Cathryn Worrell

I’m very pleased to let you know that there are some new greeting cards in the shop and some favourites have been restocked.

Back in stock are my popular fir tree cards, which started life as a watercolour sketches in my sketchbook. They’re available as a set of 8 cards in 2 designs.

My new design is inspired by wintry hedgerows and evergreen plants like holly, ivy and mistletoe. It’s available as a set of 6 cards in 3 different colourways - 2 shades of green and a festive berry red.

I’m always reluctant to say with any certainty that I’m drawing every day again because it feels like somehow, announcing it will magically cause a downward spiral of my health and energy, and I'll stop drawing for a prolonged period.

Even so, the ups and downs of life with an energy-limiting chronic illness can be extreme. Periods of relatively stable, ‘OK’ energy are interwoven with much more difficult days or weeks and it’s at these times when being creative feels hardest.

Over the past couple of years I’ve felt these extremes much more frequently than I have for a long time. So perhaps it’s understandable that my creative habit has felt quite elusive.

But the problem I find is that if I stop drawing all together, then starting again feels like a huge mountain to climb. If I’m starting from a stationary point it’s more difficult to nudge myself to move the pen across the page than it is if I’m already regularly making marks in my sketchbook.

When I stop drawing all together, I might sometimes feel inspired or excited to draw but I can’t find my sketchbook or the pen I want to use. I can’t decide what to draw and while all this busyness is going on, my energy and enthusiasm wane and at worst, I start to wonder if there’s any point in drawing anyway.

So over the past few months I’ve found a few things that help me maintain a very gentle daily-ish drawing habit:

Make it easy to get started

I make sure that there’s space for me to draw, whether that’s by tidying my desk or putting art materials in other spots around my home. That way, when I come to draw, some of the barriers are removed and everything’s ready.

It doesn't have to be perfect. I might sit on the living room floor or use a corner of the kitchen table while dinner's cooking but I'm creating space for myself to make something.

Drawing instead of scrolling

Rather than picking up my phone and scrolling, which is something I find myself doing in the evenings while watching TV*, I try to make sure there’s a pen and sketchbook next to where I sit so I can reach for them instead.

A wobbly drawing made while I balance my sketchbook precariously on my lap feels much more satisfying than mindlessly staring at my phone.

Remembering why you draw

When I feel my inner voice telling me that drawing is pointless, I remind myself that drawing makes me feel better, not physically but mentally.

It doesn’t really matter what I draw or even for how long, I know that it lifts my mood. So I gently nudge myself to pick up a pen because it feels like a form of self care.

Reward your drawing habit

If you’d asked me a few weeks ago I would have told you that I had maybe 2 or 3 unfinished sketchbooks but when I checked, I kept finding more that I’d forgotten about. So before I allow myself to buy a new sketchbook I’m challenging myself to fill the ones I already have.

It feels like a good thing to use them (that’s what they’re for!) and it encourages me to draw every day, because each drawing brings me one step closer to a brand new sketchbook.

Don’t get precious about your drawings

I often feel very tempted with new sketchbooks to keep them for something specific, or to create only my ‘best’ work in them.

But that’s not what sketchbooks are for. It’s also a huge amount of pressure because following this line of logic would mean that if one drawing's not 'perfect' the whole sketchbook's ruined. That makes no sense and is one of the best ways to stifle any sense of creativity that I might have.

Instead I’m allowing myself to draw anything and everything all in the same sketchbook. It might be a slow drawing that I spend an hour on or a quick scribble that takes a few minutes.

Maybe it’s messy or doesn’t turn out quite how I had hoped but that’s OK because I made a drawing.

Stay curious and learn from each drawing

On a related point, rather than judge my drawings when they don’t look quite how I’d anticipated, I try to stay curious about them instead.

Each drawing's part of a learning process so I ask myself: what do I like about this drawing? How did I feel while I was making that drawing? What might I do differently next time?

Analysing each drawing this way, even for just a minute or two, helps me to avoid judging them harshly and talking myself out of making a drawing in the future.

Would you like more gentle encouragement to draw in your sketchbook? Why not join me on Patreon for regular prompts and a friendly nudge to keep going? You’ll also get to see more of my process, sketchbook pages and favourite art materials.

Take a look inside my most recently filled sketchbook. This is a Moleskine sketchbook which I’ve been using for almost a year alongside a few others.

In this sketchbook there are all kinds of drawings and I hope that having a look at mine will encourage you to pick up a pen or pencil and start drawing.

It doesn’t have to be perfect and your sketchbook can be a place to experiment, make mistakes and have fun.

Since I rediscovered my love of drawing back in 2013 I’ve made a lot of my drawings in ink. And when I say ‘ink’, for the most part I mean fineliner pens. I’ve used all kinds, including Copic Multiliners, Faber Castell and Sakura Pigman Micron pens, which ultimately became my favourite.

My favourite fineliner

Microns don’t appear to be any different from any other waterproof fineliner pen but there’s something about drawing with them that’s always felt slightly different. It’s difficult to describe but maybe they feel a bit smoother to draw with or maybe it’s the ink but they rarely let me down.

There are some specific times when I’ve chosen a different pen over the Micron but on the whole they’ve been my go-to for years now.

Finding a more eco-friendly drawing pen

That said, one thing I don’t like about Pigma Microns is that they’re disposable and often the nibs wear out before the ink does. Copic make a Multiliner that is refillable and the nibs are replaceable but so far (as far as I know), there’s nothing comparable from Sakura.

Now, I think it’s unlikely that I’ll ever stop using Microns completely, but I am very conscious of the plastic waste that I produce when I throw the used pens away.

So I’d been on the look out for a more eco-friendly alternative. Something that felt nice to draw with but could be refilled and reused.

Why I chose the Kaweco Sport

I’d had a few Lamy fountain pens for a long time and although they’re great in terms of being refillable, they never felt all that comfortable in my hand. I think this is why I tended to be inconsistent in using them.

But last year I decided to give the Kaweco Sport a try. I’d had a Kaweco Sport rollerball pen for a long time, although I didn’t draw with it that much because the ink wasn’t waterproof. It was, however, very comfortable in my hand, which is why I thought I’d try the fountain pen.

I bought a Kaweco Sport fountain pen in the colour ‘fox’. The colour and the name of the colour really appealed to me and I still love that about my pen.

