Welcome to January
Where we celebrate the little things
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Welcome to January in The Creative Flock! And hello to all the new people who have joined recently. I hope you all had an enjoyable Christmas and New Year and managed to squeeze in some rest and relaxation.
I also hope you were able to keep up with your sketchbook practice, even in a small way. Please let me know in the comments and feel free to start a new chat thread if you’d like to share any photos of your sketches (unfortunately, Substack doesn’t allow for photos in the post comments).
I’m pleased to say I managed to sketch here and there, below are a few examples. I took on board my own advice from my December post, of sketching during lulls at family gatherings and at home late in the evening, from TV shows or photos in my phone.
In addition to this, I managed to take part in the Life Drawing for Palestine fundraiser for a short time on Boxing Day evening. Thank you to the organisers Life Drawing Fundraisers and the many models who gave up their time for this event, to raise funds for the Palestine Red Crescent, a charity who are offering medical and humanitarian assistance across Palestine.
As I was only able to join part of the session, I made an extra donation for the screenshots and I’ll be sketching from them this month and sharing on social media to help raise awareness of the ongoing atrocities and humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
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This months theme is..
*This post is not affiliated with the band ‘Blink 182’.
Late last week, after dropping my son off at school for his first day back after the holidays, I went for a walk, taking my A6 pocket sketchbook, a handful of drawing materials and a dollop of excitement at being able to sketch solo outdoors. For the first time in weeks it wasn’t raining, the sky was bright, the air fresh and the trees and hedgerows were active with birds of all types getting ready for spring.
With it still being early January, there wasn't much colour to be seen and aside from the green of the grazing fields and evergreen trees dotted about, everything was mostly a greyish-brown. Some of the fields and footpaths were flooded so I stuck to walking along the narrow, country roads and this meant I had to work a bit harder to spot anything interesting to sketch.
However, it wasn’t long before my eye was caught by the beautiful silhouette of an ash tree against the sunrise. I didn't have much time available (combination of a long to-do-list that day and not having had breakfast yet) so I decided to work small and with a maximum of three drawing materials. After sketching the tree, I walked a bit further and spotted an interesting view through a gate with a nice combination of natural textures. And lastly the drooping, dried seed heads of another ash tree. Soon my need for breakfast and some warmth in my hands got too much and I headed back.
What I took away from this quick walk and sketch, was how much enjoyment and inspiration I got from just looking a bit more closely at my surroundings. And that even at this time of year, in January, when everything can seem a bit drab, it’s possible to find beauty in small things, like the seed heads of the ash tree.
It also reminded me of the importance of getting outside each day, even for a short time to clear my head and treat my senses to something other than my desk, computer screen and strong coffee!
This month I want to celebrate the beauty of ‘small things’ and how setting our sights smaller can be beneficial to our creative practice, as well as our mental health.
Inspiration for this month’s posts and drawing session will come from:
Macro photography
Nature in close-up
Our world in miniature*
*This is in no way an excuse for me to research doll houses and model villages! 😄
I also have a ‘little’ drawing challenge for those who are interested, I'll share more details soon.
Date for live drawing session (paid members)
Wednesday 24th January at 7-8.30pm GMT. Reference images to come later in the month but they’ll relate to our ‘small things’ theme.
What else is in store for January:
🦆 Bonus drawing session with me and Beth Spencer of the Introvert Drawing Club!
Join me and Beth for a free, fun drawing and story creation session Monday 15th at 12pm CST/6pm GMT to help chase away those January blues.
This is a bonus live session, available to all subscribers. The replay will be available to paid subscribers only.
🦆🦆🦆
Dusting off my nature journal
My nature journal has been neglected these past few months, so I'm making a commitment to complete at least two pages a week and will keep myself accountable by sharing here and perhaps on social media too.
Dull but necessary tasks which I keep putting off:
Tax return (yawn)
Tidy studio and put shelves up
I’m considering scheduling a co-working session to force me to get these done!
Doing more for my physical health:
Walk more and get my daily step count back up. It has been languishing in the 2-4k steps a day region for some time…
Take a leaf from Raj’s New Year plans and lift weights, because, just like my nature journal, they’ve been gathering dust!
I’ll be joining some drawing sessions this month, including this portfolio session on 16th January, co hosted by Beth Spencer and Sarah Dyer, Sarah’s black & white themed drawing session on Tuesday 19th, plus I hope to join Emma Carlisle’s drawing session this Thursday 11th.
Sadly I can’t make this one live, but wanted to do a shout out about Sarah’s Palestine fundraiser drawing session which is taking place on Tuesday 23rd at 8pm GMT. I attended the last one she hosted, it was so moving but a great way to show solidarity and raise awareness for the cause.
Tickets here, proceeds go to the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund.
Lastly, keep an eye on the chat threads where I’ll post each Monday (creative intentions) and Friday (sharing good stuff from your week).
There’s a Substack app which is a great way to keep up with content on the go. All members can start new threads here, please feel free to do so and connect with others in the community.
Looking forward to a gentle start to the year and lots of drawing in the weeks to come.
I love these sketches, especially the owl! And wouldn't mind a bit if this post was Blink 182. 😆 Dude Ranch and the Cheshire Cat albums got me through some teenage angsty stuff!