Welcome to my website…
I am Ruth Burton, a UK based artist with a passion for creating colourful, uplifting artworks and joyful illustrations. At the moment, I am mainly focusing on my Frog’s Bucket List book series. These are fun, watercolour illustrations which follow two whimsical frog characters on various adventures. I hope you enjoy these as much as I love bringing them to life though pen and paint.
As well as my fondness for charming illustrations, I am also inspired by Impressionism and similar expressive art movements with a particular focus on how colour evokes emotion. So I invariably always have other art projects on the side that reflect this. And I look forward to sharing these as well, usually via my Art Blog.
My other project work explores a wide variety of themes and subjects. I have found that my desire to learn everything about art leads to many moments of “I want to try that”. Therefore, I end up working in a lot of different styles and mediums because I simply cannot help myself. And I find that my website is a great way to document my progress and share my art experiences and learnings.
The source of my inspiration and my current mood tends to determine the subject, style, and medium I create in. My artwork usually falls into the following five categories: acrylic paintings, pencil drawings, mixed media art, textile art or watercolour paintings.
I am gradually updating my portfolio galleries with new work, and I am regularly working on new Frog’s Bucket List watercolours for future books. Therefore, I invite you to step into my world of creativity, and experience the art that resonates with you the most.
Thank you for visiting my Ruth Burton Artist website. It is my creative space, my colourful oasis, my place of well-being. Please have a look around and feel free to come back soon!
Frog’s Bucket List by Ruth Burton artist
Visit the official Frog’s Bucket List website for more information on these cute watercolour frogs. You can also purchase the books from the website. See my Frog’s Bucket List portfolio for some of the earlier frog watercolours, and how their style, features and personalities have developed since the beginning.
Ruth Burton Art Blog
Read my art blog to stay up to date on my art journey. I like to share the variety of art mediums I’ve been experimenting with, as well as my studies of famous artists and art genres. I am always striving to become a better artist. And this is the ideal place for me to document what I’ve learnt and to see my progress.
Frog Birthday Card Anyone? (A Frog’s Bucket List Update)
Who wouldn’t love to receive a frog birthday card for their birthday?! Exactly. So I’ve been working on a few more frog birthday card designs to complement the Frog’s Bucket...
Portfolios
Art is a journey, and each of my collections reflects a different phase of the story. Within these portfolios you’ll find some of my early acrylic paintings as well as more recent pieces.
Although my Frog’s Bucket List is my main focus at the moment, I invite you to browse the portfolios – and keep checking back for more, as I am always creating new artworks.
One day, I would really love to have a beautiful gallery filled with several portfolios – so watch this space, I will make it happen!
Art mediums I like to work in
When I’m not drawing frogs, I like to experiment with a variety of artistic styles and techniques which require different art mediums. The following five categories are my favourite ways to create art.
Acrylic Paintings
Acrylic paints are ideal for vibrancy, versatility and longevity. Their comparatively quick drying time is useful for quick layering of colours, which is how I like to paint. I am not loyal to a particular brand at the moment, and have tried many that perform well. So I have a variety in my inventory. I sometimes use thickening gels if I want to create texture, and I switch between phases of brush work and using palette knives.
Drawings
I have always enjoyed painting and drawing from a young age, but I would say my first serious artistic obsession was drawing. I spent countless hours of my youth drawing portraits and when I return to this particular subject, I always feel like I’m “home”. However, I enjoy drawing other subjects to hone my technique and I am particularly interested with exploring contrast between light and dark. I tend to use a range of 2B to 5B Derwent Graphic pencils on any good quality cartridge paper.
Mixed Media Art
Mixed media art is just plain fun – but it can get very messy! It’s the genre I’ve arrived at most recently on my artistic travels. It’s liberating to ‘go with the flow’ and experiment with unexpected materials, tools and methods to see what happens. I would definitely recommend it for getting in touch with your inner child, something we should probably all do more. It’s addictive and completely absorbing, time seems to go very fast when in mixed media mode.
Textile Art
My favourite thing about making my textile art is the different textures. I have a weakness for novelty yarns. I like knitting them alongside other yarns to create unique colour and texture combinations. I’ll then add other elements such as buttons, fabric, sequins, beads and crocheted pieces to create something unique. Making textile art is like painting without the mess.
Watercolours
I have used watercolours at various stages throughout my creative journey. They are effective for getting me back into the creative mindset after a break and are ideal for an exercise in mindful painting too. I am particularly interested in combining ink pen and watercolour. I appreciate the ‘urban sketching’ style, but also have a fondness for cute cartoons and illustrations. Also, it might just be me, but I find that satisfying ‘edge’ you get around a splotch of watercolour when it dries is very appealing – you know what I mean. I am loyal to Royal Talens watercolour pans (since being bought a nice set as a child). And I am quite enjoying the Uni Pin Fineliner range.