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Collaborative art journeys: tips for creative success, exploring valldemossa

Artist materials on location
| Sam Waters
Pages of bright colours and energetic marks from artists adventures
Pages of bright colours and energetic marks from artists adventures

First let me explain what an Artist Adventure is… It is a project that has grown into a creative journey. Rachael Johnson and I share this journey. We have been art accountability buddies for over two years.

We regularly meet to collaborate on projects and build our art businesses. During this time we’ve noticed how meeting up sparks new ideas, boosts our energy, and keeps our momentum going.

Now, we are taking things a step further. We are going to be documenting our adventures. We will be expanding to new locations. We are keeping things simple.

Our goal? To remain creatively curious and inspire others to give it a try. With no set agenda and only limited materials, we simply enjoy a day out. It includes at least one artistic activity. It will be just one of our Artists Adventures.

The images above show you a peak at the sketchbook pages we created on our Artists Adventures.

The Power of collaboration

Working with an accountability buddy has completely transformed my art journey. Rachael and I regularly meet up, and each time we do, it reignites my passion for creativity. We bounce ideas off each other. We also get honest feedback. Having someone alongside me who shares my love for art has been invaluable.

Our First Artists Adventure

Our first adventure together as “Artists Adventures” took us to the stunning town of Valldemossa. It is a hidden treasure in the Tramuntanta Mountains. The drive was breathtaking. It wound through ancient olive trees and stone buildings.

We dodged goats and cyclists on the narrow mountain road. The town itself felt like it had been pulled straight from a painting. Stone paths, terraced hills, and olive trees provided endless inspiration.

Bell Tower in Valldemossa with green ceramic tiles
Artists showing sketchbooks on location in Valldemossa Sam Waters

We settled in the square, set up our materials, and just let the creativity flow. I started with bright blue crayons and lime green paint. I made marks across multiple sketchbook pages. I was influenced by the turquoise tiles of the bell tower, pictured above. The beauty of working in a new place was how easily the ideas flowed. 

Do you ever get stuck with the blank page? I know that this can stop me creating. I highly recommend you try working outside to give you freedom and confidence.

Immersed in the moment

What I loved most was how engrossed we became in our art. Despite people passing by and even a group of teenagers sitting nearby, we were totally in the zone.

With no worries about what anyone thought—I was simply enjoying the process.

The images below offer a small taste of the colours, shapes and views that inspired me.

Purple plant in pot for artists adventures outdoor sketching
Purple and yellow flowers outside a house in Valldemossa
Old doorway in the pretty town of Valldemossa used for Artists Adventures outdoor sketching
Vivid red flowers against an old green shutter

Energy & Inspiration

By the end of the day, I felt energised and inspired. This was just the start, and I’m excited to continue exploring new places and seeing how they influence my art. If you’re feeling stuck creatively, I encourage you to grab a sketchbook and get outside. It’s amazing what a change of scenery can do!

Pack your pencil case with a couple of crayons. Add a pencil and a fine line pen. Just see what you can create.

how You Can get involved

To stay updated with all Artists Adventures, please sign up below. Additionally, you can get hints and tips to start your own adventure.

Have you ever embarked on your own artistic adventure? I’d love to hear about your favourite moments or the challenges you’ve faced along the way!

  • Do you find working outside fuels your creativity, or is your inspiration drawn from other places? Let’s share our stories!
  • What tools or supplies are always in your art kit? Anything unexpected you’ve discovered along the way?

Please share in the comments below.

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Travel Sketchbook Fun

Pages from travel sketchbook
| Sam Waters

Traveling is a remarkable adventure, filled with new experiences, sights, and stories. What if you could capture those moments not just in photographs but in a more personal, creative way? Enter the travel sketchbook, a compact and versatile companion for any journey.

Stack of sketchbooks
Pages from travel sketchbook

Embrace the Creative Process

The beauty of a travel sketchbook lies in its flexibility. It’s a personal canvas where you can sketch landscapes, flowers, animals, jot down thoughts, create collages, and even experiment with mixed media.

There’s no pressure to make it perfect—each page is a unique snapshot of your journey. As you create, you’ll find that the act of sketching helps you see the world in a different light, appreciating details and capturing memories in a way that photos alone can’t.

Create a Lasting Keepsake

By the end of your trip, your sketchbook becomes a cherished keepsake filled with personal stories, artistic experiments, and a tangible record of your travels.

Unlike a digital album, a travel sketchbook has a tactile quality that invites you to revisit and relive your journey with every turn of the page. As you are creating it sparks conversations with fellow travellers you meet along the way.

Take a look at some of the pages from my travel sketchbooks below.

Pages from travel sketchbook
Pages from travel sketchbook
Pages from travel sketchbook

So, on your next adventure, bring along a travel sketchbook. It doesn’t just capture where you’ve been—it captures how you felt, what you saw, and the unique moments that made your journey unforgettable. 