I still draw in pencil and fineliners and other mediums but the Kaweco Sport is currently my favourite pen. I wouldn’t say it’s perfect but it’s not far off and there are five things in particular that I love about it.

1. It’s a pen that’s comfortable to hold

As I’ve already mentioned, the Lamy fountain pens never felt very comfortable in my hand. I’m not sure but I think it’s because of the shape of the barrel. The Lamy Safari has a three-sided shape to the grip and something about that felt uncomfortable for me.

On the other hand, the Kaweco is smooth and round and not too narrow. The last thing you want when drawing is for your hand to start to cramp or feel stiff so this one was much more comfortable.

2. The Kaweco is very compact

If you want or need a small sketching kit, the Kaweco is a good choice because once the cap is on the pen, it pretty much fits in the palm of your hand (and easily fits in a pocket), and there’s something very satisfying about that.

You can also buy a clip separately if you want to attach it to the cover of your sketchbook.

3. The nibs are changeable

As with the Lamy (and no doubt many other fountain pens), the nibs on the Kaweco are changeable. They’re less fiddly to change than the Lamy because new nibs come with the grip attached so you simply unscrew one nib and screw on the other.

The nibs also come in different finishes if you fancy a change.

Another thing I like about the Kaweco nibs is that they feel very sturdy. That might not suit everyone - I know some people like a flexible fountain pen nib but I like how robust these nibs feel.

4. The nib widths are nice and fine

Drawing with fountain pens I’ve often found that the line they produce can be a bit thicker than I prefer. And when I bought my Kaweco, I was looking for a pen with a very fine nib. The Kaweco extra-fine steel nib was perfect for me and produced a very fine line.

I’ve since bought a fine nib which also gives a nice fine line.

5. It takes waterproof ink and standard cartridges

If you’re anything like me you probably like the option to use waterproof ink when you draw so that you can add watercolour on top without any fear that your drawing will run or dissolve. For years I’ve used Carbon Ink, which is lovely and has worked well for me in Lamy pens, as has De Atramentis document ink.

As with the Lamy, the Kaweco can be used with bottled ink and a converter, which opens up lots of options for the ink you can draw with.

Also, I love that the Kaweco takes standard cartridges, which isn’t the case for all fountain pens. Yes, cartridges will still produce some plastic waste (although a lot less than throwing out a whole fineliner pen), but it does mean that the Kaweco can be filled quickly and conveniently with a lot less mess.

So that’s particularly useful if you’re travelling or drawing on location. De Atramentis document ink comes in standard cartridges (in blue and black) and they work perfectly in the Kaweco.

So, as you can probably tell, I am a big fan of my Kaweco Sport pen! I wonder if you ever draw with a fountain pen and what your favourite is.

If you’re on my mailing list, you may remember that back in December I had to close my Etsy shop.

It’s a long and complicated story but was due to a combination of strict new product safety regulations in the EU and limitations on the Etsy platform that didn’t allow shop owners in the UK to be more specific about the countries they ship to.

So since December, I’ve been selling all my cards and prints only from my website shop and haven’t been able to sell to the EU or Northern Ireland.

While this is still the case for the website shop, I’m really pleased to let you know that my Etsy shop has re-opened today.

Etsy is now the place to find open edition art prints. Each one will be made to order and you can choose from a range of sizes. Your print will be shipped to you anywhere in the world directly from my favourite printing company here in the UK.

So far I have just three designs available but I’m hoping to slowly build up the collection. If there’s anything that you would like to see there, whether that’s a particular design or a different size of print, just let me know and I’ll see what I can do.

The three art prints in my Etsy shop are designs that were previously available only on greeting cards or postcards - colourful moths on a pale pink background, brightly coloured beetles and a painting of wildflowers that came directly from my sketchbook.

Over the past few weeks I’ve been thinking a lot about the best way to connect with people online. For years I’ve used social media to meet or stay in touch with friends and to share my art (and random thoughts) with the wider world.

As some of those platforms have changed, I’ve changed which ones I use or how I use them. For a long time Instagram was my favourite but as you probably know, it’s not the place it once was. It’s increasingly difficult to actually be social on Instagram and it seems to have moved away from facilitating or nurturing connection.

As someone who lives with an energy limiting chronic illness I’ve started to wonder if it’s worth using my limited personal battery to post on a platform that I don’t get a huge amount from, whether that’s personally or in relation to work.

Protecting my health and creative energy

And this wondering probably explains why I don’t post on Instagram very often any more. When only a handful of people who follow me see the posts I share, and I don’t see the things they post, it can feel quite deflating. The connection’s not really there any more.

So I decided that one way I can protect my health this year is to be more intentional with where I share my work. It’s really important that I don’t spread myself too thin trying to use lots of different platforms, otherwise I’ll be exhausted.

I can’t be in all the online places and if I try to, then I’ll probably have a health crash and be unable to do anything (online or offline) for a long time.

Finding places that I enjoy spending time

And I also want the places I spend my time online to feel good and to be more closely aligned with my values. To be enjoyable, pleasant places to hang out. Not full of noise or things that leave me feeling miserable and drained.

I won’t be leaving Instagram just yet but I have (at least temporarily) left Facebook and Threads.

So if you want to keep in touch and know what I’m doing, thinking and creating, these are the best places to find me:

1. My website

This is the hub of everything I do online. I’m not renting this space from anyone and if all social media disappeared tomorrow, my website would still be around.

I’m not forced to include ads on here unless I choose to do so. I can tweak the layout, content, design and a few other bits and pieces to get it pretty much exactly as I want.

And it’s the best place for anyone to find out more about me or to buy some of my art.

2. My email list

Once someone has explored my website they might join my email list. This means they’ll receive updates from me directly to their inbox.

It’s a bit like my website in that it’s something under my control and I’m not dependent on a single platform to be able to get in touch with my subscribers. If the email service I use disappears, I just take my list somewhere else and we’ll continue to stay in touch.

And because the subscribers to my email list have actually asked me to email them, I feel less like I’m whispering in a noisy crowd of strangers like I do on Instagram.

3. Patreon

I don’t think Patreon is set up in a way that’s ideal for building community or creating new connections but it is a good place for developing deeper connections with people I’ve connected with elsewhere.

