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The Art of Self-Care

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  • CLASSES
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  • SHOP
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT
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  • CLASSES
  • COMMUNITY
  • SHOP
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT

Recent Posts

  • gel plate printing for beginnersHow to Start Gel Printing with Zero Experience
    In Techniques
  • How to use watercolor powders with stencilsThe Best Way to Use Watercolor Powders with Stencils
    In Techniques
  • Watercolor Pigment Powders Brusho Crystal Colours, Lindy's Gang Magicals and Nuvo Shimmer Powders how to use on watercolor paperWatercolor Powders Demystified! You need to Try these!
    In Techniques
  • How to Get Comfortable with Your Watercolors an Easy Art Journal Project
    Art Journal,  Techniques

    How to Get Comfortable with Your Watercolors

    February 10, 2023 /

    Are you new to watercolor paints or have recently purchased a new set of watercolors? Watercolors are a wonderful medium but every new color or set of colors can take time to get used to. The colors may act differently than what you’re accustomed to, which can cause frustration. So how do you get comfortable with a new set of watercolors? I recently purchased a new set of Russian watercolor paints called White Nights at my local art store. I wanted to share with you my process and the exercises I use to get familiar with the paints and color combinations. We’ll be creating a simple watercolor painting in our…

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    Nadine Milton

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    Realistic Goal Setting and New Year’s Resolutions

    December 30, 2019
    Beautiful Smudge Free Pan Pastel Christmas Cards

    Beautiful Smudge Free Pan Pastel Christmas Cards

    December 2, 2022
    7 Techniques using Zebra Mildliner Mix Pens

    7 Unique Ways to Use Zebra Mildliner Mix Pens

    August 3, 2024
  • wet-on-wet watercolor techniques mixing colors
    Techniques

    Easy Wet-on-Wet Watercolor Techniques for Beginners

    October 28, 2022 /

    If you are new to watercolor and learning wet-on-wet watercolor techniques, watercolor can sometimes feel challenging. You may feel like you have no control over your brush or your watercolor paint. Today we’ll cover the basics of wet-on-wet watercolor techniques for beginners to help you get great results every time! Hop-A-Long Studio is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission at no cost to you. Learn more. The Problem The problem with wet-on-wet watercolor is how do we control the water? When I was new to watercolor painting, a lot of my projects ended up looking like colored blobs instead of landscapes, clouds,…

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    Nadine Milton

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    Beginner Friendly Acrylic Painting Techniques

    5 Beginner Friendly Acrylic Painting Techniques

    May 13, 2022
    How to Paint Watercolor Backgrounds

    How to Paint Watercolor Backgrounds

    February 14, 2020
    Art Journal Project I'm Feeling Blue

    Art Journal Project “I’m Feeling Blue”

    January 20, 2020
  • How to Use Watercolors with Stencils
    Techniques

    How to use Watercolors with Stencils

    August 26, 2022 /

    Using watercolors with stencils may seem like two things that don’t go together in your art journal. The loose nature of watercolor appears incompatible with stencils. But with a bit of experimentation and imagination, you can get some amazing and unexpected results using watercolors with stencils. Hop-A-Long Studio is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission at no cost to you. Learn more. Adding Watercolors to Stencils When adding watercolors to stencils, you may need to change your expectation for the final result. When using acrylic paints, gel or paste mediums with stencils, the medium can be applied, and the stencil removed immediately.…

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    Nadine Milton

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    Live acrylic painting demonstration for creativity service

    The Importance of Creativity

    November 12, 2019
    How to Use a Dip Pen

    How to Use a Dip Pen

    October 23, 2020

    Mystified by Acrylic Pastes? How to Color Pastes in 1 Easy Step!

    March 3, 2023
  • Watercolor Landscape Paint Along with Gouache
    Art Journal

    Watercolor Landscape Paint Along

    June 11, 2021 /

    Today’s project is a watercolor landscape paint along using gouache. I love using landscapes in my art journal pages. Creating landscapes is great practice for understanding how different art mediums work together. For this watercolor paint along we will be using colored pencils, acrylic paint, gouache, and ink to make a dynamic mixed media art journal page. What is Gouache? If you have never used gouache in a project, it is an opaque watercolor medium. It has similar pigments and binders as watercolor paints, but includes a white filler, such as chalk, which makes these paints opaque. Gouache provides a different result than watercolor. The opaque nature of the paint…