In my next blog I will be sharing my own travel sketchbook from a recent trip to Baja. I will be sharing my top tips for having just the right media in your pencil case to ensure you can capture your experiences, so why not sign up to my mailing list to ensure you don’t miss it.

If you have been keeping your own travel sketchbooks I’d love to hear of how this works for you, do you have any top tips to share? Do you prepare your books before you go? It would be great to hear your experience, please comment below.

If you would like to share pages from your own travel sketchbooks I would love to feature them in my next blog post and on my social media. Please email them to me – sam@samwatersartist.com

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Jumping into Spring

Pile of Line, tonal and colour floral drawings, floral paintings, floral studies, floral inspiration
| Sam Waters

The long dark days of winter offer a chance to hunker down in the studio, to re-build my creative energy, to read for inspiration and experiment in my sketchbook, but I long for the brighter warmer days when the studio door can be left open and I can hear the bird song floating on the air and everything just seems that little bit lighter. I am an abstract floral artist, so join me as I delve into how Spring is weaving its magic into my creative practise, bringing colour and joy.

Spring sparking action

When the days start to get longer in the UK, I know that Spring is finally here and my studio becomes bathed in this new light, I’ve no idea why but I find it so much easier to work, my energy levels rise and creativity starts to flow. 

The arrival of Spring has also meant a studio tidy, it is really important to set up my environment to allow my new work to have room to breathe. It is very frustrating constantly tripping over stuff and rooting through piles of papers to find the tool that I need buried beneath.

purple crocus
Yellow daffodils

colour inspiration and new shoots

Spring is a time for new shoots, and this is how I feel about starting my latest collection of paintings, at this point I’m not even sure where they are heading but having a clean clutter free space with all the tools, paints, mediums and surfaces ready to go will be more productive.

Out and about on my walks I am noticing more colour, the trees are bursting out in fantastic displays of frothy colour. The camellia have been spectacular and so many varieties just on my daily dog walk around the block. The flower is quite rose like in structure, but so hardy producing prolific flowers in every shade of pink, deep reds, and delicate whites at a time of year when most plants are still sleeping. 

how to maintain creative momentum

As there isn’t much colour about at the moment I have really been struck by these beautiful bushes. Where the blooms have been hanging over the pavement, I have picked a stem to take back to the studio for some blind drawing practise. I draw the same bloom multiple times, using different media, both wet and dry. This  practise really makes me see how the petals are structured, where the light and dark tones fall, the different shapes and how the waxy leaves are juxtapose to the soft satiny petals.

Gorgeous Pinks

The blind, tonal drawings and sketchbook play which capture the essence of Spring in these floral beauties have inspired new elements of shape, vivid colours and a softness for me to explore further in larger studies.

Whats on the Studio Wall

Pile of Line, tonal and colour floral drawings, floral paintings, floral studies, floral inspiration
Detail of black and white floral line drawing
Line, tonal and colour floral drawings pinned to the wall
detail of line drawing

Spring Summary

As I immerse myself in the vibrant hues of spring and let nature guide my creative practise, I’m reminded of the renewal of the season. With a clutter free studio and the palette Spring I am jumping in with both feet ready to explore fresh inspiration and experimental discoveries.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the new season and if you are including it in your own creative practise, please let me know in the comments below, or send me an email.

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Discover the Magic of Blind Drawing: 5 Tips to Unleash Your Creativity

Simple still life of jam jar of flowers set up for a blind drawing exercise
| Sam Waters
Colorful artwork featuring various flowers and plants with a turquoise background and a text overlay that reads 'ARTIST TIPS 5 Tips to start Blind Drawing'.

Have you ever tried blind drawing? I often use this technique as a warm up exercise as it’s super good for helping me to free up. This intriguing technique allows you to tap into your artistic instincts, creating unique and expressive artwork. By relinquishing the urge to see and control every line, blind drawing opens doors to a world of artistic exploration and surprises. In this blog post, I delve into the fascinating world of blind drawing and share my five essential tips to help you embark on this no pressure creative journey.

Simple still life of flowers in a jam jar for a blind drawing exercise


1. Embrace the Simplicity: Blind drawing doesn’t require expensive materials. Grab a jam jar from your kitchen and fill it with water. Now, head outside and collect a few flowers or leaves, which will serve as your subjects. This cost-effective approach allows you to focus on the fundamental principles of blind drawing without breaking the bank. Try to select an unusual shape of jam jar to give you an extra challenge.


2. Prepare the Background: Before you start blind drawing, consider preparing an interesting background. You can use watercolours, acrylics, inks or any other medium of your choice to add depth and texture to your canvas or paper. This provides a visually captivating foundation for your blind drawing experiment. You could also try collaging some scraps of paper onto the background sheet to give create interest, and provide something to respond to.