I suppose it’s a place where someone might choose to go once they’ve visited my website and been on my email list for a while. They get to see more of my sketchbooks, the way I work and what I’m doing day to day - the stuff I might not feel as comfortable sharing publicly.

Although I don’t own the space like I do with my email list or website, the small community we have there is full of gentle, creative like-minded people, who I enjoy talking to and hearing from so it’s a nice place to be.

4. Substack

I set up my Substack a couple of years ago and didn’t do a huge amount with it but I slowly started to share some of my Patreon content there.

This made sense to me for two reasons:

Not everyone wants to use Patreon but might prefer Substack so it’s more convenient for them to subscribe on Substack.

I don’t like putting all my metaphorical eggs in one basket. I mean, I could rely only on Patreon for creating a membership community but if Patreon fell over or disappeared I could redirect people to Substack, or vice versa. Spreading content across a couple of platforms feels like a bit of insurance.

There are also features available on Substack that aren’t on Patreon. Likewise, I can do some things on Patreon that I can’t do on Substack so I like using both and making the most of the different ways they work.

Over the past few weeks I’ve been exploring Substack a bit more and it reminds me of the old days of blogging. It’s similar to (but not the same as) how we’d use blog readers to stay up to date with what other people were writing and use blog rolls share our favourite blogs.

And yes, I know, I already have a blog but Substack feels like somewhere I can share more personal thoughts than I might do here.

There’s a lot happening on Substack and the amount of content there can feel a bit overwhelming but I’m dipping my toe here in there with some of its features and so far, I like it.

5. Bluesky

I joined Bluesky a couple of months ago and it feels very much like old Twitter, which was somewhere I used to spend a lot of time when I started my personal blog in 2011.

I actually see what the people I follow have posted. My timeline is chronological (remember that?) and I’m connecting with new and old friends. It’s feeling like a nice, and calmer place to be on the internet.

So these corners on the internet are where I’m planning to spend much of my time. I haven’t totally given up on Instagram but I suppose I have one foot out of the door at the moment. Maybe I’ll post there occasionally but in the meantime, you’ll find me in these five places.

And if you don’t want to keep popping back to my website to check for updates, just let me know by subscribing to my mailing list and I’ll email you when there’s something new to share.

If you're in the mood for a bit of crafting or looking for a quick way to decorate your home, you might enjoy my paper garlands.

I've created three designs: a woodland-themed garland, a mushroom garland and a Fair Isle sock garland (great if you're a knitter). Because they're all digital downloads you don't have to wait for them to be delivered. You can print them straight away and hang them in your home in no time.

All you'll need is a printer, some paper, scissors and maybe a hole punch and twine.

How to make your garland

1. Print the designs onto A4 or letter sized paper

2. Cut out each shape

3. Make one or two holes at the top of each piece

4. Thread some string, twine or yarn through the holes and they're ready to hang

If you don't have thick paper or your printer doesn't work well with cardstock, just print the pieces onto standard paper and glue them to some cardboard to make them more durable.

Where to use your paper garland

Hang them in your home, kid's room or art studio.

Use the pieces individually as gift tags or Christmas tree decorations,

Add them to scrapbooking projects

Use the garland as decorations for birthday parties or the Holidays (they’re perfect for Thanksgiving and Christmas)

This year (and probably last year too for that matter), my sketchbook routine can probably be best described as ‘consistently inconsistent’. I’ve gone through phases of drawing most days for ages before slipping out of the habit and not drawing for a few weeks or more.

Inevitably I nudge myself back into drawing regularly again and wonder how long the habit will stick. What I will say is that recently, the periods of not drawing have become fewer and/or shorter than they were a year ago so that feels like a positive.

I think there are a few reasons why I keep falling out of the drawing habit:

I've had longer periods of low energy where all I can focus on is resting to get the M.E. as stable as possible.

I've also experienced increased anxiety (partly due to my wildly fluctuating health), which has led to a fear of the blank page and a self-imposed expectation of perfection from every drawing. Sometimes I've felt like I have to make the most of my energy when it's there so I've wanted to make a really impressive drawing to avoid 'wasting' this 'precious resource'. But that just leaves me feeling anxious and means I don’t make any drawings, which is not fun.

And I’ve struggled to make my workspace feel as welcoming and comfortable as I can so that it’s a place I want to be. I have limited space at home and the best place for my desk isn't always the best place for me to sit and draw so that's felt like quite a big barrier to drawing.

I’m not in a position to tell you that I’ve got this all figured out and that I have a clear solution for you to follow if you’re finding it difficult to stay consistent with your sketchbook habit.

But what I can do is share some of the things I’m experimenting with that seem to be helping so far and I hope that you find them helpful too.

Here's my mix of practical strategies, reminders to keep at the front of my mind and what I guess could be described as a certain level of mindfulness or awareness.

Draw for the sake of drawing

It's OK to draw or paint just for the sake of it. It doesn't have to have a greater purpose. It doesn't have to be a design for a new print or greeting card or anything to make money.

Drawing's just noticing, really looking at something and then making marks on the page. And the best reason I can give for anyone starting to draw is that drawing will keep you in the moment and you'll see the things around you differently.

The process of drawing will help you feel a bit calmer, happier, and present.

It doesn't have to be perfect

It's OK if the drawing - or painting - is wonky, wobbly, smudged or doesn't quite look like it 'should'. Like I said above, you're drawing for the sake of drawing. Maybe you'll love the end result, maybe you won't but it's all good practice.

Think about how far you'll get in a month or a year when you've been drawing every day, compared to what your drawing skills will be like in a year if you draw nothing between now and then.

Stay open and curious

My favourite times with my sketchbook are when I'm feeling curious and playful - 'I wonder what would happen if I used this colour, this art material, added more/less water, layered this coloured on top of this one...'

That curiosity can extend to the finished drawing too. So rather than just deciding that you hate a drawing, ask yourself why. What would you do differently if you started again? And is there just the tiniest bit of that drawing that you do like? Notice that and really focus on it. Remember it and store it away for future drawings.

Don’t wait, just draw

I've been trying to notice the moments when I feel a tiny (often quite sudden) spark of excitement when I feel like 'I'd like to draw that', and then drawing that rather than feeling like I need to wait, create more time or do something else first.

