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It's your Art Play Date Replay!
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It's your Art Play Date Replay!

making characters by intuitive play

Ella Beech's avatar
Ella Beech
Sep 16, 2023
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It's your Art Play Date Replay!
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Hello and happy Saturday!

The sun is shining here in Cambridge today, and I am about to go out on an artists date1 with myself, and do my favourite thing: browsing some charity shops!

Before I go, I am uploading this week’s Art Play Date, where I guided everyone in making characters by working intuitively, following your creative gut and doing some loose play. I created this little chap (below) and found a whole story for him. His bed is on wheels, and he has rolled down the hillside in his bed, and for some reason is swatting flies. Well, I didn’t say it was a story that made much sense did I?

do you like his Mr Darcy-esque roll neck?!

This is the loose run-through of the session, for those that would like to join in with the replay:

• choose a picture or image that speaks to you (it could be a pastiche of an existing artwork (like the Mona Lisa) or something more generic and (hopefully) copyright free, like a random vintage postcard, a piece of pottery, etc...). I am also attaching the picture I used for my inspiration for paid subscribers (below)

• We will do some exercises to get loose, turn our thinking brain off, and just play and let go.

• I will guide you to make a character from your picture.

That’s it!

I hope you enjoy playing along. Below, for subscribers, is the replay video and a copy of the picture I used to inspire the session.

Until next week…

Ella xx

P.S. It is Picture Book Club next Weds at 8pm. Please vote here for which book you would like to analyse this week. Voting closes at midnight tonight!

It just costs £4.50 per month to subscribe. As soon as you join you get access to my back catalogue of paid posts, regular updates and behind-the-scenes videos from my studio. You also get exclusive access to my monthly lives: Art Play Dates and Picture Book Club and Motivation Monthly. Plus, access to my private community, chats and loads more.

You also help support me in making not only this content on Substack, but you help support my transition into becoming a fully-fledged illustrator...

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