January 2025 | having fun drawing!

Is it too late to say Happy New Year? Well… ✧˖° Happy New Year °˖✧! Like last year, I will be continuing making these blog posts talking about the art I make each month as I really prefer this over posting on social media :)

Starting 2025 off strong with a couple of submission paintings and regular sketchbook work, as I had set out to do! This blog is full to the brim of art!!!

Sketchbook play

By the end of 2024 I was sad about how little sketchbook work I was doing, so set myself the goal to doodle, sketch and/or paint as regularly as possible in the new year. I started a new sketchbook, since the one I was using in 2024 just was not working for me - I did not want to work in it at all. So I used a low-key sketchbook (that really isn’t supposed to be used for drawing in) to take the pressure off, and to let myself have fun drawing again! I had a good streak mid-way through the month where I was drawing something almost everyday.

Still life paintings

With that play has come the discovery of a fun drawing style. I’ve been enjoying using watercolour to sketch - making blobs of colour with it - and then cleaning the drawing up and adding detail with coloured pencils. I first used the method for a @stillherestilllife prompt over on Instagram. I REALLY enjoyed making this piece and love the outcome! And @stillherestilllife were kind enough to repost it!! I’m astounded at the amount of likes it has got - thank you!

I then used the style far more loosely on a @stillustrations.club prompt, which also got a repost <3

That, along with the concept of displaying objects on a page all nicely slotted together, inspired a piece I made by the end of the month...

‘Cosy’ submission

As part of the team for @clementineanthology on Instagram I created another piece for its third theme: ‘Cosy’. I decided to combine this with one of my other goals for the year (to draw more scenes and characters from my high-fantasy stories) and create this cosy scene of two of my characters playing card games under a blanket fort. I created it on Procreate on my iPad.

The piece was tricky! Figuring out the perspective, the colours, the anatomy and the lighting were all very challenging but fun to solve. I’m still not 100% happy with the male character’s face - that was the part I struggled with the most - but it’ll do for now!!

Thank you for all the lovely comments on the post :D

Angel drawings

I have a big project idea in the works, involving drawing angels and other other-worldly scenes inspired by meditation sessions. At the moment I’m just sketching ideas out like the spread below, but I will like to have begun to make a big painting by the end of February. (On a canvas ooo aaa.)

Cabinet o’ Curiosities

My friend Leylah @leylah.m.art began her own zine project and I gladly made a submission for it. The theme for the month was ‘Cabinet o’ Curiosities’. The idea is to showcase you as a person through a collection of objects.

On a high from my ‘Cosy’ submission, I decided to fill my ‘cabinet’ with objects from my story instead. I sketched out the idea on Procreate and slotted all the objects into place, from swords to potion bottles, brooches and sketchbooks, then printed it out to make a traditional piece inspired by the watercolour pieces done in the middle of the month.

I used a lightbox and placed my watercolour paper on top of the sketch so that I could go straight in with watercolour with no need to re-do the lineart.

I had intended my watercolour layer to be as sketchy and blobby as the previous pieces, but with it being a more final piece I found myself being a bit tighter with my linework. I really enjoyed building up the layers, though, and the coloured-pencil layer really cleaned it up nicely. I love how the piece came out!

I filmed the whole process for a YouTube video and will have it up as soon as I catch up with all of last year’s vlogs. (I will add the link here once it’s up.)

Upcoming

Speak Volumes! Festival

I’m very happy to have been given a place at Speak Volumes! Festival again happening at the end of March. My work will be in the ‘Zine Zone’ this time with my mini zines, sketchbook zines, travel zines and green zines (as well as some sneaky sticker sheets and mini prints). I can’t wait to see the 3-day festival in its second year with its exhibitions, workshops and art stalls!

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Thank you for reading my January 2025 blog post! I’m happy with how the year has started with my art, though of course that’s always how it is with new years and resolutions. It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows, though, as other aspects of life got pretty hard at some points this month. I’m simply trying to teach myself to see art as something to have fun with again, not push myself too much into perfectionism, and let myself draw what I truly want to draw. I want 2025 to be the year of big changes :)

If you’ve read this all the way through, consider supporting me and my work by going over to my Etsy shop and having a browse if you like zines, stickers and prints mostly based around nature and travelling. You will also find my pet portrait commissions there! letsgetartyshop.etsy.com <3