The Wobbly Line ~ 14
Edinburgh, blue ink lines, and Welsh folklore.
Hello!
Welcome to The Wobbly Line ~ 14 - how are you all? May is my birthday month (any other May babies?) and it’s been really lovely - so lucky to have had so much good weather! There is a mass of oak saplings dotted about (after last years insane acorn fall), the ferns have unfurled and the butterflies are fluttering by. It’s been making sitting inside more difficult, but I’ve still done some creatives and I have some happy news too!
May ~ agenda.
Where am I going?
Video; Blue ink line work.
New Welsh folklore piece.
What happened in my birthday month?
1. Edinburgh baby!
Yup!!!! She’s on the move (again!) and she’s going back to uni! I’m so pleased to say I got accepted onto a Master’s course in Art Psychotherapy at QMU, Edinburgh. As a lot of you may know, I used to be a paediatric nurse, and working with and for other people is so close to my heart (I left due to stress). I moved into illustration and have so enjoyed the freedom, not just in terms of time but also in my own creativity. For some time I’ve thought about art therapy, not really knowing if it was right for me. Is it going to be too intense? Am I going to get burnt out? Am I running away from things? All the self-doubt! Until I had a few personal realisations, did a lot of reading on the subject and then allowed myself time to just carry on and try not to dwell on it - but the thought persisted! I truly believe now that this is such a great combination of all of my experience up to now and I can’t wait to delve into it. I will still very much be doing illustration in my spare time, and will be keeping you updated on all the things I learn along the way. Anyway - if you have any Edinburgh recs please do comment below!!
Gelli plate print & oil on paper - inspired by this lovely guardian article on some vintage photos of Edinburgh being discovered.
2. Wobbly blue ink lines.
Here’s a short video of me creating some small drawings of a lovely mix of treasures that Ed’s family have collected over the years. They are all nature lovers and have amazing eyes for things! There was also a nest in there too but I was too scared to move it incase I damaged it (it’s an old one from years ago don’t worry!). Sorry the editing is jumpy in parts, I had to edit out various ramblings and also me greeting Monty the dog in the most babyish way.
3. Welsh Folklore piece.
It’s been a while since I created a small illustration from sketch to final piece in one go. This used to be a fairly common practice for me, especially during the pandemic. Nowadays however, I can’t seem to sit still for more than an hour or two without needing to either go outside, find Ed and distract him and/or hear a bird call I don’t recognise that needs immediate investigation.
But, folklore is in my head a lot at the moment. I had to do some reading prior to my MSc interview, and I went down the rabbit hole of fairy tales and how they can be interpreted psychologically. So, for my subscription substack I created a timelapse process video of the above piece, based on Fairy Knockers (lol) or Coblynau. It was so nice to just sit and get absorbed by the process and I’m really pleased with how it turned out.
‘The Coblynau or Knockers were supposed to be a species of Fairies who had their abode in the rocks, and whose province it was to indicate by knocks, and other sounds, the presence of ore in mines…’ Elias Owen, Welsh Folklore.
4. Whatcha done in May?
4a. My birthday!
It was my birthday this month and dear Ed got me this kakimori nib holder (as seen in my video) to hold my kakimori nib! I was so pleased as working with ink and line is really making me happy at the mo! The above sketchbook pages are from a recent Sarah Dyer patreon draw session! Ink tool review including this nib is in my paid substack.
4b. Watercolour testing.
I filmed a nice little video for my paid subs explaining how I use watercolours. Even though I do like a good watercolour wash as a base for my work, I predominately like using watercolours in a chunky way, adding lots of pigment to make opaque shapes and lines. These are what I tested; Wet on wet (wet paper plus wet brush/pigment), wet on dry (wet brush/pigment on dry paper), watercolour pencil dipped straight into water, linework ,background blocking (making watercolours look like textured paint work).
I think the best way to use any material is the way that feels most instinctive to you, and what gives you the results that make you happy. I know whenever I post my more expressive wet on wet illustration, it doesn’t get as much traction but I love it so much!
Wet on wet granulation and texture.
4c. Book illustration play.
I’ve been playing around with my book idea again, something that I really want to get a good grip on before my course starts! It will be so nice to keep this project up throughout my training. My next plan; create ‘proper’ (and by proper I mean, drawings I can actually use as reference and not just little scribbly thumbnails) line drawings to work from. If I can do that by September, I will be so pleased!!! I’ve filmed the image below to share with my subs next month :)
The end of The Wobbly Line ~ 14
I hope you enjoyed The Wobbly Line ~ 14. It’s an exciting time for me and I’m so pleased to be able to share my news with you - more to come!!! Big love, JB x
EDINBURGHHHHHHHH BABY
CONGRATULATIONS JB! Edinburgh is the *best* and I have a list of recs as long as my arm - however, I might selfishly withhold every single one so that I have to show you them in person 😌😈