Day 01: Superb Fairy Wren

7 Day Wildlife Sketch Challenge!

Mar 25, 2024

Here we are, day 1 of our 7 day sketching challenge!

We are starting with a teeny-tiny Australian native, the most perfect wee being, a superb fairy wren. And indeed, this little male is superb.

The video for today is a little longer, split into two parts, because I talk a bit about the challenge as well, and go through some examples of sketching with a coloured pencil. At the bottom of this post is the warm up ideas that I presented with the last challenge, if that blank page is looking a bit scary to you.

I want to normalise the fears and frustrations and resistances that come up when we make art.

It can be an extremely vulnerable thing, to both make, and to share art (if you want to share, and you absolutely do not have to). We put a little of ourselves on the page with every push of pigment.

But I also know that your wild heart needs to make art, and that you have the courage in you to push through that bit of discomfort a little, knowing that in your sketchbook you are utterly safe. And I am sitting here right beside you, cheering you on (and lending you extra courage if you need it).

I seem to say something slightly…odd…in all the videos I make. I probably should remove them, but sometimes they crack me up, and I hope they might crack you up too. In this instalment, after sharpening my pencil, I proudly proclaim “when I have a sharp pencil I like to think about all the things I would like to do with a sharp pencil” 😅 (I meant the places of small detail I would like to address, nothing ominous, lol).

Have fun with this first little fellow. You deserve it!

And you are so amazing - know that to be true!

Thank you for your practice. And thank you for singing the song of the wild, through pigment, with me.