It's easy to think that you'll come back to an idea for a drawing or save a photo to a folder to draw from later. But it's also easy to prioritise other things or forget that you wanted to draw those things at all. And your enthusiasm for that drawing might fade if you wait too long.

Instead, try and notice when you feel excited about the idea of a particular drawing and then start.

Maybe you've only got a few minutes, in which case you can make a a few marks and finish it later. Or make a really quick sketch. Or choose art materials that are quicker to work with like pens or pencils, rather than paint that takes time to dry.

Again, the result might not be perfect but it will be a lot better than the drawing you never make because it didn't feel important enough.

Use as many sketchbooks as you like

I used to be very much a monogamous sketchbooker. I had a single sketchbook for all my drawings and would only allow myself to start a new one once that one was full.

There's a lot to be said for sticking to one sketchbook and maybe that's what you need. Sometimes I slide back in that direction too. Keeping one sketchbook can sometimes feel easier because there are fewer decisions to make so fewer barriers to starting to draw. But sometimes I think it's nice to have more than one sketchbook on the go.

Sometimes it's handy to have a couple of sketchbooks in front of you while you're drawing so you can draw in one sketchbook while you wait for paint to dry in the other. Switching back and forth can help create a sense of momentum.

Recently I decided to open a new sketchbook to use for some daily drawings, even though I have others unfinished. Starting a new sketchbook can feel a bit daunting but it can also feel quite exciting.

The sketchbook I opened most recently is a little pocket-sized Stillman and Birn sketchbook and it feels easy to use. I can pick it up and make a little sketch or painting on a single page or spread across a double page and it still doesn't feel too overwhelming.

And I still have my other slightly larger sketchbooks nearby for days when I want the space that they offer or a different type of paper.

Keep a secret sketchbook

As well as my other sketchbooks, a few months ago I decided to designate a cheap sketchbook as my 'secret sketchbook'. The paper's really nice to draw on but it doesn't feel precious because it only cost a couple of pounds.

So this means I feel less worried about 'messing up' a page. It feels less pressured, but that's not the main point of a secret sketchbook.

As the name suggests I keep these secret. Occasionally I might share a page here and there but for the most part, these sketchbooks are just for me.

They're somewhere I can draw freely without feeling like I might share what I'm doing later, either on social media or Patreon or anywhere at all.

I mean, this can be the case for any sketchbook you use. You get to decide who sees inside it but if you're finding it particularly difficult to start drawing, then make your sketchbook secret. Make your drawings messy, ugly, smudged, wonky and have fun, knowing that you're the only one who'll see them.

Create lots of spaces to sit (or stand) and draw

I'm allowing my art materials to spread around the house a little bit at the moment. I still have my tiny drawing desk but I've been drawing at the kitchen table, sitting on the sofa and even while sitting on the living room floor.

Like I said earlier, the space where my desk isn’t always right for me. It can sometimes feel too cold and on sunny days when I want to draw in the afternoon the light can be too harsh/dazzling.

Since I’m limited with where I can place my desk, having a few alternative drawing spots has been helpful.

It also makes drawing feel like less of an ‘event’. I can just pick up a sketchbook and a few art materials and get started without having to go to another room, where I have to get settled and clear some space (at which point I’ve probably lost some enthusiasm).

This way I can start a sketch while I wait for my porridge to cook in the morning or on my way to cook dinner.

Draw what you see, even if it seems boring

Most recently I've been painting little pictures of the sky and tree tops that I can see from my windows. I see these views every day and it doesn't feel that interesting but I think that changes when you start to draw.

Whether the thing you're drawing is a world-famous landmark or your kitchen sink, the point is that you are drawing.

You're experimenting with art materials, noticing details and colours, reflections and textures. So no matter what you're actually drawing, you are actually drawing. This means you're more likely to tap into that mindful process, being completely present and hopefully finding some level of joy in there.

The drawings I've been making of the sky and trees are a bit wonky, messy, definitely imperfect and in no way precious. They'll never be something I'd want to frame or sell but that's not the point of making them.

I make them because it allows me to draw and to document a tiny moment of my day, however mundane that might otherwise feel.

I hope some of these ideas help you when you're struggling with maintaining a consistent sketchbook habit. If you think I've missed something important please let me know in the comments or drop me an email.

Every month I share a new sketchbook prompt over on Patreon. This month (June) the prompt is rainbow. I’m curious to see the work my Patrons make from this prompt, whether they follow it in a literal way or not.

As you may be able to see in this image, I decided to draw a collection of fruit and vegetables, painting them with lots of rainbow colours.

If you would like to receive these monthly prompts in your inbox every month there are 3 things you can do:

Follow me on Patreon. The sketchbook prompts I share are available to all subscribers, whether they’re paying members or not. You don’t need to download a new app or do anything complicated to become a free Patron.

Become a free subscriber on my Substack. I share slightly more content on Patreon but again, free Substack subscribers get the monthly sketchbook prompts.

Join my mailing list. Every couple of weeks I contact my email subscribers. Although mailing list subscribers receive the sketchbook prompt slightly later than Patreon and Substack people, they get lots of extra stuff like shop discounts and peeks inside my sketchbook. When you sign up you’ll also receive a free printable hand-lettered zine that I created, filled with 50 drawing prompts.

I'm a self-taught artist so unsurprisingly, growing up I loved drawing and being creative but something you probably don’t know about me is that I was also an avid letter writer.

When I was about 8 years old, I started writing to my first penpal in Ireland. Over the years I steadily continued connecting with new people, so that by the time I was in my teens I had more than 20 penpals from all over the world.

We’d exchange photos, discuss our favourite pop bands and tell one another about school life or holidays we’d been on. I liked learning about people's ordinary, everyday lives, especially when they were very different from mine. Some of these long-distance friendships came and went, but a few have continued.

It was always exciting to receive a new letter and see the stamps, the sometimes colourful or decorated stationery and the different styles of handwriting.

Even now, I feel a spark of excitement when I see a handwritten note or card arrive in the post. There's something special about this slower, quieter way of communicating, especially when I think about the time and thought someone's put into sending that message. But there’s also a connection that you just can’t get from an email or text message. I think that comes from seeing someone else’s writing (or words typed on an old-school typewriter) and holding the same piece of paper that only days earlier was in a whole other town/country.

