January Roundup

A cosy email to tell you what's been going on in January

Hello dear reader,

Welcome to the first of a new format for 2024.

Each month I’ll do a little roundup post of what’s being going on in my illustration business here on the Lizard- a snapshot of sorts where I’ll feature a favourite sketchbook page, news of any upcoming workshops, exhibitions or products, a course or art project I’m working on, a video or two that I’ve published, client work and most probably definitely a comment on the weather.

This type of post will be written monthly and available to all my subscribers and visitors. This is all to say that I will be making some changes in the very near future regarding posting and scheduling which I’ll tell you about soon but for now here’s my roundup for January.

January Stats

Wildflowers spotted: Snowdrops, Daffodils, Dog Violets, Winter Heliotrope

Weather: Wet, cold, rainy, mizzly, dark, grey, sprinkled with some clear, bright days

This month I have mostly been doing: Tax return, writing, editing, planning, submitting forms and drawing.

Where the Wildflowers grow

The first week of the month was spent writing and drawing for my Wildflower course which I am aiming to release in March. The working title is ‘where the wildflowers grow’ and will feature a considerable amount of edited footage on wildflowers which grow here on the Lizard.

I’ll be taking you on 3 sketch walks in 3 different habitats- we’ll go to the woods, journey to the coast and wander down the lanes. I’ll be sharing tips for sketching on location and what type of things I use to capture and identify wildflowers without picking them.

We’ll then gather back at the studio and I’ll take you through a simple colour palette that is ideal for drawing wildflowers. I’ll share with you how I colour mix watercolour and pair with a variety of mixed media. And for the final project we will create some beautiful wildflower sketchbook pages.

All the outdoor footage was taken over the course of last year from Spring to Autumn so as you can imagine there is a lot to go through as well as making sure I have correctly identified every wildflower!

I’ve also been working on a wildflower photo pack which you’ll be able to use alongside and this alone has over 120 wildflowers. If this sounds like the type of course you’d be interested in make sure you’re signed up on my teachable site and you’ll get an email about when it’s ready for enrolment. Until then expect little glimpses here and there…

Favourite Sketchbook Page

This sketchbook spread was created on the 6th January at Mullion Meadows on location and I used my January prompt TREE to direct me. I also recorded drawing this one for my Explore and Draw podcast and you can listen along here.

I also made a very short video about Sketching through all the seasons during 2023 and shared it on my Youtube channel, watch below to see the results of sketching outside for an entire year.

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Lizard Art Retreat

I planned and launched my first art retreat with Penmenner House for April and amazingly all the spots sold out in the first few days. I have just one day-visitor pass and this will include all meals alongside the art tuition and walks for each day.

If you are interested be sure to reach out and get in touch by replying to this email. I’m so excited to see how it goes and hopefully we can plan to run it again at another time.

Seasonal Products in the shop

If you’re looking for a seasonal card or an original painting for Mother’s Day (uk), Spring birthdays or anything else, you may enjoy these Snowdrop inspired products. You can find them all in my shop.

Snowdrop inspired products in the shop

These products were created in collaboration with my potter friend Pippa (who is running this course with me in April). If you’re interested in hearing about how these products were made you may enjoy watching this video:

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More Maps

I created a couple of maps for my regular clients at Ferment and Glug Magazine and am currently working on a site map for a large country estate.

Editorial Maps for Glug and Ferment Magzine

Hopefully I’d be able to share with you those images in the next round-up.

That’s all for now, as you can see it’s been quite a busy month but I’ll speak to you again soon to tell you plans for this space, until then,