3. Trust Your Touch: When engaging in blind drawing, you rely solely on your sense of touch and hand-eye coordination. Choose a drawing tool that suits your style and preferences. I do like to use a fine liner pen but you could also try pencil, charcoal, art graf, biro or coloured pencils, just experiment with different options. Each tool offers a unique tactile experience, enabling you to create a variety of effects and textures.


4. Let Go of Perfection: Blind drawing encourages you to let go of perfectionism. Embrace the imperfections and unexpected results that arise from this technique. Allow your hand to wander freely, following the contours of your subject without the interference of your sight. The beauty of blind drawing lies in its raw and spontaneous nature.


5. Explore Texture and Form: As you progress in your blind drawing practice, experiment with different techniques to capture texture and form. Vary your line weights, explore cross-hatching, or use shading to add depth to your drawings. Blind drawing presents a unique opportunity to explore the tactile qualities of your subjects and express them on paper in unconventional ways.


Blind drawing is a captivating technique that invites you to explore your creativity without constraints. By using a simple jam jar, cost-effective natural subjects, and a variety of simple drawing tools, you can embark on a journey of self-expression and artistic discovery. Remember to embrace simplicity, let go of perfection, and trust your instincts. With these five tips, you are now equipped to dive into the enchanting world of blind drawing and unlock your artistic potential.

Why not give it a try? Click here to see a short video

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Annual Planning Made Easy: Tips for Creative Success

Picture of list of artist tasks for planning purposes
| Sam Waters
A close-up image of a hand holding a pink pencil over a notebook, with a title overlay that reads 'ANNUAL PLANNING Artist Top Tips to Plan your Year'. The background features a soft pink workspace.

Annual Planning How to start

If, like me you are in the middle of your annual planning process you might find these steps useful as a way to reduce the feeling of overwhelm…..

At the moment everyone seems to be busy planning for the year ahead,  working on calendars, scheduling events, courses and generally trying to fit in all activities that they want to get done in the coming year.

I myself am in the middle of planning and I’ve noticed how overwhelming it can feel, so I have taken a step back to apply some of the techniques I have learnt in the corporate world to help me get clarity and progress.

There is so much to do at times it really does seem unmanageable, but a simple step by step approach has really helped me keep focussed and gain momentum.

Step 1

Write down all the ideas you have for the year, these can include the following but you may have many more, so just jot down whatever pops into your head. Once it is out of your head you can see the wood for the trees and more importantly make some informed decisions of which items you want to pursue.

A digital 'Ideas List' featuring options like Art Fairs, Exhibitions, Studio Time, Visiting Galleries, Artist Dates, Website creation, Newsletters & Blogs, Artist Courses, and Artist Workshops, presented on a light-toned background with a handwritten style.

Step 2

Using a priority rating of 1,2 or 3, with 1 being the most important, rank each item. So for example, if you have already signed up for an Art Fair and paid the fee this might be ranked as 1, alternatively if you haven’t yet checked out the Art Fair to know if it fits your work or schedule then I would suggest ranking it as 3.

Step 3

For each priority 1 item you need to think about what does each one actually mean in terms of tasks that you will need to do to achieve them, taking the Art Fair example. Add these as steps beneath each item. For example here are a list of tasks when considering Art Fairs:

  • Research the art fair venues and organisers
  • Make a decision on which location suits you best based on location, cost, dates and any feedback you can gather from other artists you know.
  • Understand what will be available on the day; table, light, stand to display your work
  • Think about creative ways to display your work; step ladders or small easels
  • Do you need help at the fair on the day?
  • Do you already have the work available or do you need to create work
  • Arrange Insurance
  • Arrange transport & parking 
  • Think about food and drink on the day
  • Order labels and price your work
  • Order business cards or flyers to give to customers
  • How are you going to market the event
  • Will there be promotion done by the event organiser, maybe you will need to provide a brief statement of your work.
  • Do you have packing for purchases made at the event
  • Do you have a method for collecting for contact details
A close-up of a person's hand writing a to-do list in a notebook, with various tasks listed.

Step 4

Review your priority ratings now you have a fuller understanding of the amount of work for each activity, you might feel that there is too much to do, or you simply don’t have enough time to carry out all the tasks, in which case you might decide to change the priority or in the example of the Art Fair you might choose to select a different date.

Breaking down = Success

By breaking each activity down into tasks, you are creating a manageable  ‘To Do’ list that makes it easy to see what work is involved for each task, and will keep you on track. It is always nice to be able to tick things off a list and things will seem far more achievable. If you find that you have forgotten something, just add it to the list, and by having said list you can clearly allocate tasks to other people to help, therefore further improving your productivity.

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