The Wobbly Line ~ 13

Green woodpeckers, sketchbooks, and special bluebells.

Hello!

Welcome to The Wobbly Line ~ 13. April has been another whirlwind, but one in which I’ve appreciated the small things so much. The birdsong, the spring flowers and the fresh air - as well as a nice rainy day mixed in. Here’s a round-up!

April ~ agenda.

1. I finished my sketchbook.

2. Video; timelapse of me drawing some birds & hands (Emma Carlisle Patreon).

3. Bluebells for a special person.

4. What I’ve been doing this month.

1. Sketchbook completion.

I did it, I finally completed a sketchbook. Ultimately, I needed to do these three things to move forward and not get stuck down the highway to the overthink.

1. Stop the comparisonitis. Be grateful that other creatives share their beautiful sketchbooks, and know yours doesn’t have to be the same.

2. Let go of your expectations for your sketchbook. The minute I let go of creating ‘accomplished’ artwork and just letting myself have fun, I created lots of mistakes but mistakes that felt like me. My expectations = finished full pages, the reality = mistakes and wobbly lines.

3. Pressure to complete something doesn’t equate to discipline. I have a really hard time motivating myself to finish things because it feels too much like discipline/like I’m forcing myself to do something. Reframing this to watering the seeds of my learning, having fun and expressing myself regularly feels much nicer. I finished something and I’m proud of myself.

If you want to see the full sketchbook tour, then I’d really appreciate your support in subscribing to my paid newsletter - it’s under £5 a month and I share my process, timelapse videos, ideas and other updates about my life.

2. Timelapse birds & hands.

Here’s a short video of me illustrating some birds and hands! I love birds and I really like hands too, so when I saw Emma Carlisle had organised a drawing zoom on both of them, I was very happy indeed. This zoom session was available through her patreon, which is amazing and absolutely FULL of gems, I’d highly recommend!

Though hands are tricky to draw, I so enjoy drawing them and often use them as a warm-up subject. Obviously my hands are not anatomically correct, usually are pretty squidgy looking and largely made up of Wobbly Lines (but hopefully that’s why you’re here!).

Full timelapse process video on my paid sub!

3. Bluebells & swallows arriving precisely on time.

April marked a year since the passing of Ed’s dad, an incredibly special person. To mark the anniversary, Ed’s mum had a beautiful idea to create commemorative folders of memories, readings, and poems (some written by and others read by loved ones). I was absolutely privileged to be commissioned by her to create an original watercolour painting to go in the front of each folder, inspired by Ed’s design and illustration. After toying with the idea of daffodils and bluebells, we opted for a single bluebell as the month of April is when they bloom. The weekend of the anniversary was truly the start of spring at home, the sun was shining, the swallows returned to the garage and Ed spotted the arrival of the first bluebell. Just like his dad used to, they arrived precisely on time.

4. What’s been Apriling?

4a. Green woodpeckers.

I’ll be honest with you, a large part of my April has been spent chasing a green woodpecker around the garden (as well as generally just bird watching every single bird I can spot!). Greater spotted woodpeckers are frequent visitors here at Ed’s house (not that that makes them any less special), but green ones are more elusive. Sometimes known as yaffle birds, a green woodpeckers call sounds like a loud laugh (hah hah hah), which gets annoying when it feels like it’s laughing AT you. Alas, I did spot the green woodpecker up in the tree but I didn’t have my binocs so… I feel like I didn’t get the full joy. The battle between me and Greeny continues…

4b. How’s your crochet going?

Not too bad if I say so myself! I feel somewhat like I’m butchering Emilie’s Fiskin Coat pattern, but I chose a black wool so you’ll never know! I’ve completed the main body, the collar and now I’m onto the sleeves (which take a deceptively long time!) Enjoy these silly photos of me (thanks Ed for the photog).

4c. Sarah Dyer’s London meetup!

The lovely Sarah Dyer planned a meetup in London this month with her patreons! We met at the British museum and did some drawing, and then headed for luncheon and sat in a square and did some more drawing! So so lovely to meet Sarah and everyone who came! I had particular fun times with Lizzie and Alex who are both hilarious, talented, lovely people who you should follow and admire.

The end of The Wobbly Line ~ 13

I hope you enjoyed The Wobbly Line ~ 13. I hope you’re enjoying the fresh spring are and have time to breathe it all in. Big love, JB x