Finding your flow: 5 tips for working on consistency | abstract painting

Welcome to a new video series and beginnings of a new painting collection, titled ‘Landscape Languages’. I’d love to ask for your help in guiding the beginning of this new painting collection, through words you connect with coastal and marine environments 🌊
Feel free to use this project to structure your own painting series, and share your work with me through the hashtag #theoutdoorsketchbookcollective on instagram.
Videos on research: • Overcoming perfectioni...
Video on my sketchbooks: • Sketchbook ideas | mak...
Website: www.orlastevens.com/
Instagram: / orlastevens
Patreon: / orlastevens
Substack: orlastevens.substack.com/

[@TheDabshear]

Ahhh… to be young enough to sit on the floor and play with my paints! You go girl… I paint everyday, standing at my table but creating none the less.

[@OrlaStevens]

Aw thank you! ☺️ that’s the important bit, doesn’t really matter how or where 🩵 💫

[@KS-wr4vv]

I’m really into seeing the process from start to Finnish and how you spend time doing the research and then creating one huge collection with similar colors and concepts. Seems so logical. I will start working that way . Do u always use words

[@ShibaniNayak]

I’m from south India, so I imagine my experience and associations with the coast will be very different to yours, Orla! As a child, I spent all my summers at my grandparents’ home, which was in a coastal town… the best time of my life, really. So my associations with the coast are : the innocence of childhood, the smell of mangoes and jackfruit, the insufferable heat, coconut trees, unconditional love from my grandmother and most importantly - nostalgia for days undefined by time, with nowhere to be and nothing to do, but just be me. A usual, thank you for the video. It was lovely to listen to you and watch your process❤

[@OrlaStevens]

Wow, I think so! Thanks so much for sharing these memories with me, I really appreciate it, and all these things you share conjure up lots of ideas - I definitely relate to that nostalgia and different speed of time in childhood 💙

[@jackblack9589]

As a Glaswegian young boy, the first glimpse of the sea from the road or train immediately brought intense joy, expectation and love.

[@OrlaStevens]

Thank you Jack! It's always the height of excitement when the train turns a corner and the world opens out! 🌊

[@perlagaffney4776]

Absolutely Lifesaving and Restorative ❤ … some days Calming and other times so Invigorating. Always gives me just what I needed 🙏🌊. And when I bathe in our oceans, I always feel as if I am truly in the belly of, immersed, in Mother Earth. 🫂

[@OrlaStevens]

thank you for sharing, it really is so restorative! 🌊💙

[@lobstermash]

My nearest coast (about 30 mins away) is a miles-long wide sandy beach facing out across the Pacific towards Peru. Usually it is full of the joy of dogs, which is so pure and straightforward. We all feel like good boys and girls on the beach.

[@melaniebettridge8943]

Soft, strong, renewing

[@missbutterfly5591]

I am always mesmerised by the ocean as it continues to kiss the shoreline, no matter how many times it is sent away …. Hervey Bay Qld Australia 🇦🇺

[@OrlaStevens]

Thank you for this beautiful phrase 😊☀️

[@JJsketchbook]

What a superb, immersive video. Thank you so much. I live by the sea. My word is ‘glide’. This is because each day I love to watch the gulls with their pure white underbellies gliding on thermals, swooping in huge, apparently effortless ellipses. The smell, the sea breeze, the crunch of pebbles underfoot, rubbery, slippery and and springy seaweed, the frothing surf, gentle rolling waves or fierce crashing waves, the slopping and chopping against the sea wall, I love it all!

[@OrlaStevens]

Thank you for your words and sharing what makes it special to you! Reading this has made me want to be by the sea this instant 😄 Glide would be such a fun word & movement to paint 🦅

[@ArtySubu]

Peaceful contentment 💛 has aways defined my relationship with the sea, in Goa, my favourite coastal location, and beginning from my childhood going to the beach with my grandfather, in Madras.

[@OrlaStevens]

thank you for sharing these with me! Contentment is a beautiful one ☺️🌊

[@stacyg8847]

A couple of words: Release and Energizing. Thank you for sharing Orla

[@OrlaStevens]

thank you for these! 💫

[@cintacful]

Healing, open, expand

[@alisonlyons4691]

Thank you Orla, you are so inspirational......Every morning on waking, l sit up and see the sea, sometimes l get a clue as to how the weather may be. Black sand, walking on the smooth slates, the tinkling and clattering sounds they make as l slip and slide with their movement. The briney smell of seaweed, and the sound of crashing waves and gulls calling. Huge sky and open sea, space and freedom........Easdale ❤

[@teresaedwards4175]

You sound like a poet 😊 lovely description ❤️

[@OrlaStevens]

Thank you for your absolutely stunning descriptive words! such a beautiful part of the world 🗺️ 💙

[@greenwren2920]

The sounds of the coast have always been the part I connect with the most and miss when I leave. The constant of the sea whooshing regardless of anything else is one of my deepest joys.

