Round-up of 'Small Things' Month

Featuring nature in detail and drawings in tiny squares.

Hello! And if this is the first post you’re reading, welcome! This community is growing into something very special, and it means a lot to me that you’re here.

Practice drawing for the ‘Nature in Detail’ session

 

Just to recap, this month's theme was based on ‘Small Things’ as I wanted to celebrate the beauty that can be found in the detail and explore how setting our sights smaller can be beneficial to our creative practice.

Welcome to January

I personally found the process of focusing on detail and working on smaller-sized sketches a gentle and manageable way to start the year, but I now feel warmed up and ready to take on some ‘bigger’ projects in February.

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Highlights from this month:

I feel like I’ve achieved a lot this month in terms of variety in drawing, using more colour in my work and dedicating time in using my favourite art materials instead of testing out new ones. I'm aiming to use what i’ve learnt to inform my creative practice during the months ahead.

Drawing Challenge 

My 1x1inch challenge has come to an end and I'm pleased to say that I completed all planned drawings. I occasionally skipped a drawing and caught up the following day, but what was so nice about this challenge was its simplicity and that I never felt overwhelmed at the prospect of picking up the piece of paper and a pen. 

1x1inch drawings

I shared a video and drawing time lapse earlier this month in the paid membership where I explain the challenge and my approach for it. You can use this as a basis to set your own ‘small’ drawing challenge and adapt to suit your own practice.

I started off using ink, brush and pencil for my first drawing but I found it difficult to create detail using ink in such a small drawing space. So I moved to a simple, fine liner pen and this worked much better as I could draw in more detail and wasn’t limited to doing my drawing in the studio. I just took a few pens into the house and drew whilst sitting on the sofa at the end of the day.

For the first drawing in the challenge I chose a quail feather so it made sense to continue with the nature theme. I have a ton of nature photos on my phone I've taken over the years and not made use of so I had plenty of reference material.

1x1inch drawings

What I learned from this challenge, even more so the second time round, was how much drawing helps my understanding and appreciation of the subject matter. For instance, when I was drawing the toad in detail, I thought about what the lumps were on its skin and what the differences were between a toad and a frog. 

It was less about drawing for its own sake or the fulfilment in completing the challenge and more an exercise in examination and discovery. This was a joyful but unexpected outcome and an extra reason for me to take on the challenge again in the future. 

When I do the challenge again, would you be interested in joining in? Reply in the comments.

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Nature in Detail drawing session

Our ‘nature in detail’ drawing session was one of this month's highlights and I thoroughly enjoyed getting lost in the details of butterflies and mushrooms. If you caught up on the replay and would like to share your work, use this chat thread or you can share on Instagram by tagging me @emmaillustrates or using hashtag #thecreativeflock and i’ll share to my stories.

My sketches from the session. I was bold in using colour, something which I usually shy away from.

Painting from the session by Kat Cheesman

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Sleepy Dormouse

I created this little drawing early in the month as a birthday gift for my friend. It was a very soothing piece to create and fuelled my aspirations to hibernate during winter. We could learn a lot from Dormice!

Created using Diamine inks, Art Graf, pastels and pencils on a Pith loose paper sheet.

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Duck Drawing Session with Beth Spencer

I loved collaborating with Beth on this drawing session as it was so much fun and Beth is such a wonderful human and artist ♥️ I enjoyed meeting so many new people on the live call and seeing all the duck drawings that were shared.

Some Creative Flock members took part and I've loved seeing your work.

One of our members, Michele, kindly allowed me to share her sketchbook page from the session in this post.

Sketches from the duck drawing session. By Michele Obermeier

If you would like to share work created during the sessions or on the replays, please find the chat thread for each session here to share within the Creative Flock community or tag me on Instagram @emmaillustrates or using hashtag #thecreativeflock and i’ll share on my stories. 

The Creative Flock is a reader-supported publication. To access the full membership, consider becoming a paid subscriber - it’s £8.50 for a month or £7.08 a month with the annual option.

Other sketches 

I’ve joined some live drawing sessions this month, this work is from Emma Carlisle’s ‘Pairs’ session. She provided some incredible photo references and I plan to work on them further.

I used my beloved Schminke liquid charcoal and black pastel pencil for this drawing in my trusty Pith sketchbook. I plan to lean in to my art material preferences instead of trying out lots of new stuff so hopefully i’ll see my skills in using liquid charcoal improve.

When i’m not drawing i’m..

Reading:

Lia Leendertz Almanac

Kit’s Wilderness by David Almond

Unruly by David Mitchell

Listening to:

Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley

Where There's a Will, There’s a Wake

This Playlist which I started in December and have been adding to since

Watching:

Retro Top of the Pops

Derry Girls

What We Do in the Shadows

Winterwatch, which is always a highlight in our house.

Gladiators (ridiculous but fun and brings back memories of watching it as a kid)

Me and my husband rarely get to watch films on our own nowadays, but we had a rare night to ourselves recently when our son went Cub Camp so we watched Wes Andersons The French Dispatch. It was beautiful to watch (as all Wes Anderson films are) and I desperately wanted to sketch throughout the whole film but I resisted in order to have quality time with my husband! 😆

I’ll have to watch it alone, with my sketchbook, some other time..

And that’s a wrap for this month! I’d love to know what your highlights have been this month and what you’re most looking forward to in February. For me, it’s snowdrops and more signs of spring.

As always, thank you for your support here, i’ll be back in touch soon with what’s in store for February