Liz Steel's guest appearances

Liz Steel

Art Supply Posse

Macpreneur

The SneakyArt Podcast

Maria Brophy

Erik Fisher

Austin Saylor

Kate Erickson

Sara McNally

Sarah Nelson

Kevin Murphy

Danny Gregory

Naomi Bulger

Chris Lambert

Victoria Lee

Joe Allen

Koosje Koene

Edith Dormandy

Charli Prangley

OwlTail

I speak with Sydney-based urban-sketcher Liz Steel about the different ways she makes her art look effortless and spontaneous. Liz took a big leap of faith in her professional life - quitting a career in architecture to become a full-time artist and educator. What does she carry from her education and experience that informs her art today? How does she benefit from a regular blogging habit? And why is teaching useful for an artist keen on self-improvement? I was also interested to learn the point of view of an architect with a sketchbook, and the ways it differs from the non-architect urban sketcher. We discuss how a knowledge base helps to better appreciate the history and evolution of art in all its forms, architecture included. Links below to Liz's art and her workshops. Also check out my BuyMeACoffee page for an exclusive giveaway related to this episode!   Liz Steel’s website &amp; links to her workshops | instagram   Sneaky Art instagram   Support this podcast and my work - Buy me a coffee   Subscribe to the SneakyArt newsletter  Read a transcript of this conversation here. 

I speak with Sydney-based urban-sketcher Liz Steel about the different ways she makes her art look effortless and spontaneous. Liz took a big leap of faith in her professional life - quitting a career in architecture to become a full-time artist and educator. What does she carry from her education and experience that informs her art today? How does she benefit from a regular blogging habit? And why is teaching useful for an artist keen on self-improvement? I was also interested to learn the point of view of an architect with a sketchbook, and the ways it differs from the non-architect urban sketcher. We discuss how a knowledge base helps to better appreciate the history and evolution of art in all its forms, architecture included. Links below to Liz's art and her workshops. Also check out my BuyMeACoffee page for an exclusive giveaway related to this episode! <ul> <li> Liz Steel’s <a href="https://www.lizsteel.com/links/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">website &amp; links</a> to her workshops | <a href="https://www.instagram.com/lizsteelart/?hl=en" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">instagram</a> </li> <li> Sneaky Art <a href="https://www.instagram.com/thesneakyartist" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">instagram</a> </li> <li> Support this podcast and my work - <a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thesneakyartist" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Buy me a coffee</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://sneakyart.substack.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Subscribe</a> to the SneakyArt newsletter </li> <li>Read a transcript of this conversation <a href="https://www.sneakyartist.com/podcast" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>.</li> </ul>

