100 Sketchbook Pages

What I've learnt from on completing this challenge, as well as news from my shop and what I'm currently working on.

Hiya all! Thanks so much for joining me on my new Substack and reading this first post. I’ve been sending newsletters out in a fairly erratic fashion from Mailchimp for a while (and by erratic I mean sometimes posting every month on the dot and then giving stony silence for the next 9 months..)

The idea of moving to Substack was appealing to me because I wanted to get my thoughts out in more of a casual discussion blog format, so expect more of that kind of thing as well as the usual news and shop updates. And I am pledging now to be much more consistent in my posting - please hold me to this!

I’ve imported over all my old contacts from Mailchimp so hello if you are a long time follower! Obviously if you don’t want to continue receiving this new format of newsletter you are free to unsubscribe any time.

100 days of sketchbook pages

Day 74 - the view from the top of Shotover Park in Oxford, drawn from a photo I took in 2021

If you are joining me from Instagram you will know that I recently completed a challenge to complete 100 sketchbook pages, an attempt to allow me to develop my voice and experiment to find exactly what I like doing and what works for me best.

A lot of people have messaged to say they are thinking of doing a similar project and to this I would definitely say - yes! Do it! I learnt so so much from it, which I will explore in a minute. Mostly it just gets you into the habit of drawing and although we all know this is the best (well, only) way to get better, it’s so easy to downplay this idea when you have a busy life and a million other things to be getting on with.

I found it useful to have a few rules, I developed these as I went along and it’s important to have your own rules that benefit you, but here are mine:

• I posted when I could but didn’t push myself to do so every single day if I wasn’t easily able to. Otherwise it would have been too much pressure and I never would have completed the challenge. This did get me drawing almost every day though which brings me to the next point…

• …shhh little secret… I didn’t post the unfinished or most crappy drawings to Instagram - please don’t tell on me to the challenge police! I didn’t see the point in forcing myself to publish every single thing I drew if I was really unhappy with it. If you count up every day I drew in my sketchbook and didn’t post I think it would be more like 150-200 days of drawing.

• I aimed to mostly work across a whole double page spread and I usually worked in an A5 sketchbook. This was just a personal thing because I draw a lot of landscapes and this format is really nice for this and lots of other subjects. (Before you ask which sketchbook is my favourite, this is a discussion for another day!)

• If I was spending too much time on something and it wasn’t going right, I could move on and try it or something else again without guilt. Remember - it is not possible to waste a sketchbook page!

• I mostly drew from photos. You do have to do this in a conscious way but it is fine. Drawing from life is amazing practice, and sometimes necessary, but it just isn’t always possible and this isn’t where I, personally, usually do my best work.

Day 45 - sketchbook page drawn on my honeymoon in Bali. One of the few pieces I did on location

There were so many things I learnt from doing this challenge. These are mostly things about my own personal practice but maybe they will help you too:

1. Mixing materials is a joy - Before starting this project I considered myself almost exclusively a painter but I was getting unhappy with my work and felt trapped using the same method again and again. Experimenting with mixing materials got me excited about making work again and I feel far more versatile. Although I try not to be too rigid in using one method every time, my go-to combo at the moment is:
   
   Tombow brush pens + Caran d’Ache Luminance pencils + Derwent Drawing pencils + Daler Rowney System 3 acyrlic + Caran d’Ache Neocolour II pastels
   

   Materials of dreams! I know everyone loves to hear about materials and brands so I will definitely be revisiting this subject in a future post.

Day 98 - materials and mark making

2. Trusting the process - Having just said I try not to be too rigid in having one method, I do think it can be too overwhelming to feel the need to be experimental every single time and this is also not always helpful for you to find your creative voice.
   
   ‘Yesterday I was washy ink lady, today I’m going to be coloured pencil girl!’
   
   There’s definitely a time and a place for experimenting but I think it’s good to put in some boundaries there. It’s all about finding a balance between work looking consistent and like ‘you’ and also staying fresh and keeping the energy. I have found that I am most comfortable with first putting rough shapes down with the brush pens, then blocking in some colour with paint. After that I can go wild with layering pencils, pastels and whatever else on top for detail and texture. I can use other methods too but it’s so reassuring to know I can go back to this if all else fails!

   

   Day 80 - putting a process into practice

3. Embracing line - As previously I was almost exclusively using gouache, line did not really feature much in my work at all. When I did try and use it, it would be an awkward dark pencil line which I always regretted and erased straight away. But now my eyes are open to all the lovely materials on offer, I have rediscovered the joy of line in all it’s forms! Confident bold going to light and delicate, it’s all about the variation. And, top tip for Sarah in the past, it can be much easier to add little line details in pencil or pastel than always going in with the paint brush.

   

   Day 73 - drawing pigs and the use of line

4. Quantity over quality - Again, an obvious point but one which we all forget, please repeat after me: You. Will. Make. Bad. Work. How many of us spend ages fussing over one thing and then come out of a little creative mist to realise your morning has gone and all you have to show for it is one crappy piece of work that makes you feel sad. The quicker we all embrace this stage as just part of the process the better, then we just have to work on getting it out of the way as quickly as possible. I try and remind myself to start with some quick 1-5 minute drawings initially, great for warming up and also speeding up so you have more time to make more work which will no doubt have much more energy than something you have spent hours tweaking and agonising over.

   

   Day 76 - 3 minute warm up life drawings. I discovered online life drawing classes last year and they have made such a big difference to my practice.

5. Confidence - the biggest thing I have got from making so much work is trusting my own abilities. I’m not sure my stuff looks like anyone else’s and that’s ok, in fact it’s great! It’s so important to go down your own path and embrace the unique little things that no one else does. I’ve also grown in confidence to see the things that aren’t working as well as the things that are. It’s good to review your work as much as possible and if there are sections you don’t like, have the confidence to scrub them out and work over. Shmushing on a big blob of white acrylic or Prit-sticking a bit of paper over the top usually does the trick

Day 22 - section of a sketchbook page completely worked over with acrylic then other materials

So there you have it! Good luck if you are going to challenge yourself to a similar 100 day project - please do let me know in the comments, I love following other people’s progress <3

What’s in my sketchbook

I am actually having a little break from the sketchbook itself at the moment as I’m looking at updating my website (not sharing the link as you don’t need to look at it right now, it has been very neglected!) and adding some self directed projects more geared towards commissions and editorial work. So I’ve been adapting back to working on flat white paper so I can easily scan and edit digitally.

Here are a few quick pieces I’ve done so far on the theme of ‘growth’ in mental health (still at quite a rough unpolished stage). Doing more work on theoretical ideas rather than something physical you can see in life really interests me. Let me know what you think!

Shop talk

If you are an old time follower of mine you will know the work which has been in my shop for some time. I was initially planning on running a sale just in the first part of the year but I’ve decided to keep it going for the foreseeable future. So have a look and see if you can grab a little bargain!

I’m not planning on replenishing most of this stock after it’s gone as I’m hoping to have some brand new fresh prints to add in later this year. Cards and bookmarks in particular will be going for good so I can just focus on selling prints and maybe even some originals, so if there is anything you have had your eye on up to now, get in there quick before it’s gone!

Thanks for reading this far folks! Remember to subscribe if you haven’t already so you don’t miss any future updates.

And also give us a follow on Instagram if you don’t already @sarahkirkillustration Next up I think I am going to be doing March Meet the Maker (I’m such a sucker for these challenges..)

Take care x