𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗟𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 ✨ 𝗧𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆'𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗽𝘁: 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸, 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗼 𝗮𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗶𝘁. Three weeks of pages now. Flick back through them and notice which one you keep stopping at. Not the best one, the one you like. Then do another in the same spirit. Same subject, same pen, same scruffiness, whatever it was that made you like it. ✨ 𝗙𝗲𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗯𝗶𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁? Tell us in the thread what it was about that page. That's you working out what you actually like, which is worth more than any technique. 👉 Also in the classroom here: ❤️ 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 👇 The whole page, a tiny piece of it, or just type "done" if you're not ready to show it ❤️ ❤️ All count. Whenever you get to it, morning, teatime or midnight.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗛𝗮𝗻𝗱 ✨ 𝗧𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆'𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗽𝘁: 𝗱𝗿𝗮𝘄 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱. Whichever hand you never use. Anything will do, the teapot, the cat, your own foot. It will come out wobbly and a bit mad, and that is entirely the point. Nobody is good with their wrong hand, so there's nothing to be bad at today 💛 ✨ 𝗙𝗲𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗯𝗶𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁? Do it again with your eyes closed as well, then compare the two. 👉 Also in the classroom here: ❤️ 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 👇 The whole page, a tiny piece of it, or just type "done" if you're not ready to show it ❤️ ❤️ All count. Whenever you get to it, morning, teatime or midnight.

𝗜𝘁'𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗺 𝗮𝘁 𝗥𝗼𝗰𝗵𝗱𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝗿𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝟴𝟬'𝘀. I'm on my Art Foundation course [see my photo below - check the 80s hair. 😆 ], and every one of us has just been handed a brand new sketchbook. Clean. White. Every page empty. 😱 It was the first time anyone had ever asked me to work in a sketchbook. I had no idea that little book was about to give me one of the biggest mental blocks of my life. Because every week, the tutors looked through them. 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗽𝗮𝗴𝗲. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗱 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗲. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝗱𝗻'𝘁. 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀. Within a few weeks, it had turned into a competition. There were the cool kids, of course. Long trench coats. Hair down over one eye. Super goth. You could smell the patchouli before they walked into the room. And their sketchbooks were already full. Page after page of amazing, intimidating drawings. The rest of us would ask, "Can I have a look through yours?" and then quietly go home feeling worse. People flicked through your book too. Sometimes you could tell they weren't impressed with what you'd drawn. And you were not allowed to tear a page out. Complete no-no. You'd be in big trouble. So every wobbly line, every drawing that didn't work, stayed there for everyone to see. 𝗦𝗼 𝗜'𝗱 𝘀𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘇𝗲. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗺 𝗜 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗮𝗴𝗲? That real white page fear. Where you're almost frightened to make a single mark, because whatever you put down might not be good enough. 𝗜 𝗴𝗼𝘁 𝗺𝘆𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲. Here's what I didn't understand back then. Some of those cool kids really could draw better than the rest of us at the start. That's true. But over the years I've watched what happens next. The people who start out a little bit better are often overtaken by the people who just keep turning up and putting in the hours. It's not about raw talent. It's about practise. 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻'𝘁 𝗽𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗼 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸. The thing that got me unstuck wasn't drawing at all. 𝗜𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗶𝗻.

𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗮𝗴𝗲 ✨ 𝗧𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆'𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗽𝘁: 𝗽𝘂𝘁 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗶𝘁. Your shopping list, somebody's name, a line off the radio, what the weather's doing. Your own handwriting is exactly right, no fancy lettering needed. Then go over a few letters twice, or box one in, so it looks like it's meant to be there. ✨ 𝗙𝗲𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗯𝗶𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁? Draw something small around the words. A border, a leaf coming off the L, whatever you fancy. 👉 Also in the classroom here: ❤️ 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 👇 The whole page, a tiny piece of it, or just type "done" if you're not ready to show it ❤️ ❤️ All count. Whenever you get to it, morning, teatime or midnight.

𝗕𝗶𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗕𝗼𝗹𝗱 ✨ 𝗧𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆'𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗽𝘁: 𝗱𝗿𝗮𝘄 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘀 𝗯𝗶𝗴 𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗹𝗲𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂. One mug, one leaf, one shoe, filling the whole page. Use the fattest pen you own, a marker, a soft pencil, anything that makes a wide mark. Most of us draw tiny and apologetic in the corner. Today we take up the whole page on purpose. ✨ 𝗙𝗲𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗯𝗶𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁? Let it run off the edges, so bits of it are missing. 👉 Also in the classroom here: ❤️ 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 👇 ❤️ The whole page, a tiny piece of it, or just type "done" if you're not ready to show it ❤️ All count. Whenever you get to it, morning, teatime or midnight.