14th August 2024
Interview with Ellie Eveleigh
Be inspired by Ellie Eveleigh's, aka elleveart, journey to become a professional artist and why she focuses on mountains.
Ellie Eveleigh is an acrylic landscape painter currently living in South Devon. She graduated from the University of Birmingham in 2019 with a degree in English Language, but her heart has always been in the world of art. Throughout her life, she has indefinitely felt a connection with the ability to create. But with age and plenty of practice and experimentation, she found herself at a point where she was beginning to learn what subjects she had the most pleasure in creating and, for her, it was landscapes.
What inspired you to pick up a brush and start painting?
I come from a very artistic family and I started drawing at a young age. It was only until around the age of 16 I found a particular love for painting landscapes.
When did your love of art start? Did you always want to be an artist?
My love for landscape art actually started when I played a video game called Skyrim for the first time. I gamed to wind down from school as an escape from my anxiety, and the fantasy world of idyllic mountainous landscapes and forests of Skyrim became a comforting place. I wanted to recreate that feeling creatively somehow, and that’s when I started painting. It was something about the silent majesty of mountains that drew me in, and the way the shapes of light and shadow when painted together, almost in a paint-by-numbers technique, formed the foundations of the landscape.
What would be your advice for new artists just starting up?
Create what makes you feel something. That way you will feel more inspired and motivated to keep practicing, and your love for what you’re creating will show through your work. Also, don’t put yourself under too much pressure. Art should be a relaxing and expressive experience for yourself and the people who view it. Your art should be an extension of you.
What is the best tip you were told early in your career?
Be more free with your art. And, what I mean by that is don’t restrict yourself to trying to achieve perfection. Believe me, as a perfectionist myself I always find that VERY hard to follow, but some of my best work has been created when I didn’t spend ages planning or overthinking it. I very rarely draw out my landscapes before I paint them, I usually like to just go straight in with the brush and see how it turns out from there. This is a great way of allowing yourself to paint what looks and feels right, even if you’re trying to recreate from a reference image, and carries across your artistic style more clearly to your audience.
How has social media helped your career?
I would have to say that Instagram is what has started my art career. For so long my friends and family were urging me to make an account just for my art, and for so long I put it off because I didn’t think it would go anywhere. It was only until the COVID pandemic when I spent a lot more time painting and building up a portfolio on Instagram that resulted in a lot of attraction because people resonated with my work as a form of escapism from everything. Instagram has meant I can connect with other artists, companies such as Daler-Rowney and viewers from all across the world.
What is your favourite Daler-Rowney product and why?
I couldn't say I have a specific one, as the acrylic paints I use bring my paintings to life and the variety of brushes are what creates them! What I can say, though, is that I love using the System 3 brushes for the detailing in my paintings.
Explore Ellie's work further here.
