When my eldest was younger, she forged a relationship with our dog. Watching this friendship unfold was so special. I started sketching what it might evolve into in a few years. These are now factually true sketches which once were a daydream. Drew in quick sketches at first but the two-tone watercolor was needed to add the binary relationship of excitement and warmth (yellow) with the comfort and calm (blue). These five are a sampling of a collection.

Scottish countryside view from the train.

Always enjoy making the PTG event posters!

Created a fun fair poster for our schools PTG team to promote an end-of-the-year fun day. Using a free download for the tents, I cleaned up the illustrations and changed the palette, added the bunting and laid atop the background. Vibrant colors called attention and the turn-out was wonderful. A fun day indeed!

All art is ©Ashley Stuart and may not be used without explicit permission.

I've been so inspired by the Coloricombo prompts by Esté Macleod that I've lost count what week or piece it is. So I think from here on out I'll just post with the title of the piece. I took a video of the process for this piece and made it into a Reel on Instagram [ watch process ].

Hello friends. Pinterest has been a wonderful place for me to find various technique how-to's for painting, or inspirational images, or home ideas and products. But recently I've been adding more of my own work to Pinterest. I'm excited to share my inspiration boards with you all as I've been collecting and pinning for a long time now, but not shared these boards. I'm also excited to show the gallery-style boards of my work. Why not go take a peek of the process?

The process for this piece was frustrating. I'm not drawn to reds and pinks at all so the concept was lacking at first. My initial sketch was a go-to painting of vines, leaves, and circle flowers creating a nice pattern. But it just wasn't what was needed. So I took my extra paint, as recommended by another #coloricombo artist, and painted roughly overtop the initial concept. I then painted three flowers, but knew it needed more. I enjoyed the collage creation from week 8 so much that I decided to try again. I really love the depth of process this gives my pieces and I really just let my brain flow through my hands without overthinking.

I have had Ukraine on my mind since the start of the invasion. I'm inspired by the strength and pride of her people. The images of sunflowers and babies being born during the crisis has flooded my thoughts. This piece has those feelings brought in. New growth is starting and mirrors current events.

I have been wanting to try my hand at collage for a while now. Starting with watercolor washes, I didn't have a plan for the final piece. Organically assembling the pieces, two flowers growing from the same place began to appear. I've really enjoyed this and would love to explore more.

I have been wanting to use a cozy homestead as the focus of an illustration for a long time. The palette in this week's challenge seemed to suit the mood of a cozy, indoors moment. I sometimes wonder if I should begin illustrating more often as I find so much joy in creating worlds rather than mimicking what I see on a landscape. What you see is somewhat of a dream home for me: kitty cat by the wood burner, comfy chair and clothes, warm cuppa, Georgian window, a sweater waiting to be knit, stacks of books to be read, and socks warming naturally. Hope you feel cozy and at home when you look through.

I sketched in the darkest color on the palette so I would have the definition at the end (see picture one). Then working in thirds I applied the three additional colors. What I mean by "working in thirds" is I added three locations for each color to make the piece feel balanced. Then I could add dabs here and there to create more depth (see pictures two and three). Once the initial watercolor was painted I then went in with watercolor pencil to add details to items like the flower pot, curtains, and yarn. It was somewhat difficult to mix the colors correctly but made it in the end!