Whispers of Spring

Goodbye March, Hello April!

I hope you had a wonderful month, as we said hello to the first day of spring and saw the first signs of the warmer season. My bird feeder has been very busy with all the new visitors. This month, we welcomed the first Robin of the season, and we also said hello top a Pheasant who has become a daily visitor. I have named this frequent guest Henry and I look forward to seeing his bright shiny feathers everyday as he collects seeds on the ground.

The longer days have been doing wonders for my creativity. I have a day job, so I have to limit my illustration work to the evenings. That said, once the sun sets, staying motivated is very difficult for me. Now that the evenings are longer, I am getting so much more accomplished, which has felt very fulfilling.

Despite all the work I have been creating this month, I unfortunately don’t have much I can share at this time because I’ve started a new book project. I’m just at the beginning stages, but I’ll be sure to share as much as I can whenever possible.

One thing I have been doing that I can share with you is the work I’ve been doing in my sketchbook. I’m unfortunately a sketchbook hoarder and rarely complete them. This is because I invest in fancy sketchbooks I see other people using, and then I’m too scared to use them. I find there is a lot of pressure on artists to have beautiful work in our sketchbooks, which is crazy because it’s called a ‘sketchbook,' not a finished-work-book.

At the beginning of the month, it really dawned on me how awful my relationship is with sketchbooks, so I decided to tackle this insecurity by spending more time filling pages, trying different styles, limiting my colour palettes, and not getting hung up on perfection. I also did a lot more pencil drawing, which is something I haven’t done for a long time, so it felt nice to go back to the basics.

This is definitely going to be an ongoing journey, and I hope to share spreads and snippets with you over the next few months. I’m excited to see how this will affect my illustration practice — hopefully for the better.

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Bits and Bobs

Recipe

I have recently been obsessed with this Banana bread recipe. I made it twice this month: the first time I added raspberries and the second time I added pecans and cinnamon. Both times it turned out wonderfully — super bouncy and moist. 10/10 would recommend.

Music

My love for Fleet Foxes has been revived this spring. Their music has been dominating my playlists, which I feels is appropriate because their music feels like a warm morning breeze on a spring day. I have particularly fallen in love with their song “A Sky Like I’ve Never Seen.”

Art obsession

I got myself a little treat this month: I added a long coveted children's book to my collection: Brambly Hedge. When I tell you I am in awe of this book, it is because I cannot begin to explain how beautiful it is. The stories are slow and simple, but in the most comforting way, like remembering a peaceful childhood memory. The illustrations that are scattered throughout are breathtaking, I could stare at one illustration for hours and still find new details to take in and admire.

Now that we’ve wrapped up the month of March, I have been searching for signs of spring and I feel a new wave of creativity awakening in me. I am looking forward to see what treasures and inspiration April brings.

Cheers my Lovelies,

Leah Bee xx