abstract painter

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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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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Three super simple top tips to help abstract painters generate new ideas

Collage picture of rusty farm roller, cropped to show composition, two images in black and white
| Sam Waters

In this Blog post I want to share how I use photos I took on a recent trip to Cornwall to help inspire my work and share some image manipulation tips to help spark inspiration for generating new ideas.

The trip was a flying work visit and there really was very little time to be creative in my sketchbook as by the end of the day I was totally exhausted and not feeling at all creative. Yet each day during my lunch break I always managed to get out for a walk, the weather was glorious with wall to wall sunshine and as I enjoyed the beautiful weather I spotted interesting things on my walk that captured my attention.

I always carry my phone so I took lots of pictures of an old rusty roller that I stumbled across on the side of the road.

This type of roller is used for rolling the fields. It improves seed to soil contact across the whole field by consolidating any loose soil left after drilling, this promotes successful and consistent germination which is the basis for a competitive crop.

The roller was pretty big, and very rusty with the ends displaying a vibrant shade of teal blue with deep scratch marks. The blue was in such contrast to the rusty shades so it really caught my eye.  Blue and orange are known as complimentary colours sitting opposite each other on the colour wheel, already this old roller has potential. I took lots of close ups of the colours, marks and shapes, I was starting to get a fizzy feeling about this old, rusty roller. 

So how can these quick snaps help me in my painting? It really is quite a simple process; here are 3 tips to help you get started.

Tip 1

Go through the images and edit them using the cropping tool, picking out the details that have interested you, this might be; colour combinations, shapes, textures or lines.

Duplicate the photo so that you can make several different crops of the same image. Try rotating the image to see how it looks, does it make you notice something different? Try putting the image into black and white, and also simplifying the shapes.

Close-up of an old rusty roller on grass, showing vibrant teal blue and rusty textures.

Tip 2

Print the images and make photocopies so you have a selection to play with. Next cut them up, rearrange and stick different combinations together. Be discerning in your choices.

Tip 3

Now that you have a few ideas, take out your sketchbook and create rough thumbnail sketches, at this stage you can tweak the composition. Try using black, white and grey. Concentrate on the shapes and negative shapes and keep it simple.

Close-up images of a rusty surface showcasing vibrant teal and orange colors, with one image displaying no color and the other saturated with color.

These three easy techniques start to spark ideas which might later end up in a finished painting. This playing stage is so much fun and there can be endless combinations. 

So even on a busy work day I can find time to see the joy in something that I walk past, elevating the everyday! Whether that is shape, colour, line, marks or texture, I pick out the elements that give me a nudge and that is all the starting point that I need. 

Sometimes these studies remain in my sketchbook as a record of the feelings, thoughts or experience I had at that specific time. They may inform other larger studies or even a body of work at a later date. Either way is fine by me, no pressure to create just enjoying something in what some people would just walk straight past.

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