[@OrlaStevens]

there's something so relaxing or reassuring about it - thanks for sharing with me! 💙 🌊

[@alison64able]

I live in South Africa. Our sea can be POWERFUL at times and the SMELL always helps be breathe deeply. I always am in AWE of the sea and how although it is so powerful yet it is kept back by Gods hand. Thus far and no further.

[@OrlaStevens]

Thank you for your beautiful words! ☀️

[@k8marlowe]

I live in South Carolina in the U.S., where we have barrier islands and coastal cities with a sort of haunting atmosphere. The sprawling marshes, creeks and tributaries that give the ocean water a murky green hue, and especially the huge gnarled live oak trees, draped with Spanish Moss, all contribute to this coastal region’s sense of mystery and history.

[@OrlaStevens]

Oh wow, this sounds magical, just reading your words makes me think of myths and folklore 🌿

[@addiehuguenet4027]

I live near a pebble beach and what I love most is the sound of the waves dragging back over the stones before the water rushes forward again. Love your work and I’m going to join your Patreon for even more inspiration. X

[@OrlaStevens]

Thank you so much! I know exactly the sound you mean, it's so beautiful, almost like rumbling music 🎶

[@teresavedovato3897]

❤ Magnifique ! Merci pour cette présentation.

[@angelawales7034]

Thank you, Orla. As always, a soothing inspiration. The word that came to mind immediately for me is “Home”. Whenever I even glimpse the water, I breathe easier, and when I actually get to be on the coast, and touch it and listen to it and smell it, it feels like a hug.

[@OrlaStevens]

Thanks for your word, and I totally know what you mean! There really is something in the water-wellbeing connection 🌊

[@tasticola]

Ooh I love when your videos drop Orla! Thank you for another insightful video. Your art work always tells a beautiful story x Nell.

[@OrlaStevens]

Thanks so much Nell! 💙 🌊

[@ChantelleArts]

the textures you create are so beautiful ❤❤

[@OrlaStevens]

thank you Chantelle! 🪩 💙

[@HollieMiddleton-fx6tt]

horizons, expansive, juxtapositions, atmospheric conditions. rhythmic motion and sound (i couldnt put it into one word!)

[@OrlaStevens]

gorgeous, thank you so much for these! 💙

[@lunalovebad5867]

New Patreon member here! Love your style and your energy, Orla. I'm also finding the Patreon guides so, so helpful! Thank you for making abstract landscape painting so accessible!

[@OrlaStevens]

Hellooooo! 👋 thank you, and that is so lovely to hear, really glad you’re finding them useful in your art! 🩵☀️

[@teresaedwards4175]

Gosh! Your work is so beautiful, LOVE it! ❤️ The seaside gives me a feeling of WELLBEING.

[@OrlaStevens]

thank you so much for your word! ☀️

[@debeisenmann6162]

my word is ALIVE

[@hannemarielorenzen3428]

For me the sea and sea kayaking is all about peace, meditation and the smells of nature about reloading your mental health/batteries 🤗

[@OrlaStevens]

thank you! I relate to this so much too, definitely an important recharge 😊

[@PiaNore-ue6ju]

I have spent my childhood by the coast in Finland and I have so good memories from the sea ❤And the words are: the smell of salt, fresh water and voices of seagulls

[@OrlaStevens]

Oh beautiful, thank you! ☺️

[@lepolia]

as someone who sadly doesn't live close to the coast, the coast always gives me the feeling of pure beauty, awe, vacation, rest, joy 🫶🏼

[@OrlaStevens]

yessss, I totally get that vacation feeling too! thank you for your words 😊

[@Wilmy.]

My words connecting to the Sea: adventure, promise, desire, Viking. Thank you so much for sharing your art🏵️♥️

[@OrlaStevens]

thank you for these words! 🌊

[@janechorlton5015]

I think of the expansiveness of personal freedom found in the wilderness.

[@eileenschurer7861]

Clean and clear as walking near the sea always brings clarity for me and clean thoughts without the clutter and busyness of everyday life. Thank you, I really enjoy your videos.