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    Nadine Milton

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    Painting with Ink Art Journal Project

    Painting with Ink: An Art Journal Project

    November 13, 2020
    How to Paint Flowers with a Toilet Paper Roll

    How to Paint Flowers with a Toilet Paper Roll

    August 4, 2023
    3 Ways to Trace Images onto Paper

    3 Easy Ways to Trace Images onto Paper

    January 8, 2021
  • Coloring with Inks and Watercolor Crayons
    Projects

    Coloring with Inks and Watercolor Crayons

    March 26, 2021 /

    Coloring with inks and watercolor crayons is an essential part of a creative self-care practice. By learning to color with these mediums, they will teach you many things. This includes how these mediums blend, how they react with certain papers and surfaces, and how you can incorporate them as layers within your mixed media projects.   Caran d’Ache Watercolor Crayons A new product in my art practice is the Caran d’Ache Neocolor II Watercolor crayons. I had originally purchased these to use in my acrylic painting classes. They are a very useful when creating basic sketches on canvas. But watercolor crayons have many more uses than just sketching out images.…

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    Nadine Milton

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    An Easy Watercolor Tutorial on Watercolor Mixing

    Intimidated by Watercolor Mixing? An Easy Watercolor Tutorial

    February 18, 2022
    Easy Art Journal Project Using Wild Whisper Designs Until We Eat Again Collection

    Easy Art Journal Project: Jumping into Art Journaling

    July 16, 2021
    Detail of Heart Focal Image from Valentine's Day Slimline Card

    Valentine’s Day Slimline Card

    February 12, 2021
  • How to Paint a Night Sky
    Art Journal,  Techniques

    How to Paint a Night Sky

    February 19, 2021 /

    This week we will be learning how to paint a night sky using watercolor paint. This is one of my favorite self-care exercises as it is simple and so relaxing. What makes learning how to paint a night sky so fun is this technique can be used with other colors and other applications. This provides practice and an understanding on what colors you can create from blending watercolor paints. The Inspiration The inspiration for this project was thinking about the warm summer days when I can get out of the city and see the stars. I love the night sky, there is something about the expanse of it that is…

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    Nadine Milton

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    4 Lessons I Learned From Almost Anxious

    4 Lessons I Learned from Almost Anxious

    June 5, 2020
    How to Use Gel Prints in Your Art Journal

    Feeling Stuck? How to Use Gel Prints in Your Art Journal Projects

    July 29, 2022
    Glass Painting Techniques with Pebeo Vitrea 160 Glass Paint

    Easy Glass Painting Techniques with Pebeo Vitrea 160

    March 24, 2023
  • Valentines Art Journal Page
    Art Journal

    Valentines Art Journal Page

    February 5, 2021 /

    Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, so today I will be sharing a Valentines art journal page using watercolor. Valentine’s Day can be an interesting holiday, but for many of us, it can bring some mixed feelings. Some of us really enjoy the celebration of love and connection. But Valentine’s Day can also have feelings of pressure to have the perfect experience or life. Instead of focusing on Valentine’s Day specifically in this journal page, we will be discussing the topic of love. Thinking About Love When we think about love, what is love truly about? Love can sometimes feel like the forced display of affection on Valentine’s Day…

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    Nadine Milton

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    How to Get Comfortable with Your Watercolors an Easy Art Journal Project

    How to Get Comfortable with Your Watercolors

    February 10, 2023
    Creating Mixed Media Tissue Paper

    Creating Mixed Media Tissue Paper

    January 28, 2022
    Scrapbooking Page Using Alcohol Inks with Stencils and Stamping

    Using Alcohol Inks with Stencils

    April 2, 2021
  • Mixed media art journal page "Grow"
    Art Journal

    Mixed Media Art Journal Project “Grow”

    January 22, 2021 /

    Do you ever struggle with bringing different mixed media products together on a page? In this week’s tutorial I will be demonstrating how to do so in this mixed media art journal project “Grow”. In this project we will be using watercolor, Brusho Crystal Colours and pastes through stencils to make a colorful and dynamic art journal page. The Intention I usually start every art journal project with an intention for the project. Sometimes, it is something as simple as trying out a new art product or image. Other times it is a thought, word, or idea to work through as I create. Sometimes it is hard to know where…

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    Nadine Milton

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    How to Use Watercolors with Stencils

