WOWEE Feb went fast!

A month of thinking, planning, flipping...

WOWEE did anyone else feel February went by crazy fast?!!

I was a bit poorly for half the month with a viral fluey thing that really floored me... bleurgh. So I didn't do LOADS of drawing/animation in Feb, but I did a lot of thinking and planning.

THOUGHTS AND PLANS…

My notion to start an animation club here on Substack is taking shape (thankyou to

Helen Stephens

for encouragement) and I'll be starting it SOON, watch this space! For the first session we'll probably do some flickbooks - they are the original moving pictures and fascinated and entertained Victorians, pre cinema/ Youtube/ TikTok! Watch the FIRST EVER flickbook on youtube.

I LOVE flickbooks! Here are some from my wee collection, including a couple by my daughter when she was wee:

I made a couple of flickbooks recently - here is the first one made using paint and stencils.

I made it on index cards, so you can’t use a light box to see your previous drawing. I just laid out as many cards as my desk could take at one time, and changed the position of things by eye. I was really pleased/surprised at how smooth the movement was!

The second flipbook I made was in a thin writing pad, so I could see the previous drawing. While Archie was at the groomers I waited in a café and made this flickbook of his bonkers back-door excitement. I def want to add to this one, it needs more colour and ‘fresh air’ feels. I love that about flipbooks - you can keep adding to them! Next time you’re in a cafe and feel like sketching, why not do a do a flipbook instead?

And here is my lovely Archie, before and after his trim:

OTHER FEB NEWS…

In between feeling fluey, I worked on my entry for the Kelpies Writing and Illustration Competition - the theme was ‘Journeys Around Scotland’. I read folk tale books and picked my favourite Scottish legends to illustrate - the stories really take you on an an exciting trip around the Scottish coastline!

Kelpies, Selkies, Blue Men of the Minch I had heard of before, but the Stoorworm was a new one to me! What a story - read it here. In short, the mother of all sea serpents is causing havoc and eating too many sacrificial maidens, so a clever youngster defeats it by bravely throwing a burning peat into Stoorworm’s belly. As it thrashes in anguish, Stoorworm’s teeth fall out and become Scotland’s northern islands. His dead, curled-up body becomes Iceland… but the volcanoes and hot springs are a sign that deep below the Stoorworm still burns!

Here are some sketches I did for the Stoorworm, plus some colour ideas for another page:

OTHER BITS & BOBS…

I got a new scanner/printer for £10 (I love you Gumtree!)

I read garden books (the new book by Frances Tophill about rewilding your garden is beautifully illustrated and inspiring), swapped seeds with a pal, bought garlic and onion bulbs to plant (yay!!! it’s not too late!), dug up the last of my tatties... I’m looking forwards to Spring.

I started a new drawing group called Black Isle Sketchers - we met in Avoch Harbour for our fab first meet… more info/pics to follow after our 2nd meet in Cromarty in 2 weeks.

The sun shone a lot and it is now properly light in the mornings - I am SO happy to put the headtorch away for a while and enjoy sunrises on my morning walkies.

Did any of you enter the Kelpies Competition? Have any of you made flipbooks? Anyone else getting over the lurgy?! I’d love to hear all about it! Bye for now!!