Did you know that I’m on Patreon? And did you know that I share sketchbook prompts on Patreon every month? In case you don’t know what I’m talking about, let me first explain what Patreon is.

What is Patreon?

Patreon is an online platform where anyone can support the work of creative people, including artists, musicians, film-makers, and others.

You pay a monthly membership fee (which you can cancel at any time), and in return, you get all kinds of rewards while also feeling warm and fuzzy about supporting the work of your favourite creatives, so they can keep doing what they do.

The creative work I share on Patreon

Over on my Patreon I share:

sketchbook tours (including sketchbooks I don’t share anywhere else),

my favourite and newest art materials,

occasional creative tips,

a closer look at my creative process (so my Patrons get to see things like how a rough sketch turns into a greeting card in my shop),

peeks behind the scenes of what my daily life as an artist with a chronic illness is like and

regular sketchbook prompts.

There are 4 tiers of membership, each at a different price and my top tier Patrons get a few extras, including an ongoing shop discount and an exclusive postcard sent to them in the mail every month.

The thing I like most about my Patreon is that tiers 1-3 are pay-what-you-can-afford. So no matter what price you choose, all three of those tiers get access to the same content.

Monthly sketchbook prompts

So getting back to opening sentences: every month I share a sketchbook prompt on Patreon. The prompt itself is free for everyone, whether you’re a paid member or not. However, for paid members, I also share a video each month showing how I followed that prompt in my own sketchbook.

Making a collage

This month’s prompt was something a little bit different. We’ve been making collages which I really enjoyed.

And instead of a quick video to show you how I made my collage, I’ve created a series of videos, walking you through each step of the process so you can follow along and create your own collage.

Making the creative process manageable

I intentionally broke the process down into 5-6 stages so that anyone like me who has a chronic illness or something else that limits your energy can work alongside me without feeling overwhelmed or exhausted.

Watching one video per day will allow you to take some small, straightforward steps towards filling a page in your sketchbook with something a bit different from your usual drawing or painting.

Choose your price

If this sounds like something you’d like to try, just head over to my Patreon and choose the price that is most affordable for you. Stay for one month or longer, you choose.

My Patrons are a lovely group of gentle, creative souls. Because of their support, I’m able to keep making art, knowing that they’ll be waiting and holding space for me even when my health is at a low ebb.

I would love to have you join us, and this month feels like a good time for you to explore what’s available.

One thing that’s stayed consistent about my sketchbook habit over the years it’s how it keeps changing and evolving!

How my sketchbook habit started

About 10 years ago I had a daily sketchbook habit. I would draw something (anything) every day and often share it somewhere online - either on social media or my blog (or both). I didn’t really care about the outcome. The important thing was that I was drawing, enjoying the almost meditative process and feeling happy with the wobbly lines on the page.

After a few years, that daily habit waned a bit. Not completely, but it faded into the background as I started to spend what creative energy I had on designing and making things for my online shop and doing the occasional illustration for clients.

Feeling pressure to create

A few years ago I had some ideas about things I wanted to explore in my work so I decided to play more in my sketchbook. That's how my landscape prints were born. But even as I was playing, I was sharing everything online and wondering what I could do with the finished paintings.

It never felt completely free. There was always an awareness that someone was ‘watching’ or would see what I’d created. And a thought in the back of my mind about how to sell what I made. All of that meant that I shared some drawings I wasn’t totally happy with and felt a little bit stifled sometimes because I was aware that I would be sharing what I had created with other people.

Since then my sketchbook habit almost (but not entirely) fizzled out. It felt like there was pressure around it. that what I drew needed to be of a certain standard or be part of a process of designing a new card or print. And that pressure meant I almost stopped drawing and painting, at least drawing and painting just for fun.

4 new sketchbooks

A couple of months ago, I decided I wanted to build up a regular sketchbook practice again and felt quite excited about it, so I treated myself to some new sketchbooks. I had plans which resulted in me buying 4 sketchbooks - 2 medium-sized sketchbooks and 2 mini (very portable) sketchbooks.

So I had 4 sketchbooks - one for painting, one for drawing or mixed media, and 2 corresponding mini sketchbooks.

I’m happy to say, this is not a story where I explain how I bought the sketchbooks and failed to use them. Something else happened. I started using all 4 sketchbooks, each in slightly different ways and I love them all.

Fear of the sketchbook page

But there was one week where I was finding it really difficult to allow myself to sit down and make marks on the page. Fear had crept in (again). That niggling feeling of what I created needing to be perfect or sellable.

I wanted to draw or paint but I was nervous in case something went 'wrong' and even started to feel a bit anxious at the thought of sitting down to draw. This goes against the whole reason I started drawing regularly in the first place - to enjoy the process rather than worry about the outcome.

Over the course of a few days, I made a drawing and spent ages trying to get the proportions just right, sketching it all out very carefully in pencil before slowly tracing over the lines in ink. This helped me feel more in control of the outcome so it wouldn't 'go wrong' but the end result was a drawing that looked really stiff and a kind of boring.

I sat with this anxious feeling for a while longer and sank into watching videos of other artists creating freely, embracing the messy, wonkiness in their work. And then had an idea.

Creating a messy, playfully sketchbook

I was worried about making a bad drawing or painting or somehow spoiling my lovely sketchbooks. But I had another sketchbook I'd only ever painted in once and didn't enjoy using it much. So I thought I could use that (5th) sketchbook to make messy marks on the page. I'd use whatever paints were still on my palette and might otherwise go to waste.

So, grabbing a big brush, I started painting big yellow circles (a shape that, interestingly, keeps cropping up). On another page, I layered different colours on top of one another just to see what would happen. It didn't matter because no one needed to see this. And, actually, I could tell myself I was doing a good thing by using the gouache that would have otherwise sat dried on my palette before being scraped away to make room for more blobs of paint.

This (slightly bigger) sketchbook that I didn't really like was getting a new lease of life and I was splashing paint around. Nothing I've painted will become anything else and most of the pages probably won't even be seen by very many people, but it feels like a really good space to relax and explore.

Rediscovering the joy in creativity

And the best part is, that this more relaxed way of creating has spread across to my regular sketchbook practice now. I'm making paintings and drawings of whatever I feel like making.