Ep 14 - Making it Look Easy with Liz Steel

Liz Steel episode ​​Liz Steel talks about becoming an urban sketcher, journalling her life, and teaching art. ​​Liz’s Online sketching courses ​​Liz Steel’s website and blog Instagram ​​Danny Gregory ​​Urban Sketchers Liz Steel talks about becoming an art teacher who journals her life by sketching with ink and watercolour . Liz says “I’m doing it because it’s a very honest response to what I see and where I am and what I do”.​​ ​​ ##Referenced Art Supply Posse Episodes ​​Episode 2 on watercolours Episode 4 on fineliners Episode 18 on fountain pens for drawing ​​ ​​ ##Questions about art supplies? ###Ask in our forum Artsupia Forum There’s a forum app too: iOS Discourse App for Artsupia Forum  Android Discourse App for Artsupia Forum ​​​​Art Supply Posse Website ##Topic Summaries ​​ ​​Comparison to photography ​​Kim compares urban sketching to photography, how they both record a fleeting moment, and Liz explains how sketching has replaced photography for her. She used to take photos and print and bind photo books, but now her sketchbooks serve the same purpose. Liz compares herself to other travel sketchers and describes how she wants to document everywhere she’s been, not just one sketch a day. Sometimes she does up to 20 sketches a day. ​​Move from architecture ​​In architecture, it’s important to keep a kind of “idea book” where you keep sketches of buildings and ideas. Liz says she knew it was important, but just never sketched, until she found Danny Gregory. His work opened up sketching for her to include other subjects and mediums. This also opened up an obsession to document her life which got her into sketching. Liz didn’t make a clean break with architecture but instead, about five years ago, she took 6 months off work. The reasons were many and she wanted to see if she could do something with her art. Things started moving, and Liz got to do both illustration projects and teaching. Liz felt she had more of a role to fill as an architect turned sketcher than as a pure architect. She enjoyed having more creative freedom than her profession allowed. ​​ ​​Becoming a full-time artist and creating online courses ​​The traditional advice for people wanting to work with their creative passion is to balance the time between a “day job” and their passion and transition gradually. Liz did nothing of that, hers was more of a sabbatical turned transition as the demands at her day job were too much to be able to handle a side business too. Liz struggled with gaining recognition locally in the beginning. She was getting more recognition online in the international scene. She also realised she was less into client work and more interested in creating a product, which in her case developed into online courses. ​​Urban sketching in Australia ​​When Liz started out urban sketching, there were just a handful of people in Australia who even knew what it was, but it has definitely grown now. There are groups all over, for example in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Tasmania, South Australia and Perth. ​​ ​​Mediums ​​Liz primarily uses fountain pens with ink and watercolor for her urban sketching. She had been using fountain pens and ink for a long time, but watercolor was her “light bulb moment” and she says “This is what I’ve been looking for all my life”. With watercolor she was able to mix all the colors she wanted. ​​Drawing from observation ​​Liz says she was confident about drawing from her head already, due to her background in architecture, but drawing from observation was trickier. She had to go back to basics and relearn how to apply concepts, like for example perspective, to what she saw and wanted to draw. Teaching urban sketching ​​Liz didn’t start out wanting to teach, but as she was getting more into the urban sketching community she was encouraged to teach. She now teaches online courses but also do workshops in urban sketching. ​​“The major barrier to art is to change the way your brain thinks, to start thinking visually.” ​​Liz focuses on teaching concepts in her courses, in contrast to “demonstrate and copy”. The concepts can be “how to see edges” or “how to see shapes”, for example. The concepts are followed by exercises to practice and understand these concepts, so you can then continue using them in your own art. ​​Newcomer tips To get started in urban sketching, all you need is really paper and a pen or pencil, because the most important thing to learn is how to observe and translate that onto paper. Adding too many supplies can distract from that learning. However, if you want to do ink and wash, which is a very common from of urban sketching, Liz recommends getting a permanent fineliner and a watercolor kit. ​​ ​​Don’t worry too much over materials and supplies though, she says, it’s better to just get started. It is a journey and you will figure out what suits you and your art. It will change over time, and starting out with a lot of research on materials will likely just overwhelm you. Making art regularly One common problem to making art is to actually make time for it, to show up. Liz describes that as she was starting out, she dedicated some time after dinner every day to do a sketch. She also recommends to go along with an Urban Sketchers group nearby, and joining them sketching. Liz describes how she wants to create a kind of visual diary, a record of what she did that week, so that motivates her to keep sketching even in busy times. ##Feedback Send feedback to hello at artsupplyposse dot com ​​

