Begin at the Beginning

And we're off to the races...

Well, hello. Consider this a virtual offer of a coffee (or tea) and me extending an imaginary plate of Jaffa cakes to you. Now that the formalities are out of the way…

I’ve had the idea of a Substack rattling around in my head for a while. But my biggest roadblock was the enduring question: why? Why write a Substack when I already have a blog, assorted social media and a rapidly vanishing amount of free time?

To write.

My blog is mostly just project updates, sketches and slices of life. Instagram and Facebook are where I occasionally share in-process sketches and finished work with minimal narrative. Pinterest exists to fuel my fantasy of living in the middle of nowhere New England. And Flickr was fun while the party lasted, but it’s mostly cobwebs and crickets now.

But I don’t write anything particularly in-depth anywhere. I don’t get under the hood and look at the nuts and bolts of illustrating. I want to go further than a soundbite. And I especially want to make something that’s beneficial to new illustrators. Give a glimpse into what goes into making a book. Talk about portfolios. Provide tips for developing a sketchbook practice. And hopefully encourage others to learn from my mistakes and avoid potential pitfalls.

That all sounds splendid you’re thinking. But, practically, what does that mean?

At least every other week, I’ll be sharing a post covering a range of topics in illustration: resources, inspiration, tips and more. For now, everything’s going to be free (because have you SEEN the price of groceries)? But I’d like to offer free downloads for paid subscribers and possible other perks as things progress. But in the meantime, I’m planning to start slow and simple with all content available for everyone.

So thanks for reading and away we go.