I (Sort Of) Stopped Using Instagram And This Is Why
Over the past year, I’ve decided to stop using Instagram. To some, it may seem like this is based on recent business decisions from Meta and the rise of AI. But this decision has been brewing for a long time, since at least 2021, and I finally got to the point where my problems with Instagram vastly outweighed the benefits I was seeing from it. Okay. Here’s my problem with Instagram; and the reason I’ve sort of stopped using it. Stories, Reels and Maps (oh my!) A long time ago, Instagram was a platform for sharing photos. But it was more complicated than that. You would take a photo, and…
London Stationery Shops & Haul
It has taken me a whole three months to finish this video but I’m finally sharing my trip to London where I visited two of my favourite London stationery shops; London Graphics Center and Choosing Keeping. This isn’t the first time I’ve visited London Graphics. I have a whole post about the shop from a few years ago. It is mainly an art store, located in central London, not far away from Covent Garden. But it also has a huge range of stationery supplies. I highly recommend you check out that post to find out more, but if you’re looking for Traveller’s Company branded items, or Midori products in general,…
A Guide to Effective Goal Setting for Artists
As an artist, it can be difficult to set meaningful goals. We all want to be better at art but as a goal “getting better” is almost impossible to achieve. Instead what you should aim for is setting specific goals for your art, so you know when you’ve completed them. That sounds easy enough in theory, but in practice, it can be harder to implement. I’ve been wanting to share my process for setting goals in my artist journey, specifically through using personal projects as a way to track my learning and improvement. It’s something I’ve found extremely useful in recent years as I figured out what I want to…
My Digital Commonplace System ~ Studio Diary #8
In this studio diary I am in Glasgow to visit the Botanic Gardens. I’ve spent so much time in this part of Glasgow over the years and somehow never went to the Botanic Gardens. I’m kicking myself after finally getting to visit. I love seeing the glasshouses (especially after visiting Belfast a few years ago). There was also a second hand book sale on the weekend I was visiting which was well worth a visit. There was lots of ephemera on sale, postcards, photographs and newspapers, as well as lots of books. I ended up buying a few illustrations taken from a larger book which have worked well as a…
The Best Calligraphy Inks and Nibs
I might be biased when I say this, but calligraphy is a fantastic form of art to try out. It’s great no matter if you’re looking for a hobby or something more serious. There’s so much you can do. From just improving your everyday handwriting to learning traditional scripts such as copperplate or Spencerian. Or you can even get artistic with lettering or graffiti. The world of calligraphy is literally whatever you make of it. So today I want to share some of what I think are the best calligraphy inks and nibs. Calligraphy depends on a few very basic tools. You’re going to need a medium and a tool…
