor that it is the least of my worries! First things first...So the first thing you should do is get an 'ideas notebook'. Keep all your notes and ideas in one place so you can dip back into it - you never know when that terrible idea might evolve into something fantastic. Now that you have a blank notebook you need to fill it with something! Here is a process I often use. The Pick & MixFirst, I do a brainstorm/ free word association around the prompt. For example: Flower. I write down everything that springs to mind for 'flower'. Write it down, even if the link is tenuous. Flower sunflower flowers in her hair delphiniums garden in bloom hot house flowers Spring Summer Roses Garden party florist flower arranging, repotting.... the list goes on and on. And it will be different for everyone. Here's another one: Potion potion bottle magic cauldron witch take your medicine ocean rhymes with potion emotion mystic midnight elixir ornate bottles herbs crystals love potion poison Some of these might already be generating vivid mental images for you. Great! Draw some quick thumbnail sketches if you want. But why, tho?Next, I have a think about the kinds of illustrations I might want to create. What is the purpose of this illustration/painting/print/drawing? Maybe I need some more patterns in my portfolio, or something for a greeting card with lettering. I choose one of these. Here's a quick list: Editorial illustration A collection of things A how to - instructional illustration Greeting card Lettering Children's Clothing Repeat pattern Product collection Something seasonal, like Valentine's or Christmas A present Make a Chunky ConnectionThe last step is to go back to my first list and see which of these talks to me and how many ideas I can 'chunk' together. Perhaps you decide to create a how-to infographic on 'how to prepare and arrange a bouquet of spring flowers'. Or maybe you create a greeting card with lettering and a lady with sunflowers in her hair. Or a repeat pattern with gardening elements inspired by repotting plants, like pots, seedlings, a trowel, and gloves. The combinations are endless! You can see from my second list that a whole pile of these ended up in the final painting: an ocean potion in a cork stoppered bottle with moonlight and stars. If there are any on-trend colours or trends (like crystals, flamingos, indoor plants) you can consider which of these might also fit your brief and your concept. The birth of an ideaAfter I complete this brainstorm process, then I'll likely start a Pinterest board to group reference images, colour ideas, and research. My last step is to start sketching thumbnails to develop and refine the composition of my illustration. Not all of your ideas will be good ones and you'll probably have some good ones that you don't get to birth. But at least you won't be short of them! Keep all your planning and ideas in your notebook to refer to down the track. Sometimes a different state of mind spawns a whole new perspective. Let me know if this process helps you! If you have another process you like to use, why not share it in the comments? Happy designing!  |
WELCOME TO MERMAiD'S COiNSurf Artist, Hannah Katarski is based in Fremantle, Western Australia. She creates ocean-inspired art that is bohemian, retro and fun. Instagram @MermaidsCoinCategories
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