Illustrating in the New Year
Things were quiet in the studio at the end of 2024 as I juggled co-running a cooperative preschool, tending to an ailing cat, dealing with the holidays…
Studio Refresh
My workspace is usually pretty tidy, but rarely this tidy. I’ve been paring down my traditional media to just the things I know I’ll use. It’s nice having a blank slate to work at!
Things were quiet in the studio at the end of 2024 as I juggled co-running a cooperative preschool, tending to an ailing cat, dealing with the holidays, and managing everything else that’s on my plate. However, I’ve still been sketching plenty and cooking up ideas in the background.
Here’s a tiny peek into my current sketchbook. I follow the Julia Rothman technique of making a “more of/less of” list for the year instead of a setting concrete resolutions. This approach is forgiving and—I find—more achievable than traditional resolutions: you make a list of what you want more of in the next year, and a list of things you want less of. On my “more of” list was definitely “bird drawings.”
Drawing Local Birds
Colored pencil explorations of birds that visit my backyard. The first book I read in 2025 was Amy Tan’s “The Backyard Bird Chronicles” and it's been a wonderful reminder to draw more from observation. These guys are from reference, though!
Ballpoint Pen Geese
Does my portfolio need a goose-based pattern collection? Maybe. Maybe.