Sometimes I work slowly over a number of days to allow layers of paint to dry. Sometimes, I use watercolours and see what textures I can encourage on the page. Sometimes I intentionally choose a colour I don’t like just so that it gets used (often to discover that I do like it after all).

Creating in private

Having a handful of sketchbooks means that I can move between them, leaving paint to dry for as long as necessary while I doodle something else in another sketchbook. And I've not shared much of this stuff online (apart from with my Patrons, who have had a peep at a couple of things). Maybe I will at some point but I think I'll wait a while because the feedback (or lack of it) might influence what I do next. Right now I'm playing with no pressure. You might say, I’ve come full circle, thanks to that sketchbook I didn’t like.

I still have ideas for new products and how I'd like my business to grow but I don't think those two sides of my creativity are mutually exclusive. In fact, I think it's likely that they will feed one another, which seems so obvious now I’m writing it down. I'm curious to see what happens anyway.

I love drawing in a sketchbook and I’ve tried a lot over the years. In fact, just as I sat down to write this blog post, the doorbell rang because I had a new delivery of sketchbooks that I’m eager to use!

But more about the specifics of sketchbooks some other time. Today I wanted to share a sketchbook prompt with you.

Gentle sketchbook prompts

As much as I love a sketchbook/drawing challenge, sometimes I find them a bit exhausting so I share posts once a month rather than every day. It feels a bit more gentle and do-able, especially, if like me, you tend to be low on energy even at the best of times.

Once a month on Patreon I share a prompt to encourage my Patreon community to fill another page in their sketchbooks. Or maybe lots of pages. They also get to watch a video of me drawing or painting something inspired by the same sketchbook prompt.

So if you don’t know what to draw or just need someone to decide for you (!) I’m here to help.

Join the community for regular creative inspiration

The sketchbook prompts are available for free on my Patreon page and you can become a member of my community from as little as £3 to get access to the videos as well. Although you can see a short preview of the video for free.

I mean, for £3 you’ll get more than one video per month but I think you might enjoy a gentle monthly nudge towards your sketchbook. And you can work your way back through every drawing prompt I’ve shared over the past couple of years (there are 31 so far).

Something easy to draw this month

Anyway, here’s this month’s prompt. It’s an easy one for these chilly winter days in the northern hemisphere because you can probably find it on or near your workspace: Brushes

I loved art and design at school but it took me a while to find my way back to making drawings and paintings.

I studied a very academic subject at university and took a brief detour into teaching, but being diagnosed with a chronic illness led me to rediscover how much I enjoyed being creative.

During the early days of being ill, whenever I had a pocket of energy I would find some comfort in doing some simple sewing or crafting handmade greeting cards.

Every so often I would pick up a pencil and have a go at drawing something but it had been so long since I’d done that, that my drawings were inevitably imperfect. So I would lose patience (and energy) and give up.

Thanks to Danny Gregory’s Book The Creative License I started to draw with a pen for the first time and sank into the process of drawing which felt meditative.

During a conversation with some fellow artists where we were discussing our favourite and newly discovered art materials, I sparked a momentary silence by declaring, “In the end, all you need is a pen and some paper” which nicely sums up what I want to share today.

Sometimes it’s easier to get on with making art if you keep your tools really simple. And the simplest way to make art is with just 2 tools:

1. A pen

Nothing fancy, just choose a pen. That ballpoint pen sitting on the coffee table will work just fine. Don’t put extra pressure on yourself to use or find the ‘perfect’ pen. Doing that’s a really good way to procrastinate and avoid making a start on a drawing.

Just find the nearest pen and use that. Once you’re in the swing of making drawings regularly, consider rewarding yourself with something a bit more fancy, but don’t let the sparkle of shiny new art materials become a barrier to making art.

And yes, I know, it can feel really scary to dive straight into a drawing with a pen. There’s nowhere to hide and no possibility of erasing your lines. But if you embrace the slight wonkiness and imperfections you might start to realise they’re nothing to be afraid of. Accept that a line might not be at the perfect angle and redraw it or just go with it, it doesn’t really matter.

But observing, really looking at what you’re drawing and transferring what you see onto paper with your own marks might start to become something you can truly lose yourself in. Maybe you’ll begin to enjoy the process so much that the outcome of your drawing is secondary to the experience.

And yes, when you first start out you might still feel disappointed or frustrated with the results. But if you haven’t drawn in years, or since you were a child maybe, then your ‘drawing muscle’ is going to take a bit of time to get into shape.

In the meantime, though, be brave, dive in with a (any) pen, observe your surroundings and make some marks.

2. Some paper

Again, don’t overthink this. Have you got a printer? Take a piece of paper from there. Sticky note? That’ll do.

The most memorable drawing I ever did wasn’t fancy, wasn’t my best drawing, but it’s stayed with me. It was drawn on a piece of printer paper with a pen that was just lying around the house.

Maybe at some point, you’ll want to explore all the different kinds of papers and find a sketchbook that feels good to use. But make things as easy as possible to get moving. It’s the equivalent of going for regular walks or runs before you sign up for an expensive gym membership.

You might even have a notebook sitting around somewhere so once you’ve used a few pieces of printer paper or sticky notes, why not see if you can fill all the pages in that notebook?

Just don’t overcomplicate things. Don’t make excuses like “I’ll just go to the art supply shop at the weekend and then I’ll start drawing.”

Embrace the wonky, shaky, wobbly lines. When you look back at those drawings you’ll remember what it felt like to make those marks. Each one tells a story.

As someone who lives with a chronic illness, I know how difficult it can be to leave your home to run errands. Simple activities like popping to the shops or taking things to the Post Office can often feel (and sometimes are) impossible.

Save some time and money when sending a card or gift

But whether you have health problems or not, sometimes you just don’t want the hassle of (or don’t have the time for) doing things like making a special trip to the postbox.

Or maybe you want to send something to your friend or relative in the UK but the cost of international mailing starts to make that seem expensive - plus it takes ages for your card or gift to arrive.

Let me send a card for you

If any of these situations sound familiar, I’m here to help. If you buy a card from my shop and don’t want to wait to have it delivered to you so you can write it and send it out again to your favourite person (maybe having it to-ing and fro-ing across the Atlantic), I can send it for you.

All you have to do is follow these three simple steps, and then you can sit back with a nice cup of tea and put your feet up, safe in the knowledge that your greeting card will soon arrive at your friend’s door.

