A tiny analogue rebellion

Every summer, I naturally want to slow down a little, to retreat, and to be more reflective. The heat makes me wilt and I find myself less able to work at pace. My studio is too hot to even sit in at the moment.

After thirteen years of sharing my creative life online and running an online business, I know there are seasons when I love making videos, writing posts, filming tutorials, making reels and sharing what I'm working on.

And there are seasons when I feel the pull to spend a little less time using tech and more time in my sketchbook.

A little more time outside. A little more space to wander around with no need for constant productivity.

Time spent noticing and gathering with no idea what it might all become.

More ink on my fingers

I have always been clear that not all my creative moments need to become content. I absolutely love sharing my creative life, I value the community, the kindness, the connection, but when Summer rolls around, I usually try and carve out more spaciousness in my life. I recognise the change in my artistic energy and try and respect it and honour it, rather than ignore it. Every Summer I slow down a little.

I really love making my youtube videos, but they don't magically appear. A small cosy sketchbook video can still mean many hours or even days filming, editing, and computer time, and in the summer months, I crave a little less video editing time and a little more ink-on-my-fingers time.

A sketchbook is an analogue rebellion

Maybe that's why I reach for my sketchbook even more at this time of year.

A sketchbook is a tiny analogue rebellion.

I’m not anti technology. Technology is brilliant in that it allows me to teach, share and connect with creative people all over the world, and that's extraordinary, magical even.

Hands, head and heart

But there is something very special about making something with your hands in a sketchbook.

There is something about the physicality of creating art which I love; the connection to the materials is part of the joy. Mixing paint, touching paper, tearing things, cutting things, and moving things around. Responding to what's happening in front of you.

Leaving our mark on the page. The evidence of the physical act of making becomes part of the page itself.

A sketchbook is a place where an idea and an experience can become something you can see and hold.

Your head, hands and heart all meeting on the page.

So if videos from me appear a little more sporadically over the summer, that's why, I’m too hot and I am diverting a little of the time I spend editing Youtube videos into my sketchbook practice.

I'm still here. I'm still working away. I'm just doing it more slowly and spending a little more time with my sketchbook open, and my camera switched off. A tiny analogue rebellion.

My motto this Summer is get off your phone and into your sketchbook…