Botanical artist Marcella Wylie

We interviewed UK artist Marcella Wylie (@marcella_wylie) to learn all about her creative process, lifestyle, and interests. She’s carved out a brand for herself where she can work with big brands to share her colourful, floral creations with the world. Read on to find out more – she has some inspiring advice for beginners!

What’s an art medium that you love and one that is more of a challenge?

At the moment, I love using acrylics in all its forms – maybe painting in a heavy-weight acrylic and then adding lots of little details with liquid acrylic and acrylic paint pens. It gives the piece you’re working on lots of different textures and shine, with multiple layers.

I work quite quickly so I’ve always struggled with oil paint (as it can take a while to dry) but it’s something I’d love to master. I see Mont Marte makes Water Mixable Oil Paint, which is super interesting. I’ll need to give them a go the next time I treat myself to some new supplies.

Do you come from a creative family?

I would say yes but in different forms. My mum has a really good creative eye for things, my sister is a brilliant writer, and my dad had the most beautiful handwriting…extremely neat! My uncle actually looked into our family tree and apparently, we have a famous stained-glass artist in the family from the 1800s so there you go!

What would you tell your younger self?

You need to have more faith in yourself and your abilities, don’t doubt yourself so much!

How do you overcome art block?

Great question! I would say get out - go for a walk, a drive, jump on a train, go someplace new. Have a wander around a park, museum, or art gallery – simply go sit in a café with a coffee and people watch. When I’m really struggling for inspiration, one of my favourite things to do is explore a good bookshop. Basically, anything fresh and new to feast your eyes upon…. Oh, and maybe ditch the endless scrolling on your phone.

Where do look for creative inspiration?

It’s got to be Mother Nature! Wildlife is endlessly inspiring, and the more you research and explore it, the more wonderful it is. You could never run out of things to study, learn about or draw.

What’s your favourite time of day?

I’m a bit of a night owl if I’m honest. If I’m walking my little dog on a clear night, there’s nothing more amazing than looking up at a sky full of stars.

What’s a creative project you were nervous about starting, that turned out amazing?

I was once asked to paint directly onto a sculpture for a charity exhibition. The sculpture itself was of a person sitting on a stool, and it was about 5ft tall and 4ft wide. The brief was to completely cover it with one of my floral patterns (using acrylic paint).

I felt so overwhelmed as I had only ever painted two-dimensionally before, and I only had a couple of weeks to complete it. Needless to say, I ended up absolutely loving the project - the sculpture was sold at auction raising over £4,000 for charity (just under $8,000 AUD). It was a great feeling, and I was even asked to do another one for them about a year later – so the panic and nerves were for nothing in the end! I loved it and would do another in a heartbeat.

What are your tips on how to improve at art?

Just keep going! It’s a bit of a cliché but I really don’t think you can make any mistakes when it comes to making art. Everything is a learning curve. Don’t like using pencils? Great! Let’s give some watercolour a go. Just not feeling that inspired by a self-portrait? Not a problem! What about doing a quick landscape sketch? The more you do and the more you explore different things, the more you will improve.

What colour palette do you lean to and why?

My work features a lot of lilacs, pinks, and greens. The more vivid and saturated the colour, the better! It literally lifts my mood and makes me feel energised. Green is especially important, I think. It transports you straight into nature and has a sort of comforting quality.

What’s your go-to Friday night feast?

I love good food so where do I begin?! Haha! My mum’s Italian so a good plate of her homemade sugo and pasta is always a winner. I do have a sweet tooth, however, so a nice Friday treat would be to pop to the local bakery for some epic cake or pastries! I’m hungry now!

Marcella has us ready to go out into nature and soak up some inspiration! If you decide to grab some Acrylics or Watercolours and make something at home, #montmarteart or tag us @montmarteart on Instagram or Facebook. We’d love to see what you make!

See more of Marcella by browsing our Gallery where she is featured. To join our Creative Community, scroll to the bottom of our website and pop in your email. This will keep you up to date with more featured artists, ideas, tips, and tricks so you stay inspired and keep creating!