Kayakroar's Art

Hiya!  I decided to make a post about colours and touch on colour theory. I've always liked using colours that contrast in my work (because I'm a rebel like that!) So this post is for anyone who needs some tips on picking contrasting and complementary colours. 1) Secondary Colours VS Primary Colours The easiest way to pick contrasting colours is going back to basics. This means looking at secondary colours and using their primary hues to determine the contrasting hues. For example, to make Orange you need Yellow and Red, the odd primary colour out is blue. This means that the contrasting colour of orange is blue. primary colours 2) Complimentary Secondary tones Another layer to colour theory is choosing a warm or a cool tone A lot of people (myself included) often place a warm and a cool colour together to make a complimentary colour palette. For example, there is orange & green. One is made with 1 warm primary colour (yellow and red) and the other wit

Hiya! Recently, I went to my local library which had a built in gallery and a few exhibitions going on. It was then, I noticed some really dope sculptures, historical paintings and, would you have thought, some SCREEN PRINTS! I was actually really surprised by the content I came across when attending the exhibition, there was a lot of historical references about Manny C ( Manchester) and Oldham that I didn't know about. Like famous feminist, Emmeline Pankhurst was born in Moss side, Manchester and I had no idea. (regardless of the fact that her statue was being transported all over Manny C Emmeline Pankhurst I also had no idea that she and I share the same birthday. ( 14th or the 15th of July, its still a debate!) After seeing this, it inspired me on a mental and emotional level to pursue and challenge myself to keep going on my freelance career. Because, if she was brave enough to help as many people (both women and men) during those difficult, restrictive times, the

Hiya! It's been a while, and I have made a new print!  For some time now, I have battled with my moral compass of using photographs that don't belong to me, to make monoprints followed by screenprints. Which because of copyright laws, obviously it's wrong to trace images that don't belong to you. For that reason, I have been experiencing some art block and wasn't motivated to create any artwork. Later, I decided to produce art prints of people by just drawing by hand. I didn't use this method of illustration at the beginning of my career, because I was quite doubtful of my drawing skills. However, I wanted to challenge myself (as I do like a challenge) and I found that as long as I keep practising, my illustration skills will improve. So whilst making my abstract drawing ink and screen filler prints, I am going to keep producing screen prints of people. I also love the way this "Spring" print came out and I want to keep making prints like thi

Hiya, Long time no see! So how are you? Are you doing okay? Hopefully, you said yes, if not just know that this too shall pass. I know that was a super deep way to open a blog post, but lately, as I have started my freelancing career, it has been a jumpy, draining journey. The reason I'm talking about this is that my art career is currently going through a bittersweet stage at the moment. What had happened was, lately that my artwork has been improving. So for the past few months since launching my screen printing career, I have been practising methods and techniques to help improve my artwork. And it has been fun, and sometimes frustrating, (again the unpredictable fun of screen printing!), but what I can say is that it was all worth it. My screenprints improved from using basic paper stencils, ( Like the stencil's you start with when screen printing before upgrading to photo emulsion) I used paper stencils to make my The Cross "It is Finished" print

Hiya! I've recently made the jump (or leap, feels more like a "jump" to me! :) ) to start my own YouTube channel! My first video is simply a drawing ink and screen filler screen print. The inspiration was of sea life (Obviously!) and a clamshell drawn with an abstractive style in mind. I also love the colour combination of blue and a coral pink and I did enjoy adding the doodles so much! It was a lot of fun to illustrate and to film the process. I also want to mention, that even though it was mentioned in the video, I did apply the screen filler to the screen and it was captured on film. However, for some reason, the video editor wouldn't allow me to add the footage to the video, so that important step is missing. But, to make up for that I will include a more detailed tutorial of the process in another video, in the future. I do apologise for that, but this was also a "live and learn" circumstance for me as well. Nonetheless, I hope that you all enj

Hiya!  I hope everyone is doing great this week :) I recently posted a video on 5 easy steps to screen print using photo emulsion. However, I decided to include a blog post on the subject, in case you might not be too keen on watching videos or if you just want a brief explanation on the subject. So, here it is! 5 easy steps to screen print using photo emulsion. Step 1 Apply photo emulsion Use your squeegee to apply a thin layer of Photo emulsion on both sides of the board. Keep in mind not to put too much as a thin layer on both sides is sufficient enough. Then put your board in a dark, dry area so that the board could dry. (not letting the coated screen touch anything) The drying process could take anywhere between 7 hours to overnight. Classy Robe! Oh yeah, and I also applying photo emulsion in the bathtub.   Step 2 Design your stencil You can make your stencil traditionally or digitally. I usually draw my stencil traditionally at first and then upload

Hiya!  As some of you are aware I am a screen print artist, however, I also like adding other mediums into my art. Mediums like Ink, watercolours, paint pens and gel pens ( just to name a few, haha!)   However, screen print is my main medium and I include other mediums to add detail and personality to my artwork. So I decided to make a mini-series on how I use each medium in my art, starting with watercolours! Draw a fine-line sketch I usually start out with a rough, but fine line pencil sketch. This is mostly because I'm just a beginner in drawing and I don't want to make many mistakes. Plus this is great if you're attempting to draw something new and that you don't have much experience in. Define lines Once I'm happy with the rough fine sketch, I then define the lines, with medium pressure. So I don't put too much pressure on the pencil, just enough that I'm able to see the drawing clearly. Prep your colours I'm blessed that