1. Choose your favourite greeting card

Head over to the shop to browse the greeting cards. Choose a single card that’s your favourite and add it to your shopping cart.

2. Write a personalised message

At checkout, add a gift message to your order. I will handwrite your message inside the card on your behalf before popping it into its envelope and adding the correct postage.

3. Check the delivery address

Double-check that the delivery address on your order is for the person you’re sending the card to.

Once all that’s done and you’ve placed your order, I’ll ensure your card with your personalised message is sent straight to the lucky recipient.

Not just greeting cards

This isn’t limited to greeting cards, though. If you want to send a print, original artwork or anything else from my shop directly to the person you would like to gift it to (anywhere in the world), just make sure you add their address at checkout.

I wrap every order from my shop in recycled tissue paper and include a postcard with a handwritten message, which can be a message from you if you choose.

Bundle up a card and print

You could also choose one of my art prints and bundle it with a matching greeting card, but the choice is yours.

As someone who’s lived with ME/CFS for 18 years, I’d like to be able to say how well I manage, or pace, my day-to-day activities. However, if I were going to be charitable, I’d say there’s room for improvement there.

What is pacing?

Pacing therapy is a way of balancing periods of rest with periods of physical and mental activity in such a way that you avoid doing more than you’re able to and, therefore, avoid triggering a relapse of your worst symptoms that may take days or weeks to recover from.

Ideally, you keep things moving at a gentle, steady rate, stopping frequently for breaks and not pushing beyond your limits. And that applies even on days when you might feel you could do more, because that could impact on what you’re able to do the following day.

It’s a tricky thing to get right and as human beings, the ‘baseline’ of energy for someone with ME can change over time just to make things more complicated.

If you can master this way of balancing ‘doing’ and ‘resting’ it can also be a really helpful approach to things like making art, especially for daily art challenges like Inktober.

What is Inktober?

For those who aren’t in the know, Inktober is a popular annual art challenge where artists create work with ink during October. They might do this every day or whenever they can, and they might share it on Instagram too.

I’d say that the ideal Inktober approach is to create a drawing each day that is small and/or doesn’t take more than 20 minutes. That way, you can build momentum without the challenge becoming tedious, tiring or too time-consuming for you to continue with.

Can you see the link here between pacing and Inktober? A small amount each day, maybe less than you think you can manage and that way, you can keep going. Gently, steadily.

So, in spite of the impression I seem to have given to a few friends, my approach to pacing my health is hit-and-miss. I tend to overdo things, leaving me depleted for days (or months sometimes) afterwards. And this seems to have spilled over into my creative practice too. I was comforted recently when someone described my tendency to do too much on some days as ‘very human’.

Based on my own ‘human’ mistakes, here are 5 things any artist with a chronic illness like ME/CFS should avoid doing during Inktober.

1. Trying to get a ‘head start’ with your drawings

In September, I started planning my Inktober drawings. I found some prompts that I liked the look of and felt quite excited. But then my internal monkey brain piped up, suggesting that I could start Inktober early and get ‘ahead’.

I mean, that’s not necessarily a terrible idea, but when you let yourself run too far with that, the drawing challenge is no longer enjoyable and starts becoming work or even a chore. It feels like you’re trying to blast through your homework so you can hand it in 2 weeks early instead of taking your time to do your best.

Remember, Inktober is supposed to be fun. You’re making drawings, not performing heart surgery, so just go with the flow. Start when you can and make as many drawings as you want or feel able to.

2. Making more than 1 drawing a day

This is a bit like pacing your energy when you have a chronic illness. You might have days when you feel like you could do more than you’d planned. You could knock out 5 drawings today and again get ‘ahead’ so you can put your feet up for a few days before starting again.

There are 2 things I’d say about this

Making 5 drawings every few days is more likely to leave you feeling like Inktober’s a chore, something to ‘get done’. And after making those 5 drawings, you’re more likely to have dampened your enthusiasm for it.

If you make 5 drawings in 1 day and then no drawings for the next few days, when you next start, you’ll have to try and get back into the swing of the habit. If you do a little every day, something manageable, the momentum will build. This doesn’t mean you’ll work faster or be more prolific, but it will be easier because it’s becoming part of your daily rhythm.

3. Using art materials you’re less comfortable with

This might feel like a great time to experiment with those bottles of acrylic ink that have been sitting on your shelves for the past few months. And maybe it is, which is great but don’t use these new materials as a way to make Inktober harder for yourself.

If you’re trying to make this a habit that creates as little friction as possible in your day, make getting started as easy as possible.

Create a space where you can leave your inks and brushes out without having to do too much cleaning up each day. Or better yet, choose your favourite pen and use that. You know you like it. It’s comfortable to use, and you already have some confidence drawing with it.

Keep in mind this quote I once heard, which I believe is from Tim Ferriss: ‘What would this look like if it were easy?’

4. Expecting a perfect drawing every day

I can relate to the fantasy of imagining a perfect set of inked drawings at the end of October. Every single one a piece of art that you’re proud to share and that everyone will be impressed by.

But you know what? Trying to achieve that is just being hard on yourself. Kind of mean, actually. Like you’re telling yourself that unless every single drawing is something you’d want to frame and hang on your wall, then you’ve failed.

Let’s face it, living with a chronic illness is hard enough. Life’s hard enough full stop, whether you have a chronic illness or not. None of us need this unnecessary extra layer of self-imposed pressure.

Go easy on yourself. Again, this is supposed to be fun. Be curious, play and allow yourself to make 31 rubbish drawings. Maybe you’ll surprise yourself and like a couple of them.

5. Forcing yourself to make 31 drawings

If you can build some gentle momentum in Inktober, maybe you’ll make a drawing every day, which would be nice. But if there are some days you just don’t have the energy or brain power for it, then that’s OK.

Join in if you want, when you want, and when you can, but don’t use Inktober as a stick to beat yourself with. Fun - remember?

No one gets it right all the time

So, like I said earlier, if you can master creating balance between ‘doing’ and resting, between drawing for Inktober and doing other stuff, then maybe you can create some gentle momentum that will see you through 31 days of drawing.

But, and it’s a big ‘but’, I have yet to meet anyone with ME/CFS who’s got pacing down to a fine art. Everyone I know overdoes things sometimes for all kinds of reasons. And sometimes, even without pushing ourselves, we can end up inexplicably drained some days and just need to stop.