[@OrlaStevens]

Thank you for these, and I totally relate to the clarity 🌊 💙

[@intergalacticpeachpatrol]

the ocean, the power of the waves, the vastness, and the alien landscape underneath, all remind me that any worries i have are so, so small and not actually going to drown me. something about the ocean being more powerful than me, and putting my trust in it whilst being inside of it, and becoming part of its landscape while i'm there, feels like being wrapped up in a protective force and coming home. being enveloped in something bigger, wilder, than me... makes me remember that i am wild as well. i can go back to wildness. instead of being stuck in silly, imaginary constructs brought upon us by "society"... the ocean is home. it's where my scattered mind finds calm. i am so connected and drawn to all of your recent works about the sea. they're really grabbing my heart. :- )

[@OrlaStevens]

Thank you so much! There really is something quite comforting about our worries being put into perspective by things much bigger and more powerful than us ✨

[@juliebowden9754]

My word is 'resilient' Everything that exists on the shoreline is resilient and cleverly adapted. Beautiful video as always. Thank you for your time and effort producing it - always worth the wait x

[@OrlaStevens]

Thank you Julie! That’s so true; it’s a hardy place to inhabit! 🦀🐚🌊

[@andreaorourke]

What an inspiring video and project, I live in New Zealand, surrounded by coasts, beaches and bays. The first phrase that came to my mind was ‘first love’ where I had my first crush, ‘behind the boat shed’ = first kiss lol. Ok, seriously- I find the New Zealand west coast ‘wild’ ‘energizing’ but on the east coast “breathtaking’ expansive blues’ (where the ocean disappears in to the sky) and ‘glistening’ when the sun glints on the water and white sands.

[@OrlaStevens]

Oh I love this! Haha that’s so sweet. Thank you so much for these words 🩵 NZ looks absolutely awesome!

[@mariakalogerasarch2170]

Embrace and Source

[@mandysmith6264]

Thank you Orla😊 Bright sunshine, warm waters, fine yellow sand Content with life, whole.

[@OrlaStevens]

thank you mandy! ☺️ 🐠

[@soniastewart4379]

Thank you Orla I find your videos very inspiring The sea to me is forever changing calm and peaceful at one time thunderous with huge waves at another.

[@OrlaStevens]

Thank you Sonia! 💙 I love that changeable quality of the sea too 🐠

[@cherylrugg4750]

Love your videos! I always feel inspired and love learning the various techniques in play. I live on the east coast of the US, so I’m hoping to follow your example and get outside to observe and paint!

[@OrlaStevens]

Thanks so much Cheryl! Oh hope you enjoy, it’s a great thing to add in with a walk or trip 😊☀️

[@thaliasmusings]

Lovely. 🌿

[@shebonyshand]

Hey love, i feel RESPECT because water is so powerful and destructive when it wants to be. PEACE because you can get lost in not thinking by the coastline and feeling like everything is alright in that moment.

[@OrlaStevens]

thank you for these! 💙

[@creativelittlehut-juliecam3560]

Free, embracing the wind or rain wash over me, grounding and rejuvenating.

[@beverleydeeming4427]

One of the best KZbin videos I've seen. Thank you. So much of what you had to say resonates deeply with me. I can't wait to see the rest of the series. I am extremely lucky to live by the sea and when well (I have a chronic illness), I walk every morning along the sea paths. I take sooo many photos of the sky and the water and have just started a series of paintings using these photos as inspiration. Anyhoo, with the sea in my life I feel "Bliss" and "Fulfilled" and the experience energises me for the rest of the day. I also receive so much "Calm" from the eternal blues. Finally, I just wanted to say that watching you create is truly inspiring. You work so very differently to myself, which is why it's quite mesmerising to watch you at work. Your colour palettes for each and every piece was fabulous and the final results quite joyous imo! Again, many thanks Orla x ps I live in a place called "Merewether" in New South Wales Australia. I grew up until the age of 17 in a little village in Yorkshire then moved to Sydney. From fields and country lanes to never ending beaches with a light that is quite unique to this part of the world. 😊😎

[@OrlaStevens]

wow, thank you so much! Really glad you enjoyed it. What a beautiful place to live by, I think my phone camera reel would also be filled like this if it could be 😊 thank you for your words and sharing your experience with me. Aw, it's so lovely to see how other people work - especially when it's that contrast against our own! The variety of processes are so fascinating, like a wee insight into peoples minds i think. It sounds like quite a contrast between places for you too! I don't know Yorkshire well, but totally fell in love with the green-ness (and the accents!) 😄 Hope to visit Australia some day and see the amazing coastline for myself 💙

[@maxinehayes5570]

My relationship is through wild swimming and my words would be invigorating and magical

[@OrlaStevens]

oh amazing - invigorating for sure!! there's nothing better than the tingly feeling after a dip :)

[@lindasteger7207]

Lovely. Concepts

[@fyern]

Infinite change and respect

[@user-qz2oo2oi2f]

Hi Orla! Thank you for this. My word is “Connected” and or “Interwoven”.

[@OrlaStevens]

brilliant, thank you 💙

[@InkNSap]

My memories from the coast are very different from the English coast. I come from Venezuela, so coasts are synonymous with warmth, lethargy, cold sandwiches, family gatherings.

