7 Little Things (or less)

☕️ Coffee Sunday

☕️ The coffee is black, no sugar. I hear a variety of wildlife outside my window. Outside my window, I sometimes see eagles, occasionally monkeys, and on rare occasions a flock of flamingos. What kind of wildlife do you see outside your window?

Last week I had the idea of drawing 7 little things on Sunday, so I’ll have something to post every day of the week. I’ll share my experience and learnings after the paywall. But one of the takeaways is that “7 little things” is such a catchy tagline, that I’m going to incorporate it into Sunday’s newsletter. Here are your things!

7 Little Things (or less…)

In this issue, I just wanted to share some ways to plug into a creative community.

1. I’m calling this section 7 things (or less) as a reminder to set creative limits. Our culture pushes us to always do more. I want to go against the grain to remind you that you can do less. And that you can set limits to your own goals and productivity. And maybe there is Wisdom in that.

2. Katie Stack
   has a monthly sketch club that I love attending (It’s free). All you need to do is show up for an hour with some drawing materials and you’ll leave with at least 15 drawings, human contact with other artists, and a themed deck of reference images that Katie has thoughtfully curated. Learn about it in
   Katie’s Newsletter

3. The Grown Ups Table by

   Wendy MacNaughton
   is a meaty weekly publication that educates, inspires, and connects. Most weeks, there is a lesson and a gallery to share your work. The best part is it’s for all levels, but some amazing artists participate each week. It’s paid, but there are scholarships.
   DrawTogether with WendyMac

4. The Illustration Department offers free critiques twice a month. And you don’t have to bring anything you can just watch the others. As you watch you can ask yourself if the critiques apply to your own work!

5. Illustration is about what you do with your hands, but also what you do with your head. Mr Tom Froese has an introspective podcast called Thoughts on Illustration which focuses on the latter.

6. I’m part of a closed critique group called the

   illoguild
   , and while the group is closed we all contribute to a substack to share some of the goodness that gets discuses or sparked by the meet-ups.

7. Do you have a community, or like participating in one? Share some of your favorites in the comments! I hope to bump into you in one of these communities:)

---

And with that, let me say see you on Thursday for your 3 Creative Sparks 👋 , unless you’re a paid subscriber, in which case, let’s talk about last week’s exercise of drawing 7 little things!