The Slow Life Dream; Drawing collection
Could be yours today
Hi there!
I’m absolutely delighted to have you here (thank you!).
This is the first official issue of the new Petronella.Art Magazine, a place that I can already sense will become my favourite spot to hang out online, and I hope yours too!
My mission is to provide you a first-row seat to my artistic and creative practice while inviting you to get creative too.
Because that’s how I view creativity really; A marvellous part of life that, when nurtured well, amplifies quality of life for both ourselves and for those around us.
This is not the place to read about a potential doom day being near, instead we’ll celebrate the arts, beauty and creativity as a way to enhance our everyday.
That’s it for fluffy intro (ha!), now we’ll get into the juicy bits, which is the reveal of the first part of a growing drawing collection that I’ve named The Slow Life Dream.
What about the Slow Dream Life?
I don’t think I’m alone in having felt attracted to the slow life movement. In our fast paced societies (not to mention mainstream social media…) life seems to be flying by and we’re left wondering what the heck happened?
Since becoming a mother I feel as though time has taken new shape. It’s not just a fleeting concept in the background, it’s literally in front of your eyes.
But how to slow down? And do we really want to slow down or is there something deeper?
At first I was naive enough to think of a slow life as a life where you do very little… when in fact, I’ve come to the conclusion that a slow life (to me) is more synonymous with a PRESENT life and has less to do with how much you’re doing but rather what you’re doing.
A life where you pay attention to the details, allow yourself to feel amazed by how sun rays flow through the window and travel across the back wall, casting shadows of foliage from a plant next by.
Where you’re allowed to dream about textures, art and beauty without feeling that you’re “wasting time”. What if that “waste of time” really IS THE TIME that actually matters?
Below is a process video of the same design, where I draw the imitation of small flowers.. The key here is to draw what is the furthest away from you first, meaning the flowers in the window was drawn before those that stand on the table (this principle is something that I discuss at length in all our embroidery courses too!)
Art is a necessity to feel good
When I was younger I thought there was something wrong with me for needing creativity and art around at all times. Like, why couldn’t I just do a school assignment normally, instead of cutting out each letter from a magazine only to glue them back onto a paper to write a text… The former would’ve gone SO MUCH FASTER, but I went the slow route.
It mattered to me then. It matters to me now.
Today I know that I’m not alone (chances are that you are like me too!), and see how art for the creative soul is like a ball for the soccer player; ESSENTIAL.
As I work on the Slow Dream Life collection, which will be in the form of both illustrations and embroideries, I especially try to make an emphasis on the small details that enhances the vibe of what a Slow Life entails;
Beauty
Nature
History
Cosiness
Textures
How to make a cosy and warm atmosphere when drawing with black ink?
From a practical standpoint, this is what I’m working on through my ink illustrations… To figure out HOW each line can enhance a sense of warmth, despite the colour-scheme to be very cold (black and white).
Below is a close-up process video of drawing the textured carpet on the first scene you saw above.
Texture doesn’t have to be too complicated when you strip it down to its bare essentials; Truly, all you need to focus on is one thing: REPETITION.
Below is another video snippet of showing the flow of drawing the greenery that hangs from the roof (a theme you’ll see coming back at multiple instances… I just love it!!!).
Zooming in doesn’t only create a visually appealing composition and context, but it also communicates the sense of presence needed to lead a Slow Life…
The drawings are for you!
As aforementioned, this is the first issue of the Petronella.art Magazine and I want to celebrate BIG.
This means that everyone who chooses to upgrade to a paid version of reading my new Art magazine are able to download two PDF files right below the paywall at the end of this article 💖
The first PDF contains all the original sketches as seen on the photo above. They can be printed and framed as fun additions to an art wall, or used as advanced colouring pages.
The second PDF contains embroidery pattern versions, which are essentially simplified drawings that are adapted to the embroidery medium (can also double as colouring pages of course!).
I intend to stitch a couple as well, which you’ll see as we progress through the magazine.
If you’re completely new to embroidery, I recommend to also check out the Charles and Elin Academy, where you can take our free beginners course “Going Knots” first.
Thank you so much again for being here!
Elin, xx