For the next five weeks I’m taking leave from my full-time day job to focus on art - both illustration and writing. I’m thinking of these five weeks as a type of ‘artist retreat’. Even though I’ll mostly be staying in my home city (thanks COVID), I’m going to try different places to write and draw and make the most of being able to go for a walk in the middle of a weekday and explore places I’ve never been.
During this five weeks, I am really excited to work on some art goals that I’ve not had much of a chance to focus on this year.
First, and most excitingly to me, I am working on another book of fairy tales. I have so many ideas, but not much ink on the page, as it were.
Second, I want to improve my digital art - I haven’t yet managed to get a clear idea of even what style of art I’d like to do digitally, so I am looking forward to experimenting with this.
Finally, I want to do some more ink illustrations, practicing with composition and adding more detail.
This blog (which I’ll try to update frequently) will be a way to keep me accountable to myself for getting some work done - I’d be devastated if I took all this leave and didn’t achieve these goals - as well as a way to keep in touch with anyone who might be interested to follow my progress or stay up to date with my work. Goodness knows I am terrible at sending a regular newsletter!
Good sisters and bad sisters
“Elena was as unlike Greta as she could be. Where Greta was neat and tidy, Elena was disorganised and messy. Where Greta was mild and well-behaved, Elena was quarrelsome and outspoken. Where Greta was industrious, Elena was lazy. Or perhaps we should say she had no interest in tedious tasks that were always undone by the next day.”
Today I’m working on a fairy tale that plays with ideas about good sisters and bad sisters. You know the type - good sisters end up covered in gold, or with jewels falling from their mouths when they speak, or married to handsome princes. Bad sisters end up covered in pitch, retching toads or dying miserable and alone in the woods.
I want to rework the idea of the jealous stepmother as the ultimate villain, look at why we value the hardworking, obedient and kind ‘good’ sisters (who really benefits from their hard work and happy nature?), and explore the kind of rewards that can await people who are too accomodating of others’ need and expectations at the expense of their own.
(p.s. I am not convinced by the names ‘Greta’ and ‘Elena’ - do you want to name a fairy tale character? Send me suggestions!)
Cafe reviews!
I’ve discovered that I really like writing away from home (possibly because, due to COVID, home is now also the office for my day job). So I’m going to see if I can find a favourite place to work by trying as many coffee shops and restaurants as I can over the next five weeks.
Today I’m at Assembly in Braddon, with a view out the window onto Lonsdale St.
atmosphere: lovely - easy to find a spot to sit spaced away from others, music is not too loud (this may be helped by the fact that I’m here on a Monday mid-afternoon!) and it feels light and airy. Assembly also has a lovely back courtyard with big comfortable wooden tables and benches. Today there’s an artist out there painting a mural across one of the walls. There is a big TV showing sport in the middle of the main room, however, it’s fairly easy to find a spot without a clear view of the TV and it doesn’t dominate the space.
food: delicious. I’m eating spiced chicken skewers and they’re very more-ish.
Would I come back here to write? Absolutely. 4/5