Aspen Does Art

Aspen Does Art A photographer and artist just trying to see the world and life differently! I am a photographer in Halifax, UK

17/06/2026

The secret to painting realistic black fur? Strip away the colour. 🎨⬇️

Converting your work into a stark value map is the ultimate test of contrast. If it looks three-dimensional in black and white, you know your colour rendering is on the right track!

Here is a quick look at how I checked the values on this beautiful black lab (only a quick view though sorry!) and her favorite plush toy. That was before she ripped it to shreds.

Save this post as a reminder to check your values on your next project!

10/06/2026

Me: "I'm just going to draw a quick, simple, cute little pastel watercolour blob today."

My brain: "Make it look like a Ditto that is 80% of the way through copying a Togepi. And animate it slightly because you’ve not done that recently!”

Animation is a massive labour of love, and sometimes you just have to lean into wherever the (digital) pencil takes you. It might not have been my exact starting plan, but I’m totally okay with how this sweet little shapeshifter turned out. Even if the watercolour style isn’t perfect with the animation it’s progress and progress definitely counts 🥹✨

To everyone out there wrestling with keyframes today—keep going! Even your "accidental" frames can turn into something lovable.

Small steps make big changes over time, while trying to take giant leaps usually just ends in falling over!I’ve been fee...
06/06/2026

Small steps make big changes over time, while trying to take giant leaps usually just ends in falling over!
I’ve been feeling a bit stuck with my art lately, it’s so easy to look at your work every day and feel like you aren’t moving forward at all. So, I decided to redo a piece I drew roughly a year ago this week to give myself a little reality check.
Looking at them side-by-side, I’m actually so proud of the progress I couldn’t see happening in real-time. The newer version has so much more life, better flow, and the texture/shading control is miles ahead of where I was last year.

It’s a gentle reminder to myself—
, and anyone else trying to master a skill, break a habit, or reach a goal, that consistency wins. You don't need to reinvent yourself overnight. Just show up, take the small steps, and trust the process. The growth will take care of itself. 🖤🌙

03/06/2026

Consider this your official permission slip to do whatever silly, nostalgic, or "unproductive" thing your mind needs to feel calm today. 🕊️✨

We often get so caught up in the idea of "aesthetic self-care" or productive hobbies that we forget how healing it is to just... play. There is something incredibly therapeutic about the repetitive lines of Zentangle, especially when combined with the satisfying, bright neon pop of a kid's scratch-art kit.

Your nervous system doesn’t care if your hobby is meant for an adult or a child. It only cares that you are breathing, creating, and giving yourself a break from a loud world.

If it brings you peace, do it. No explanations needed. 🖤

What is your favorite "unconventional" way to soothe your mind? Let me know in the comments! 👇

01/06/2026

They ask for Straight Pride Month
like a man at a banquet
complaining his plate’s not full enough.

Like someone standing in sunlight
asking for a torch.

They say:
What about us?
as if every street sign,
every wedding cake,
every film kiss,
every lesson in school,
every law written in careful ink
hadn’t already answered.

They wear normal
like a tailored coat
then call it nakedness.

Meanwhile others stitched themselves
from scraps:
secret glances,
bathroom mirrors,
fake names,
silence at the dinner table,
hands dropped quickly in public
like hot pans.

You don’t build ramps
for people already dancing upstairs.

You don’t hand out umbrellas
to the dry.

No one opens shelters
for the housed,
or food banks
for the fat cats licking cream
from silver spoons.

There is no straight panic.
No straight bashing.
No mother saying:
it’s just a phase
because her son brought home a girl.

A month is not a medal.
Not a winner’s ribbon pinned
to the loudest chest.

It is shelter.

A brief lit window
in a long row of dark ones.

A roof held up
for people left outside
in the rain of history.

Pride is not a parade
for those who owned the road already.

It is the march
of people who walked it barefoot,
glass in their heels,
still carrying flags.

You do not light candles
for the sun.

Nature really went all out with the paint brush on these ones. Absolutely obsessed with the flaming variegation on these...
31/05/2026

Nature really went all out with the paint brush on these ones.

Absolutely obsessed with the flaming variegation on these tulips.

Did reading this image make you squint, slow down, or feel a tiny bit of strain in your head?If so, you just experienced...
28/05/2026

Did reading this image make you squint, slow down, or feel a tiny bit of strain in your head?

If so, you just experienced a tiny glimpse of Irlen-Meares Syndrome (sometimes called Irlen Syndrome or Visual Stress). 🧠✨

For individuals with Irlen-Meares Syndrome, the brain struggles to process specific wavelengths of light. It isn't an issue with their physical eyes, it's a neurological processing difference.

When they try to read standard black text on a bright white screen or page, the letters don't stay still. They might shake, swirl, run together, or be entirely washed out by a blinding glare.

I designed this graphic and custom looped font to act as a "simulation":

🎨 The Loud Rainbow Background mimics how blindingly bright, distracting, and painful a plain white piece of paper or computer screen can feel to us.

🌀 The Coiled Typeface forces your brain to work extra hard to decode each letter, simulating the immense cognitive fatigue and frustration of trying to read shifting words.

Standard reading formats can feel like trying to translate an impossible code while looking at a flashing light. But by using coloured overlays or precision-tinted lenses, many find relief!

Take a moment to read the text in the image. Let me know in the comments: What did the experience feel like for your brain? 👇

27/05/2026

We all have that one digital folder (or physical sketchbook) where half-finished ideas go to sleep. 📁💤

Sometimes we abandon a piece because we lose the spark, get frustrated, or simply get distracted by a new idea. But lately, I’ve been going back to my "WIP graveyard" and remembering why I started these pieces in the first place.

Watching this sweet pup emerge from just a few simple brushstrokes reminded me that art doesn't have to be perfect on the first try to be worth finishing. Even the sketchiest, most forgotten projects deserve a little love and a second chance. 🎨🐾

Do you have a pile of unfinished projects waiting for some love? Let this be your sign to open one up today! 👇 Let me know what you're working on in the comments.

Sometimes, we just have to stop and truly appreciate the flowers.When you’re in the thick of the cold seasons, whether t...
24/05/2026

Sometimes, we just have to stop and truly appreciate the flowers.
When you’re in the thick of the cold seasons, whether that's literally winter, or figuratively a creative block, a hard mental health stretch, or just the exhausting grind of daily life, the bloom feels incredibly far away. It’s easy to feel like the energy you're putting into the soil is going nowhere.

But the fruits of our efforts are rarely immediate.

If we just keep on keeping on, the breakthrough always comes. These blooms are a reminder of that patience. We nourished them through the dark and the cold, and now, they’ve arrived to nourish our souls right back. Every bit of quiet effort you are putting into your life, your art, or your healing right now is doing something underneath the surface. You will notice it. And one day soon, it will all be so worth it. 🌸

Finding the rhythm in the repeat. ☁️🐝Sometimes we create to make a statement, and sometimes we create to find a rhythm. ...
22/04/2026

Finding the rhythm in the repeat. ☁️🐝

Sometimes we create to make a statement, and sometimes we create to find a rhythm. Pattern art is my favorite way to slow my life down to a manageable pace. There is something incredibly meditative about the repetition.

Not all art is about a grand reveal; some art is about the steady, quiet hum of the process. It’s a reminder that there is beauty in the things that sustain us, over and over again.

If this pattern were on a fabric, what would you make with it? I’m thinking a summer tote or some cozy curtains! 👜

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