As a self-taught artist, I’ve picked up most the skills I need for things like Photoshop as I’ve gone along. A Google here, a few Youtube videos there. Some notes scrawled on a scrap of paper or tucked away in a file on my computer (where I forget that I’ve put them), but I can usually figure out how to do what I need to do.

And one thing I’ve learned is that for anything you need to do with your artwork in Photoshop, you’ll probably discover there are at least twelve different ways to do the same thing. Eventually, you stumble upon the ways to use Photoshop that work best for you and stick with them. At some point, most of the things you do regularly become second nature, and you forget how you learned them.

It’s easy to assume that everyone else knows what they’re doing when they’re editing their work digitally. But I was talking to a friend and fellow artist recently who wanted to know how I made my greeting cards, and I was reminded that isn’t necessarily the case.

So today I’m sharing the essential tools I use in Photoshop to turn a sketchbook drawing into an art print, or at least a file ready for a printing company to do that for you.

I use 5 main Photoshop tools for this (plus a few others but we’ll stick to the basics here). Before we get to them, though, you’ll need to scan your sketchbook page/drawing so that it’s on your computer, and make sure it’s in the right ‘mode’.

What on earth is a DPI?

DPI stands for 'dots per inch', and the more dots (tiny bits of the image) there are per square inch of the screen, the higher the resolution, which basically means you can increase the size without it getting all fuzzy, and you'll get a higher quality print in the end. Most printing companies will tell you their minimum dpi requirements, so check that before you start scanning.

So the rule is: higher DPI = better quality print. You need to scan at a minimum of 300 dpi - never go below this for printing. I usually scan at 600 dpi.

Make sure the image mode is correct

Once you've got your scan, it's time to open it up in Photoshop and make sure you're using the correct image mode. There are two modes to choose from: RGB is for images that will be displayed on screen (like on your website or social media) and stands for Red, Green and Blue. CMYK is the format most printing companies require and stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Key (which is black).

We don’t need to worry too much about what all of this means but basically, it’s to do with the colours used to create an image either on a screen or in print and they’re different in each case. If you print an RGB image the colours won’t look right. Just make sure for print to use CMYK, unless your printing company specifically tells you not to (sometimes they’ll change that setting for you). To check/change this, go to Image > Mode > CMYK

Now we get to the tools you need to get your scanned image looking just right and ready to print.

1. Rotate your image

If your scan is sideways or upside down, go to Image > Image rotation and select which way and how much you want to rotate the scanned image.

2. Crop

Hit 'C' to bring up the crop tool, or go to the toolbar on the left of your screen, and you'll find it there - it's the one that looks like two right angles intersecting.

If your scanned image is on a white background, try to crop it as closely as possible to remove as much of the background as you can without cutting off any of your drawing.

If the artwork covers the whole page just crop it to remove any bits that the scanner picked up around your sketchbook/paper and a little extra to remove the curved corners of the pages if necessary.

While you're using the crop tool you can also rotate the image from just outside the corners if it's not quite straight.

3. Levels

The Levels tool in Photoshop balances the tones in an image out by making sure the black, white and grey tones are correct. his affects how all your other colours will appear too so it’s important.

Hit Ctrl + L or Cmd + L on a Mac, or go to Image > adjustments > levels

This opens the Levels panel where you'll see some slider controls and eye droppers.

You can just hit 'auto' and see what the result looks like but if it's not good (and usually I find it's not good), hit Ctrl/Cmd + Z to undo and use the sliders.

Drag the right-hand slider towards the centre to lighten the image, the left hand slider will make any dark areas darker and the middle slider will help you adjust the greys and mid tones. If you've got a nice scan you probably won't need to make any huge adjustments here. So when the colours look good, click OK.

4. Remove the white background

Unless your image takes up the entire page with no white paper showing, you will need to remove the white background. This is true even if you plan to have a white background on your finished print to make sure it's nice and clean.

There are lots of different ways of removing the white background and removing the background on a black line drawing is a bit more complex so maybe I'll go through that in a separate post sometime. But for a full colour image with the white page surrounding it, the easiest tool to use is the magic wand.

Just select the magic wand tool by hitting ‘W’ on your keyboard or selecting the tool that looks like a magician’s wand in the toolbar. Then click on the white background. This should select all the background and what you’ve selected will be surrounded by a moving dotted line (or ‘marching ants’). You can add to that selection or repeat the process later if some of the background gets left behind.

Then in the layers panel, double-click the background layer. This will turn it into a 'normal' layer. Hit the delete key and the white background will be gone. You might need to tidy up the edges of your drawing at this point and you can use the eraser tool for this (hit 'E' on your keyboard or in the lefthand toolbar look for the rectangle that's half black, half grey).

Then, if your background layer isn’t the colour you want in your final print, you can change that now.

5. Clone stamp tool

If you're working with a drawing or illustration that you created across a double page in your sketchbook you are going to have to deal with the 'gutter' where the 2 pages meet. You don't want that on your final print so in my opinion the best tool for this is the clone stamp tool. Inthe toolbar, the clone stamp looks like a rubber stamp.

With the clone stamp, you're essentially copying (or ‘cloning’) a small section from one part of your image and pasting it somewhere else in the same image to cover something up. So for this painting, I used the clone stamp to copy other areas of the sky and grass and stamp/paste them over that annoying seam down the middle of the screen.

Hold down the ‘alt’ key as you click to select the area you want to clone and then click without holding down the ‘alt’ key to paste that clone section over the middle of the image.

I'd recommend making the edges of the brush/stamp soft and varying where you copy from as much as possible, otherwise you risk the middle part of your image looking obviously patched together.

So they are the 5 main tools I use to transform a sketchbook drawing/painting into a file ready to print and frame. There’s a lot more detail I could go into about removing the white background, cleaning up your image and a few other bits and bobs but I’ll save that for another day.

Before I leave you. I’ll share one bonus tool with you.

6. Hue/Saturation

If the levels tool didn’t get your colours looking quite right, you may also want to try the Hue/Saturation tool.

You can find this in Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation or by hitting Ctrl/Cmd + U on your keyboard. Now you can play around with the 3 sliders for hue, saturation and lightness to tweak your image a little bit more.