Moving Right Along
Making slow and steady progress
Yes, I have named this post after the song in The Muppet Movie… I watched it recently one afternoon when I wasn’t feeling well, and I keep getting it stuck in my head. Especially now since I’m making slow-but-steady progress with my work. I think it’s almost helping…?
Anyway! I am keeping things Moving Right Along. I’ve been making sure I’m dedicating time each week to doing something. Whilst it doesn’t always feel all that productive at the time, when I look back I can see I’m making progress. Gently nudging towards something. I do still feel a bit daunted; I’m still at that stage of figuring out where I’m going and what to actually focus on.
Last week I decided to try and experiment a bit based on the drawings I did the week before - remember the tree drawings in my sketchbook? Using acrylic gouache paint, I played around a bit in my sketchbook. I ended up making various ugly shades of swampy green and painting some very creepy looking trees. Making ugly work is all part of the process though! Having said that I quite like this blue tree now..
Feeling a bit hopeless about these pages I thought I’d go back to using pencil but still felt a bit stuck and gave up on it. I wasn’t really sure where it was going. Briefly I felt like just giving up completely, but I’m invested in this now, and becoming better at asking myself questions to help move things forwards, rather than hitting a dead end completely and quitting. I made a note to myself that I need to either zoom in or zoom out; to make this interesting I need to look at the full scene, or go much much closer. Either way opens up more challenges and things to explore.
With that in mind, earlier this week I went on a little adventure with Jeffers and headed northwest - a different direction to where we’d usually go. We went up to Ardgartan, just on the edge of Argyll, which is my favourite part of Scotland. I just love the rugged West Coast and its wild beauty. It was a gorgeous cold-but-sunny day, perfect for being outdoors. I packed my sketchbook and a full pencil case, a packed lunch and some treats for Jeffers, and off we went.
The walk was a steady climb up through the forest, with stunning views of the Arrochar Alps, dusted with snow. Jeffers enjoyed running around sniffing everything. The trees stood tall and sometimes densely packed, the bright sunlight casting dramatic shadows across the path, soft with fallen pine needles. The verges were thick with vegetation and beautiful soft spongy pinky-green moss, with lots of tiny waterfalls appearing and then disappearing away down the hills. I spotted lots of birds swooping in the trees, and even a little red squirrel before it scurried away out of sight.
Surrounded by all of this gorgeous stuff I was overwhelmed, so much so I didn’t actually stop to draw. I didn’t know where to even start… plus there wasn’t really anywhere to sit (there is always an excuse not to do something). I felt a bit disappointed but tried my best not to beat myself up about it, and remembered it was still a worthwhile trip even if I didn’t draw anything. I was still looking.
On the way back down from the forest, having walked about 6 miles I decided a bit more wouldn’t hurt, and followed along one of the shorter way-marked trails that went around the river. There was a picnic bench perfectly positioned by the water, so I finally got my sketchbook out there (and had my lunch) and managed a couple of drawings. Meanwhile Jeffers enjoyed playing with sticks.
I really enjoyed drawing these and remembered how fascinating I find water (maybe because it’s so hard to draw), and the wild grasses and plants that surround it. I love the blend of water and woodland; there’s something so innately wild about those two things together. This is a potential area to explore further… I still feel like I’m using my creative antennae to figure out what I’m doing and what direction to go in.
When I got home I decided to keep drawing whilst this walk was still fresh in my mind. I did use some photos to help but tried not to look at them too much, because I find that often ends up in drawings that are lacking that particular energy only drawing on location can produce. At the time I felt a bit frustrated with these pieces but looking at them again I can see a lot of good things starting to happen.
I was experimenting with zooming out, as I’d asked myself to, drawing a full scene, as well as attempting to express that contrast between light and shade. I’ll be forever figuring out the best way to capture dappled light. I also made some smaller textural studies of the mossy verges - possibly my favourite pages from this session. I love this colour combination.
On reflection I can really see a bit of progress happening. Each time I do a bit of work, even if it feels like it’s nothing or feels frustrating, I learn or see something new. I’m determined to keep on pulling at threads; I’m firmly on the path now and don’t want to turn back.
And I still have Fozzie and Kermit in my head singing Moving Right Along.
Always so lovely seeing outside sketchbook work! I totally relate to that feeling of disappointment in yourself for not doing enough in the sketchbook - it’s a familiar feeling but we take in so much in our brains just looking so it all counts. 💕