[@OrlaStevens]

Thank you for sharing your words with me :) Lethargy would be a very interesting challenge to explore through a painting!

[@lisawardle4297]

For me, the coast is associated mostly with my childhood - play - freedom - exploration. 💜

[@OrlaStevens]

beautiful, thank you so much! 🌊

[@aekorfker]

My word: awe

[@OrlaStevens]

Thank you! ☺️

[@katerose8393]

Gorgeous work, you have especially a wonderful way with colour, for me, and i’m going to look for your videos on that now! As far as associations with the coast, i have always had a fear of deep water and i can often find the power of crashing waves, the strong winds and the smells of a marine environment to be just too much. So my word would be “overwhelmed” :)

[@OrlaStevens]

Thank you! I think colour is my favourite element 😊 oooh that’s a great one, thank you for sharing with me! It’s so true, it can be totally overpowering 🌊

[@annewatson6390]

My word today is going to be hypnotic. Sitting listening to waves crashing against the shore in windy weather or lapping against the sand in gentle breezes you can get lost in the feeling of the motion of the water.

[@OrlaStevens]

Thank you Anne! That’s such a good word to explore ✨

[@annewatson6390]

@@OrlaStevens thank you 😊

[@estrellasenlatierra2717]

Te amo Orla ❤ gracias por inspirarme 🙏🏻

[@OrlaStevens]

thank you so much! 💫💙

[@LisaSt1234]

Great project idea! I live on the BC west coast.. words that come to mind are orderliness, ferocity, resilience, and curious creatures. Thank you for your videos!

[@OrlaStevens]

Oh I got to visit the sunshine coast as a teen, one of the most beautiful places I've visited! Great words, thanks so much 💙

[@maggiemae6867]

I've never been to the coast. So I'll use the word "wonder"

[@OrlaStevens]

Thank you Maggie! 💙

[@collyTan0613]

Your videos are so inspiring! Thank you Orla :) I live on the westcoast in the southern part of Sweden and the words I would describe this coastline are as follows: Wild, strong, changing, peaceful, endless, soothing.

[@OrlaStevens]

thank you for sharing your words! really excited to be getting such a variety of coastal locations 🌍 😊 🌊

[@hellejensen9914]

“Talking to stones” - I always get pulled in to looking at the stones aligning the coast/beach. Walking miles without realising it, just looking down at all the shapes and colors - and stuffing my pockets 🙃 Stones are ancient and tell stories and by the coast they are soft and rounded by the water…

[@OrlaStevens]

beautiful words, thank you! it's so easy to go wandering doing this 😊👣

[@melwhitworth3077]

Strange I live near the sea but only enjoy it in the winter. I think it’s because there are less people around. My love of the sea for moods and sounds are: strong, violent, loud, powerful, tall, eerie,

[@OrlaStevens]

That's really interesting! Thank you for these words 💙

[@anjabacker2834]

release, space, refresh

[@teresaoliver2237]

I am landlocked, but when I go to the ocean, I think of the word "grandeur". Big sea; little me.

[@gangwarilydrummond]

Weightless, free

[@catiemacansh934]

Thank you for the inspiring video. Have a look at one of Australia’s favourite artists Ken Done. His latest work is based on The Great Barrier Reef and is sublime!

[@OrlaStevens]

Thank's so much for sharing, I didn't know his work! Also, how his paintings translate to textiles and fashion is awesome 🔥🐠

[@cagkail]

The liminal sublime

[@ADAMiiArt]

Water ,rocks and weaves ? Here is one for consideration: Movements and crashing of emotions.

[@OrlaStevens]

Thank you! ☺️ Oooh crashing of emotions would be a very fun challenge to paint 🤔 🎨

[@Victoria-il4rk]

Happiness

[@OrlaStevens]

thank you! :)

[@user-sr6vl2ki1l]

Warm sun on damp skin, summer storms and cyclones from the sea, being careful of stone fish, cone shells, crocodiles, jellyfish and so on.

[@OrlaStevens]

thank you! I'm going to google what a stone fish is right now 🐠 😊

[@user-sr6vl2ki1l]

@@OrlaStevens they have a face only a mother could love 😂

[@sreedevi92]

Water-nurture mother sea

[@samcollage7682]

Where is the link for 4/20 zoom?

[@OrlaStevens]

Hi Sam, all zoom links are found through my Patreon tier 'Studio Play'. If you'd like to know more about patreon & tiers, I have a link above in this video 🌊

[@zoewhite7705]

Cleansed.

[@j.patrickbowman3701]

Water thunder

[@OrlaStevens]

thank you! 🌊

[@csayzn1516]

Breathe

[@lonesubryan]

my relative, like blood in my veins, always want it close, home

[@suebarber7477]

Cleansing