    How to use Watercolors with Stencils

    August 26, 2022
    Building Meaningful Connection During COVID-19

    Building Meaningful Connection During COVID-19

    April 3, 2020
    Looking to Improve your Painting Skills? How to Paint a Tree with Ink using Yasutomo Traditional Chinese Ink Silver Black and Chinese & Watercolor Brushes

    Looking for an Easy Painting Exercise? How to Paint a Tree with Ink

    February 24, 2023
  • Guitar Card Using Watercolor Pencils and Wild Whisper Designs Feel the Beat Stamp Set
    Projects,  Techniques

    How to use Watercolor Pencils

    January 15, 2021 /

    Have you ever wondered how to use watercolor pencils? If you have not tried using watercolor pencils in your artwork or crafting projects, they are a very easy and fun medium. What are Watercolor Pencils? What are watercolor pencils? Watercolor pencils look like a colored pencil and they write and color very similarly. The big difference is that they are also water soluble. What this means is when you draw and blend with a watercolor pencil and add layers of color to your work. You can come in after applying the color and add in water to blend and intensify the color. How are Watercolor Pencils Different than Watercolor Paints?…

    Read More
    Nadine Milton

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    Stamping Tips and Techniques Stamping with Ink and Paint

    Stamping Tips and Techniques

    April 30, 2021
    Coloring with Inks and Watercolor Crayons

    Coloring with Inks and Watercolor Crayons

    March 26, 2021
    How to Use Deco Foil with Deco Foil Transfer Pen, Deco Foil Adhesive Pen and Laser Prints

    Deco Foil all the Things! How to Use Deco Foil

    October 1, 2021
  • 3 Ways to Use Brusho Crystal Colours
    Techniques

    3 Ways to Use Brusho Crystal Colours

    December 18, 2020 /

    As part of building Creative Foundations in our artistic practice, I will be demonstrating 3 ways to use Brusho Crystal Colours. These powders are a versatile medium that can be used in multiple applications including cards, journal projects and watercolor projects. What are Brusho Crystal Colours? Brusho Crystal Colours are highly pigmented watercolor crystals. These crystals can be used in a variety of ways including mixing with water to make a watercolor paint and sprinkled onto surfaces and misted to create interesting patterns. What makes them such an interesting product is that there are multiple colors of crystals within each color. This means that a green color will not just…

    Read More
    Nadine Milton

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    The Season of Self-Discovery

    The Season of Self-Discovery

    May 13, 2019
    Painting in the Art Journal: Drawing Inspiration from Another Artist’s Style

    Painting in the Art Journal: Trying a New Style

    June 25, 2023
    Stamped Background Used for Greeting Card and Softcover Book using Stampers Anonymous Stamps and Pan Pastels

    Stamped Background for Moving Past a Creative Block

    August 6, 2021
12

Nadine Milton

Visual Storyteller & Mixed Media Artist

Welcome to Hop-A-Long Studio! I would love for you to join me in the journey of self-care through artistic expression.

Categories

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  • Techniques

Tags

Acceptance (10) acrylic paint (16) Acrylic Painting (17) Applying Art Mediums (14) Applying Brusho Powders (10) Art Ideas (22) art journal (17) Art Journaling (61) Art Tutorials (156) Art Videos (162) Awareness (19) Blending Color (22) Card Making (16) Card Tutorials (11) Christmas (9) collage (14) Creative Foundations (24) Creativity (28) Drawing (12) Embossing (11) Gelli Plate (9) Gelli Printing (17) Goal Setting (9) Ink Blending (13) Inking (42) Inks (11) Making Good Choices (12) Mental Health (32) Mindfulness (24) Mixed Media (12) Mixed Media Art (16) napkins (9) Self-Care (47) Self-Care Activities (16) Self-Care Videos (33) Self-Discovery (14) Stamping (62) Stencilling (48) stencils (9) Tim Holtz Distress (23) Values (9) Watercolor (14) Watercolor Basics (13) Watercolor Painting (19) Wild Whisper Designs (21)

Recent Posts

  • gel plate printing for beginnersHow to Start Gel Printing with Zero Experience
    In Techniques
  • How to use watercolor powders with stencilsThe Best Way to Use Watercolor Powders with Stencils
    In Techniques
  • Watercolor Pigment Powders Brusho Crystal Colours, Lindy's Gang Magicals and Nuvo Shimmer Powders how to use on watercolor paperWatercolor Powders Demystified! You need to Try these!
    In Techniques
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