Watercolour
Julia Softley
Julia Softley is a boundary-pushing Australian artist and educator whose signature style blends the delicate precision of watercolour pencil with bold, contemporary narratives. With a background in fashion design and over two decades of industry experience, Julia's work is a fusion of technical finesse and emotive storytelling. Her large scale pieces explore identity, memory, and material culture, often celebrating colour, nature, texture and textiles.rnrnA former fashion label director turned full-time creative, Julia brings a designer’s eye and an educator’s heart to every artwork. Her unique process celebrates slow, intentional mark-making—each layer a meditation on form and feeling. Collected by private buyers and admired in both educational and exhibition spaces, Julia’s art stands at the intersection of fashion, fine art, and innovation.
Artist Profile
Julia Softley is a boundary-pushing Australian artist and educator whose signature style blends the delicate precision of watercolour pencil with bold, contemporary narratives. With a background in fashion design and over two decades of industry experience, Julia’s work is a fusion of technical finesse and emotive storytelling. Her large scale pieces explore identity, memory, and material culture, often celebrating colour, nature, texture and textiles.
A former fashion label director turned full-time creative, Julia brings a designer’s eye and an educator’s heart to every artwork. Her unique process celebrates slow, intentional mark-making—each layer a meditation on form and feeling. Collected by private buyers and admired in both educational and exhibition spaces, Julia’s art stands at the intersection of fashion, fine art, and innovation.
Julia Softley, a educating artist based in Perth, captivates viewers with her self-taught techniques. Her work indulges the eye in beauty, color, and tone, showcasing a unique artistic perspective honed over years of diverse creative experiences. From a young age, Julia was immersed in a world of craft, textiles, and music, nurturing her innate creative talents. Through years of developing meticulous hand skills and an attentive eye for detail, she built a strong illustrative foundation. This early passion led her to pursue formal Fine Art studies which then led into the world of apparel. Currently Julia, further refines her artistic abilities, specialising in Watercolour pencil. Julia loves to study the pigments, colour theory and link colour with emotional triggers via her visuals.
Artist Interview
What medium do you work with, and why have you chosen them?
As much as I enjoy working with a variety of mediums, I major in watercolour pencil. As a self taught technician, I fell into my style naturally. I love the control it offers the precision of applying dry pencil combined with the fluidity of activating it with a wet brush creates a unique balance between drawing and painting. This medium allows me to build rich tonal layers reflecting watercolour elements. It's also a clean, versatile, and accessible medium that suits both studio work and teaching environments.
How does your artwork get from initial concept to exhibition stage?
My creative process begins with research and observation of image — often sparked by experimenting with colour combinations. Once I have a clear direction, I begin building the artwork in layers digitally in creative suite then edited to create a compositionally pleasing outline. transferring my image to cotton archive paper, I map out the art but I also allow room for spontaneity, embracing the natural flow and the layering the medium offers. As the work progresses, I refine elements with careful layering, balancing control with intuition. Once complete, I seal ensuring archival quality. I photograph and catalogue the works for digital presentation and promotion. Recently I have been playing with abstract works which obviously apply a different methodology, but my work really comes down to tone, colour and mood, which aims to expose the viewer to emotion.
Can you tell us a little more about your creative working environment/studio?
My current studio is very multi use, its my office, place of study, art creation including a place where my kids can draw. So to create my work – my setup needs to be flexible. I generally mount my paper onto board which can easily be moved around the cosy space. Watercolour pencil also allows a versatile working environment where there is minimal drying and clean-up time. I am sure down the track my space will change, but for now it's a chameleon to multiple forces.
Career Highlights
- Formal Studies in the Fine Arts
- Founding and Directing apparel Brands for over 15 years
- Eduating the arts through self developed community programs, Engagement with Schools and VET programs
