Inspired Velvet with Angie Hughes, by Colouricious, price 17.99 available from www.beckmanndirect.com

Angie has a definite style and works with velvet, paints and stabilisers to produce unique works of art. She shows so many techniques in her layered textiles. Use paints, foils, sweet paper foils and organza to create depth in your work. Every process is fully explained. This is a good tutorial for learning different techniques and finding out how they work on velvet.

Inspired Recycled Reborn DVD by Colouricious, price 17.99 available from www.beackmanndirect.com

The team at Coloricious, together with Marilyn Pipe must have had great fun making this DVD. It includes many ways to make old, worn out fabrics into something new. It demonstrates various techniques to dye, burn, stitch and so on. I love Marilyn’s rag bags – you do not even need thread or needle to make these. Jamie even comes up with a way to transform tea bags into a tea cosy. Find ways to use all those left over bits of cotton, thread and even dishcloths with holes. An inspired way to make new fabrics from old.

Inspired Textile Techniques DVD with Marilyn Pipe, published by Colouricious, price 17.99 available from www.beckmanndirect.com

This is a brilliant introduction to many textile techniques including rusting fabric, using recycled fabric, distressing and layering. Each technique is demonstrated and examples shown. Suggestions are given for using the techniques. I really enjoyed this and would recommend this DVD to anyone interested in textiles.

Inspired Block Printing DVD with Jamie Malden, published by Coloricious. Price 17.96 available from www.beckmanndirect.com

This one hour long DVD slowly takes you through a structured approach to block printing with pre-made blocks. The printing is mainly done on top of commercial fabrics although there is some mention of creating serendipity fabrics – wiping your hands and blocks on a piece of white cloth. Some finished projects are shown at the end, but there are no instructions for these on this DVD.

I felt that the processes shown were simple – how to print in a row, half drop and so on. References were made to colour theory without actually giving real examples of colour theory. The tint process did not work well because jamie used all her white up on her first colour, so there was none left to mix with the subsequent colours and the tints were affected.

This is useful if you do not know how to use a wooden block or print in a row. It also includes shadow, mirror and freestyle printing. A very basic introduction to block printing but as with all the Inspired series, very enjoyable.

Drawing Lifelike Portraits with Lee Hammond DVD, published by North Light in the USA. Available in the UK, price 16.99 from www.davidandcharles.co.uk

This is a very useful DVD. Having done an art course at my local college, I knew little more, if anything, than when I started. I had so wanted to get to grips with tone. This DVD is like magic, after years of struggling, it cleared everything up in a matter of minutes. Lee is a very strict teacher, but don’t be put off, she means well and is a good instructor. She gives you the opportunity to practice until you are perfect. I didn’t actually follow her advice with regard to materials, but found good results using an ordinary 2B pencil and a roll of stiffish paper to achieve the same effect. Then we launch into the portrait itself. I was surprised to find that she works from a photograph, but then most home artists will find this the easiest way. Enjoy it – this DVD actually made a difference to my work and I can see a huge improvement. I preferred this to the book.

Clyde Olliver DVD by Graham Eccles and Val Burnett published by Odyssey Videos. Price 20.00 available from www.odysseyartvideos.com

Clyde Olliver is an artist and teacher specialising in creating large panels using slate. Whole slate, stitched on pieces or shards create texture and movement in his work. Listen to what he has to say about his work, his working methods and reference.

Jeanette Appleton DVD by Graham Eccles and Val Burnett available from Odyssey Videos, price 20.00 from www.odysseyartvideos.com

Here is a chance to see textile artist, Jeanette Appleton in action. Jeanette shows techniques for making felt and this DVD is useful for the hobbyist and student as well as designer/maker. Over ten minutes are taken up watching Jeanette produce needle felt on an industrial machine in a college department – few will have the means to produce felt in this way. This is such a shame as once seen, you’ll want to give it a try. I like the way Jeanette works in layers. She then goes on to needle punching and the most instructive section of all is the wet felting. There is also insight into Jeanette’s way of thinking and working. We see how she translates the landscape around her into textiles. We also see glimpses of her sketchbooks. All in all this is an interesting DVD, Jeanette’s work is amazing.

Creating a Pastel Portrait DVD by Gwenneth Barth

This is a superb introduction to pastel portrait painting. Although a beginner might struggle as this is really aimed at those who have used pastels and gained some proficiency. It is interesting to watch Gwenneth define the whole portrait, in that she does not just work on one feature, it’s a bit of green here, and there, then there to make the process cohesive. This is the under colour, not the finished colour. She is building layer on layer. The tips along the way are invaluable. I would recommend this to anyone trying to get to grips with pastel painting. I am going to watch this again and do the same portrait – I think it is good enough to follow the instructions without stopping the DVD too much even – it is that detailed. Then I am going to start on my own subjects. I have not found pastels easy in the past, but with this DVD, I found the confidence to try again. I do not have the number of pastels Gwenneth has, but I am happy to follow the technique and make what I have work for me. Superb. This review first appeared on Karen Platt’s book review website.

Aspects of Flower Painting in Oils DVD by Pamela Kay, published by APV films. Price 27.95 incl Vat and p&p. available from www.apvfilms.com

Pamela paints various flowers in her studio. She offers many tips whilst painting and I certainly have a better grasp of oil painting after watching this DVD. It is feasible to have a go after watching Pamela. She also takes her paints outdoors to Sissinghurst’s white garden and paints there. Whilst the subjects are arranged by eye, they are still quite formal still-lifes. I love the way Pamela thinks about reflections and colour and how she builds up a painting. This is excellent for beginner to intermediate oil painters.

Inspired Embellishing Level 2 DVD by Myfanwy Hart, produced by Colouricious, price 17.99 and available from www.beckmanndirect.com

Myfanwy is back with more ideas for using your embellishing machine. As with Level 1, she’s thought of new ways to use the machine. If your embellisher is stuck in a cupboard, or not being used to its full potential, I highly recommend this DVD. Discover which fabrics you can use – it’s much more than you think, then find out what to do with them. Inevitably, working with inspiring ideas, always leads to other discoveries.