Welcome to December: Winter Birds
Audio message for December and what's coming up this month for subscribers and paid members
Hello! And if this is the first post you’re reading, welcome! You may like to read this welcome post which tells you more about the membership and what to expect from being part of The Creative Flock.
Below is my regular monthly audio message and links to things I mention.
Deep Deep Light Watercolours, Winter Birds palette (10-15% discount available, details at the end of this post)
New prints in my shop (announced in November, discount details in the post)
December art challenges - Orange Beak’s Once Upon a Winter and The Imagined Book Cover
There’s lots of great live sessions happening this month, by artists on Substack and on Patreon. If you’ve got some gaps in your diary and fancy joining a few, here’s a few recomendations - Art as Work,
, , Time Foragers Club, Blue Shine Art, Soni Speight, Emma Carlisle and Sarah Dyer. If there’s any i’ve missed, please feel free to drop a mention in the comments!
Head further down the post to see what’s coming up this month for both free and paid subscribers, including the details for our monthly live drawing session which is taking place on Monday 16th December, 7-8.30pm GMT (paid members)
Why Winter Birds this month?
Winter has well and truly arrived in my part of the UK, but even though it’s cold, drizzly and grey, the sound or sight of birds never fails to brighten up my day. Our garden is resting and everything seems still, except for the robins, blackbirds, tits and little wrens that are still busy, searching for insects in our evergreen shrubs, roses and trees.
It brings me a lot of joy to see these birds and I wanted to take this month to honor that and also learn more about the migratory birds that visit the UK for the winter months.
For my paid members, i’ll be sharing the ways my painting and illustration style has developed over the years, specifically when it comes to drawing and painting birds. I’ll share some of the techniques I use and why they work well for me. I’ll also share ways you can discover your own approach to painting or drawing birds.
I will look at how birds have inspired countless artists, through painting and drawing but also sculpture, printmaking, and textile art, to show different artistic perspectives on the same subject and inspire you to try out new mediums and techniques.
You can use the tips I share in our live drawing session, taking place on Monday 16th December, 7-8.30pm GMT. Replay available.
Full details and reference material to follow.
Later this month, I’ll be swatching the Winter Birds palette from Deep Deep Light Watercolours and this video will be shared with all subscribers.
Co-sketching sessions this month.
Following the popularity of these sessions, there’ll be two more this month, open to all subscribers.
I’ve found these one-hour periods of concentrated drawing time so useful and they force me to focus on creativity instead of admin or my ‘to-do’ list. Thank you to Emma Carlisle for introducing me to virtual co-working!
Details are below, sign up via luma.com to get these sessions in your time zone and receive handy email reminders.
All subscribers co-sketching:
Friday 6th December, 2-3pm GMT https://lu.ma/4rxkud3o
Thursday 12th December, 7-8pm GMT https://lu.ma/bbyq0br5
These co-sketching sessions are not recorded, all participants will be muted on entry, but you are welcome to switch your microphone on at the beginning to share what you plan to use the hour for, or you can use the text chat function.
I look forward to sharing a golden hour of creativity with you! 💛
All the dates and links for the live sessions are in the calendar post, updated each month:
What else to expect this month:
A video sharing new materials bought from L. Cornelissen and Son’s art shop, London.
Chat Threads
If you’re unfamiliar with the chat function on Substack, it’s like a group chat or live hangout. I love this space as it’s a great way for us to get to know each other and encourage supportive conversation among The Creative Flock members. Chat works best in the app, but you can join in on desktop too.
I have two threads:
Every Friday: Share Good Stuff from your Week (all subscribers)
Beginning of the month: ‘Toot your horn’ 📣 (paid members). Use this as a place to share your wins, passion projects or anything that deserves a big ol’ pat on the back. I know a lot of us are bad at cheerleading ourselves, so let this be a place for that!
Paid members are also able to start new chat threads to kick off community conversations, ask questions or even share a brilliant new art material you feel we all need to know about.
I look forward to joining in these chats with you 😊
Discounts on art materials and my print store
If you’re new to The Flock you may not be aware of the discounts I share with my subscribers and paid members, details below and in your welcome email.
Deep Deep Light - 10-15% off site wide:
All Creative Flock subscribers receive 10% off at the Deep Deep Light store, and paid members receive 15% off. Use code emmacarpendale10 for 10% off, paid members will receive their discount code in their welcome email after upgrading.1
Cult Pens 10% discount:
Cult Pens is my preferred online store for pens and inks due to its wide range of products. Click this referral link for 10% off your order at Cult Pens.
My online print store:
https://www.emmacarpendale.co.uk/shop
Free subscribers receive 10% off my giclee prints, paid members receive 20% off. Use code printshop10 for 10% off, paid members will receive their discount code in their welcome email after upgrading.
I’m looking forward to a new month of creativity, I hope you will join me!
I receive 5-10% on each sale when you use the discount code. This will be something that helps fund and support my work as an artist and I want you to know it’s very much appreciated. I’m happy for you to share the code with fellow creatives, along with a link back to my Substack. Thank you! 😊
thank you so much for the post and your audio message,
Thank you for the links to Live birds feeder cameras Emma! I wish you a cosy month.