I am happy to have a painting selected for the Haworth Art Gallery Open Exhibition 2026
Tag: acrylic painting
A little bird told me…
Handmade postcards using mixed media techniques
Life drawing mixed media sketchbook: playing with figures
Aimee- negative space In my sketchbook I have been enjoying reworking old and new life drawings into new compositions using collage and mixed media techniques. I used old paintings that I no longer liked or needed and cut them up to create new pieces in my sketchbook using them as backgrounds or parts of the …
Continue reading Life drawing mixed media sketchbook: playing with figures
Sketchbook experiments: mixed medium birds and vessels
A look inside the artist’s sketchbook exploring the symbolic interpretations of birds and vessels. Mixed media artwork featuring gel plate printing, collage, pastel and conte crayons.
Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery Open 2026
“Portrait Gallery” by Rachel Crawshaw I was very pleased to hear that my submission for the Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery Open 2026 was given “highly commended” at the opening on Saturday. I was unable to attend the opening but am looking forward to visiting the exhibition and witnessing in person all of the fantastic …
Grisaille technique
This month I continued my theme of vessels and flowers, but wanted to experiment with a slower process and a more traditional technique and style of painting. I decided to try out the Grisaille technique. This is a process where you create a greyscale underpainting first to establish light, shadow and tone before adding colour …
Tulips, vase and blackbird
In a previous post I shared with you a vase of flowers I’d captured in my sketchbook using colour pencils. Tulips sketch by Rachel Crawshaw I have since translated that drawing into a painting in acrylics, and on to it I have added the symbol of a blackbird. Receive joy by Rachel Crawshaw In the …
Painting of the Farne Islands
Rachel Crawshaw : The Farne Islands at sunset In this painting I used a photograph from a recent trip to Northumberland and the Farne Islands as inspiration. We went on a sunset cruise around the Farne Islands to see the local wildlife particularly seals, puffins, arctic terns, shags, gannets and other sea-birds. We managed to …
My recent paintings and some exciting news!
Hi, just thought I'd share with you today some of my recent artwork! First off we have a triptych of sheep in oils: These paintings were done simultaneously from the same palette, something I had not done before which was quite a challenge but I really like the results. The canvases are all 8 x …
Continue reading My recent paintings and some exciting news!
Bug painting
I have been doing a lot more detailed paintings recently, trying to achieve more hyper realistic effect. Here is one of my most recent paintings, it is based on a close up photograph of a grass hopper. Here is the photograph it is based upon: The photograph is by photographer Levon Biss (You can see …
