A Year in Review

I can’t resist drawing things from the Christmas decoration box! Snipping out shapes from colourful paper stops things getting too ‘twee’.

Anyway, this week I’ve focussed on reviewing my year. Have you ever done this? It’s so helpful for planning and sticking to goals. If you’re anything like me, and you probably are, you’ve got LOADS going on. Kids, probably a job, school stuff, housework, pets, people asking you do do things aallll the time - it’s really easy to forget what you’re doing and where you’re going when navigating a creative career. I started by doing The Good Ship Illustration Planning party The best thing is, it’s not at all scary, it’s just looking at what you’ve already been doing and what you’d like to do in the future. Yay! And, this year, it’s really really helped me stick to my goals and I’ve managed to tick a ton of stuff off my list. Give it a try! It’s brilliant for everyone, not just illustrators.

One of the things that I noticed in my big 2024 Stock Take was that I’m definitely not sharing enough of my work. And as if the universe was telling me, I read this recent Substack post by Katie Chappell, pleading with me to please share your brownies. So that’s what I’m doing now, using this news page to share more of what I’m doing.

I have a monthly newsletter ‘The Monthly Illo’ which I’ve been writing for almost two years now. I have a lovely community of subscribers who are lovely and I often get replies and messages of support and encouragement - I love it so much! I’m hoping this year to expand on that and grow the audience even more with a Substack Newsletter. If you want to join me there - you can subscribe here.

Finally - I’m giving myself a little credit. This year I have: worked a full year in a new role in the comms team at The Story Museum; run a half marathon; spent a lot of lovely time with family; practiced on Procreate; continued to draw draw draw; and aaaall the other things that go with running a household and being a parent/spouse.