September Round-up: A Month of Celebrations, Seasonal Changes & Tiny Sketchbooks
Discover the best of September in The Creative Flock + studio highlights
Hello! And if this is the first post you’re reading, welcome! I share these posts with all subscribers at the end of each month and it’s a lovely way to highlight all the things we’ve done in the membership and share some behind-the-scenes snippets from my studio.
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To recap, September’s theme was Celebrating Autumn, and I have loved immersing myself in all the beauty this season brings.
As you can probably tell, I love autumn, not only because it fills my creative cup with all the small treasures nature brings us this time of year, but because I enjoy slowing down in tune with nature and using this time to observe the world around me.
But, I haven’t always been so overjoyed with this time of the year, when I was younger I would wish away September to November, just seeing those months as an unnecessary barrier between Christmas. If I was excited about autumn, it was just because of Halloween and the chance to dress up and get free sweets.
Autumn to me was damp, dreary and dark, and although those things are still a challenge to contend with and aren’t the best conditions for our mental and physical health, I’ve found ways to welcome in and accept these aspects and see it as a counterpoint to all the good stuff this time of year brings.
I think autumn offers us a lesson in resilience; if nature can see out the cold, dark months and come back stronger, there’s hope we can do the same for ourselves.
Is your creativity affected by the change of seasons?
Live monthly drawing session
This was such a soothing and enjoyable session and it was a joy to work in my mini concertina sketchbook. My work can be close-up and detailed at times and if I work on large sketchbooks or paper, I don’t tend to get pieces finished which can be very frustrating! 😆
This small scale is working well for me and it feels manageable enough for these mini-sketchbooks to become part of my regular practice, perhaps even completing one for each season.
I’ve received some lovely feedback on the sketchbook and a few requests about a workshop on how to make them. I’m pleased to say this is in the pipeline for paid subscribers and possibly as a one-off download for those not able to commit to the paid membership.
Paid members can catch up on our drawing session below:
Deep Deep Light Watercolours Florals Swatch
This month I swatched the largest collection I received from Deep Deep Light, the Florals Palette, and painted a poppy in my nature journal using these paints.
This video is available to all subscribers:
You can buy the set here - https://deepdeeplight.com/product/floral-set/
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This month I (finally) delivered on my promise of creating another sketchbook share video!
This part is an in-depth look at my sketchbooks from 2021, when I embarked on an intense period of creative development.
This month The Creative Flock turned 1yrs old! 🥳
As a thank you to everyone who has supported me on my journey and to celebrate this milestone, I hosted a free drawing party. We had a lot of fun drawing from our imagination using random character prompts.
Co-Sketching sessions
We had two more co-sketching sessions this month, thank you to those who came along!
I wouldn't have created these drawings had I not blocked out that time, that’s what’s so good about co-working, it holds you accountable. Thank you to Emma Carlisle for introducing me to these!
There’ll be two more free co-sketching sessions in October, available to all subscribers and I’ll share details in my Welcome to October post, which is coming next. Subscribe to stay updated.
Nature highlights from my neck of the woods..
When i’m not drawing or insect spotting i’m…
Reading:
Owls of the Eastern Ice by Jonathan C Slaght.
After reading Birds Art Life Death last month, I was on the lookout for another non-fiction book, and this one popped up as a recommendation. I didn’t even need to read the blurb, I was hooked on the cover photo and the mention of ‘Owl’ in the title 😆
It’s a fascinating account of a man’s search for an elusive and rare species of owl, in one of the worlds harshest and remote terrains. Reading about Slaght’s dogged determination to conserve these owls is incredible and inspiring.
Hanging out with:
Illustrator pals, Zoe and Amy when we visited the Northants and Rutland Open Studios exhibition at the beautiful Lamport Hall and Gardens. We’ve agreed on a pact to submit our work to the exhibition next year!
Receiving delightful packages:
Or should I say ‘package’ as this is the only exciting thing to come in the post for me this month!
Thank you
for my sticker order, they have cheered up my wall and pin board 😊And finally..
I’ve done a little bit of extra drawing and painting this month during
Co-swatch session (highly recommend) and Sarah Dyer’s and Emma Carlisle's Patreon sessions, plus I managed to squeeze in some extra time for my nature journal.I hope you enjoyed this round-up! I’ll be announcing the theme for October in my next post.
As always, thank you for your support here ❤️
This publication is reader-supported and enables me to do what I love, which is creating art and illustrations and sharing it with the community here on Substack. If you would like to access the full membership, consider upgrading your subscription, details of benefits are here
So happy to see the stickers on your wall and pin board 🥰 thanks for ordering and sharing Emma! Your handmade sketchbook is so beautiful, is a accordion one, right? All your Autumn pictures in this post make my heart smile 🧡 always loved Autumn since a child! 🤭
This was such a great roundup! You’ve shared so many beautiful photos! It’s so strange living in the Southern hemisphere and reading so much about autumn at the moment! It looks absolutely beautiful and you’re capturing it so nicely in your nature journal!