Liz Steel episode ​​Liz Steel talks about becoming an urban sketcher, journalling her life, and teaching art. ​​<a href="http://sketchingnow.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Liz’s Online sketching courses</a> ​​<a href="http://%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8Blizsteel.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Liz Steel’s website and blog</a> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/lizsteelart/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Instagram</a> ​​<a href="https://www.dannygregory.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Danny Gregory</a> ​​<a href="http://www.urbansketchers.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Urban Sketchers</a> Liz Steel talks about becoming an art teacher who journals her life by sketching with ink and watercolour . Liz says “I’m doing it because it’s a very honest response to what I see and where I am and what I do”.​​ ​​ ##Referenced Art Supply Posse Episodes ​​<a href="http://artsupplyposse.com/2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 2 on watercolours</a> <a href="http://artsupplyposse.com/4" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 4 on fineliners</a> <a href="http://artsupplyposse.com/18" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 18 on fountain pens for drawing</a> ​​ ​​ ##Questions about art supplies? ###Ask in our forum <a href="http://forum.artsupia.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Artsupia Forum</a> There’s a forum app too: <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/discourse-app/id1173672076" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">iOS Discourse App for Artsupia Forum</a> <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.discourse&amp;hl=en" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Android Discourse App for Artsupia Forum</a> ​​​​<a href="http://artsupplyposse.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Art Supply Posse Website</a> ##Topic Summaries ​​ ​​Comparison to photography ​​Kim compares urban sketching to photography, how they both record a fleeting moment, and Liz explains how sketching has replaced photography for her. She used to take photos and print and bind photo books, but now her sketchbooks serve the same purpose. Liz compares herself to other travel sketchers and describes how she wants to document everywhere she’s been, not just one sketch a day. Sometimes she does up to 20 sketches a day. ​​Move from architecture ​​In architecture, it’s important to keep a kind of “idea book” where you keep sketches of buildings and ideas. Liz says she knew it was important, but just never sketched, until she found Danny Gregory. His work opened up sketching for her to include other subjects and mediums. This also opened up an obsession to document her life which got her into sketching. Liz didn’t make a clean break with architecture but instead, about five years ago, she took 6 months off work. The reasons were many and she wanted to see if she could do something with her art. Things started moving, and Liz got to do both illustration projects and teaching. Liz felt she had more of a role to fill as an architect turned sketcher than as a pure architect. She enjoyed having more creative freedom than her profession allowed. ​​ ​​Becoming a full-time artist and creating online courses ​​The traditional advice for people wanting to work with their creative passion is to balance the time between a “day job” and their passion and transition gradually. Liz did nothing of that, hers was more of a sabbatical turned transition as the demands at her day job were too much to be able to handle a side business too. Liz struggled with gaining recognition locally in the beginning. She was getting more recognition online in the international scene. She also realised she was less into client work and more interested in creating a product, which in her case developed into online courses. ​​Urban sketching in Australia ​​When Liz started out urban sketching, there were just a handful of people in Australia who even knew what it was, but it has definitely grown now. There are groups all over, for example in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Tasmania, South Australia and Perth. ​​ ​​Mediums ​​Liz primarily uses fountain pens with ink and watercolor for her urban sketching. She had been using fountain pens and ink for a long time, but watercolor was her “light bulb moment” and she says “This is what I’ve been looking for all my life”. With watercolor she was able to mix all the colors she wanted. ​​Drawing from observation ​​Liz says she was confident about drawing from her head already, due to her background in architecture, but drawing from observation was trickier. She had to go back to basics and relearn how to apply concepts, like for example perspective, to what she saw and wanted to draw. Teaching urban sketching ​​Liz didn’t start out wanting to teach, but as she was getting more into the urban sketching community she was encouraged to teach. She now teaches online courses but also do workshops in urban sketching. ​​“The major barrier to art is to change the way your brain thinks, to start thinking visually.” ​​Liz focuses on teaching concepts in her courses, in contrast to “demonstrate and copy”. The concepts can be “how to see edges” or “how to see shapes”, for example. The concepts are followed by exercises to practice and understand these concepts, so you can then continue using them in your own art. ​​Newcomer tips To get started in urban sketching, all you need is really paper and a pen or pencil, because the most important thing to learn is how to observe and translate that onto paper. Adding too many supplies can distract from that learning. However, if you want to do ink and wash, which is a very common from of urban sketching, Liz recommends getting a permanent fineliner and a watercolor kit. ​​ ​​Don’t worry too much over materials and supplies though, she says, it’s better to just get started. It is a journey and you will figure out what suits you and your art. It will change over time, and starting out with a lot of research on materials will likely just overwhelm you. Making art regularly One common problem to making art is to actually make time for it, to show up. Liz describes that as she was starting out, she dedicated some time after dinner every day to do a sketch. She also recommends to go along with an Urban Sketchers group nearby, and joining them sketching. Liz describes how she wants to create a kind of visual diary, a record of what she did that week, so that motivates her to keep sketching even in busy times. ##Feedback Send feedback to hello at artsupplyposse dot com ​​

