Peaceful Night Garden Painting

A passion for drawing My name is Helen and I'm the creator of this artwork. I'm exposing my life-long passion for drawing to the outside world by selling limited edition prints of my artwork on Saatchi Art.I now draw, paint, and sometimes write and illustrate my own stories. I was born in Harlow in the UK and raised in Hertfordshire until 11, when I moved to Exeter then Barnstaple in Devon. I now live in the beautiful county of Hampshire with my husband and cat, Gizmo. I'm a full-time copywriter at a healthcare insurance company which fortunately allows for a degree of creativity. I come from artistic parents and my father Roger Withington is the former banknote designer at the Bank of England. You may be familiar with 'Series 'E' which includes banknotes which feature Charles Dickens, George Stevenson, Michael Faraday, Sir John Houblon, and Edward Elgar. You can see his work on display at the Bank of England Museum just off Threadneedle Street in London. My work is often inspired by travel, people, books, and photos I take which I use as reference for my art and often upload them onto Shutterstock. I enjoy focussing on themes like London, animals, people and night-time - which I think is the most interesting setting for my paintings. Shadows come to life and moonlight creates a peaceful feeling. Other major themes: Night, the moon, toucans, old London buildings, houses, people, nature, summer, travel, fictional stories, historical buildings – e.g. Victorian and Tudor, mysterious buildings, colourful, bold contrasts, pencil tone, animals, detail, convincing drawing, realism, out of the ordinary. Process: My process begins with an idea. It could be the shape of something, the colour or the contrast that inspires me to want to draw it. I might do a super quick sketch of it first to get the layout and colours right. Usually, I can’t wait to get stuck into the final piece while the inspiration’s fresh! I gather any reference which I need so I can get the details right. I like accuracy – it makes the artwork more convincing. I stick my reference to my drawing board so I can see it easily. I usually draw outlines in pencil, rubbing out any unnecessary marks with a putty rubber. Sometimes I draw out a grid if I want to scale up or down and position things accurately. Some things, like faces, are easier to draw freehand though I find, so I can feel my way to getting the likeness right.