52: Urban Sketching with Liz Steel

In this episode, Liz Steel explains how she's using her iMac, MacBook Air, iPad Pro with Apple Pencil and iPhone 6 to run a successful online business teaching people how to sketch. Around the 14 minutes mark, Liz shares a tip that is useful if you need to quickly transfer pictures and files between your iPhone and your Mac, then explains what prevented her from getting a paragraph return on Instagram from her iPhone. Then I explain how to leverage the automatic photo upload from Dropbox in case you don't want to use iCloud Photo Library and prefer organising your pictures in folders and subfolders, yet have them backed up in the cloud as well. You can connect with Liz via:  Instagram: @lizsteelart Blog: https://www.lizsteel.com Online school: https://sketchingnow.com  The web version of the show notes is available at macpreneur.com/episode6 Want to provide some feedback or be a guest on the show? Then visit macpreneur.com/contact Useful links:  WordPress.org Photoshop InDesign Slack Instagram iOS app Forest - Stay focused Sleep Cycle Alarm Clock Dropbox iOS app Procreate for iPad Fitbit Alta  Follow Us:  Visit our Website Subscribe, leave a rating or review on Apple Podcasts Follow us on Twitter

In this episode, Liz Steel explains how she's using her iMac, MacBook Air, iPad Pro with Apple Pencil and iPhone 6 to run a successful online business teaching people how to sketch. Around the 14 minutes mark, Liz shares a tip that is useful if you need to quickly transfer pictures and files between your iPhone and your Mac, then explains what prevented her from getting a paragraph return on Instagram from her iPhone. Then I explain how to leverage the automatic photo upload from Dropbox in case you don't want to use iCloud Photo Library and prefer organising your pictures in folders and subfolders, yet have them backed up in the cloud as well. You can connect with Liz via: <ul> <li>Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/lizsteelart" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">@lizsteelart</a></li> <li>Blog: <a href="https://www.lizsteel.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.lizsteel.com</a></li> <li>Online school: <a href="https://sketchingnow.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://sketchingnow.com</a></li> </ul> The web version of the show notes is available at <a href="https://macpreneur.com/episode6" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">macpreneur.com/episode6</a> Want to provide some feedback or be a guest on the show? Then visit <a href="https://macpreneur.com/contact" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">macpreneur.com/contact</a> <h3>Useful links:</h3> <ul> <li><a href="https://www.wordpress.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">WordPress.org</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.adobe.com/products/photoshopfamily.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Photoshop</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.adobe.com/lu_en/products/indesign.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">InDesign</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.slack.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Slack</a></li> <li><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/app/instagram/id389801252?mt=8" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Instagram iOS app</a></li> <li><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/app/forest-stay-focused/id866450515?mt=8" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Forest - Stay focused</a></li> <li><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/app/sleep-cycle-alarm-clock/id320606217?mt=8" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sleep Cycle Alarm Clock</a></li> <li><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/app/dropbox/id327630330?mt=8" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Dropbox iOS app</a></li> <li><a href="https://procreate.art/ipad" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Procreate for iPad</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.fitbit.com/alta" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Fitbit Alta</a></li> </ul> <h3>Follow Us:</h3> <ul> <li><a href="https://www.macpreneur.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Visit our Website</a></li> <li><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/lu/podcast/macpreneur/id1398129745?mt=2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Subscribe, leave a rating or review on Apple Podcasts</a></li> <li><a href="https://twitter.com/MacpreneurFM" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Follow us on Twitter</a></li></ul>

Liz Steel - Sketching and teaching how to sketch for a living