New beginnings and a manifesto

I am taking another big leap!

Hello!

How to begin!? I feel I have lots to say, but I don’t know where to start!

I guess I’ll just start where it most makes sense for me. Some of you may know that before I ever posted here on Substack, I ran a Patreon membership. I started it while I was still a student on the MA , in June 2020, over three years ago now. It was a place for me to do extra exploring and have a creative outlet that felt separate from the MA. Since then I have graduated and started getting paid work as a children’s book illustrator, and I’m realising now that I need to find a slightly new way of working, which I’ve written about recently in a recent post.

So I have made a decision that feels big and brave and scary but ultimately, important - I have decided to move fully to Substack. This is quite a big deal to me, because, although I don’t make a vast fortune on my Patreon, the money I do make - I have 60 paid subscribers over there - is a really helpful contribution to my income. I am petrified that by making this move I making an act of self-sabotage. I have made an invitation to my paid subscribers to join me here, and I am really hoping some of them will, but I am sure that I will lose some along the way. However, I feel really strongly that Substack works better for me. It feels like much more of a community - livelier, friendlier, somewhere I want to hang out. And I find it much easier to navigate as a creator. It is just much more user-friendly, and I don’t waste as much time trying to do things. I also love the way you can curate your content - I spent a happy afternoon the other day tagging all my posts so they are all grouped together and lovely and easy to browse.

And as I put together a post to my Patreon subscribers telling them why I wanted to move, I realised I was inadvertently writing my Substack Manifesto! It genuinely made me feel excited writing it out like that, and so I thought I would share it here in a post, so you can read it too!

Here it is...

My New-Slate Subtack is for:

• people who are curious about illustration (without the hype)

  I want this to be a space that feels free of bullshit, hype, false promises and claims that joining my space can make you an uber-successful illustrator. Instead, I want it to be a place where people can get a real glimpse of what it is like to be an illustrator. When I was still at work and considering leaving, I was desperate to get a real sense of what it would be like and to get an insight into what I could expect. I looked around far and wide to find the answers, and couldn’t find what I was looking for. So this is for past me, and everyone looking for similar answers!

• people who love process and play

  As you probably know by now, I am obsessed with process! I think figuring out the mindset behind making work is half of the ingredients to actually making illustration. Discoveries I have made about myself, particularly during the MA, about how I work have been literally life-changing for me, and I am passionate about sharing that. Again, this is partly for past me, who was feeling lost and not sure how to move forward with my practice.

  I also love to play around with art materials, explore working intuitively, make artwork experiments, and to always keep my practice as an artist feeling fresh and exciting. Having a place to share the joy and inspiration I get from that is always going to be at the heart of my content.

• for people who simply like my work!

  This is the bit that feels the most uncomfortable for me at the moment, but I am determined to get more comfortable with it! Eventually, I would like my Substack to be a place where I simply show new work, explore my practice and share it with people because they like my work! This feels like the next part of my development as I transition from a student to an illustrator, and it feels the most scary to me somehow. Hopefully, I will grow into it, like an itchy jumper that gets all soft and frayed in all the right bits the more I wear it!

• for the journey!

  Again, for past me who just wanted to know all the juicy details of my journey, I want my Substack to continue to be a record of my progress, struggles and meanders along this crazy path I decided to take when I left work in 2019!

So that is my matnifesto - what do you think?

If you feel inspired by it and would like to become a part of my brave new world, I would be beyond thrilled if you wanted to show your support AND help give me a bit of faith that I made the right decision, and become a paid subscriber.

As a thank you and as a little extra incentive I am offering 20% off a paid subscription for a whole year! It is valid until Monday 9th October, in case you are reading this on the weekend, so if you want to claim this offer, make sure you do before then.

---

For those of you who don’t know my history, I thought I would take this chance to tell you a bit about myself and all about the previous brave moment, when I handed in my notice at my full-time grown-up job to seize the day - make a leap of faith - an re-train aged 42 to become a children’s book illustrator.

I thought I would be an “artist” when I grew up
I followed that trajectory for most of my young adult life: Art GCSE and A-Level, an extremely exciting and fulfilling year doing a Foundation Course in Art and Design at Wimbledon School of Art and then I went on to do a BA in Fine Art Painting at Winchester School of Art.

Reality
I remember clearly the moment I realised I had no idea how to be an artist after graduation. The idea of getting a studio and just painting felt utterly out of reach to me, as I had to pay rent and buy food and stuff! So by chance, I got a "stop-gap'“ job that happened to be in…

Children’s Books
And somehow, I ended up staying for 21 years! It was an amazing experience, and I wouldn’t swap it, but it did rather scupper my plans of becoming an artist. I worked mainly in Pre-School publishing, working my way up from Design assistant, Designer, Senior Designer and eventually to Art Director. Before I left I worked for four years heading up the Pre-School and Novelty book Imprint Campbell Books (an imprint of Macmillan Children’s Books).

Leap of faith
There wasn’t one lightbulb moment, more like a slow yearning to be creative that just got too loud to ignore any more. I realised that I wasn’t getting any younger, and it felt like my creative aspirations were slipping silently away.

So, in 2019 I gave in my notice! I applied to do the prestigious MA in Children’s Book Illustration at Cambridge School of Art - and wow, what an amazing two-and-a-half years that was! It was truly magical to devote myself full-time to my creative development with a group of equally dedicated and excited people.

a spread from one of the projects I developed on the MA

Beyond the leap
Since then I have been working on my first illustrated children’s books. My first book will be published on October the 10th - eep, so soon!! - by The Folio Society; My second book is due in Spring 2024 and will be Published by Wide Eyed Editions; And I am just in the early stages of my third book. I’m not sure how much I am allowed to say at this point, but if you subscribe to this newsletter, you will be the first to hear what I am allowed to say!

As well as the illustration work, I work as a part-time Associate Lecturer on the MA at Cambridge School of Art In Children’s Book Illustrations (yes, the same MA I did in 2019!). I also sell original artwork, archival prints and zines over in my shop.

As I have said above, I feel like I am in a transition stage at the moment, I have started getting paid work as an illustrator, but I still feel like a beginner. I am in the awkward teen years, if you will, of my illustration life! It is all so new, which is a weird place to be after spending so long working in a job that felt like second nature to me by the time I left. So starting this substack afresh feels like a really nice way to re-set, and try and spread my wings a bit, and hopefully, begin to embody life as a full-time children’s book illustrator.

If you’ve been reading this far, and you want to take advance of the 20% discount offer but don’t want to scroll back up again, here it is again!

So, what will you get here on my Substack?

Free Subscribers

I always want to have some free content as well as paid, so if you sign up as a free subscriber you will get regular (once or twice a month) posts in the form of life and studio updates, creative thoughts, musings and what I call “creative rambles”. Making a big mid-life change like I did, I discovered an interest in the creative process. It's not just about making work, but how… what helps? What hinders? How can I delve deeper and better understand myself and my practice? I have learned how helpful it is to reflect on what you make, and I hope by doing that here, I can help you too.

Paid Subscribers

recorded videos:

• behind-the-scenes video diaries (vlogs)

• videos looking through my latest sketchbooks

• process videos (for example, time-lapses or films of me painting)

• Photoshop mini masterclasses

• publishing chat from my days working in-house in children’s book publishing

• Picture book and materials recommendations and chat

• whatever else is capturing my imagination at the moment

Online meet-ups

I host three live meet-ups.

Motivation monthly

I don’t know about you, but I love a chance to set goals and dream up new ideas and exciting plans. Although I am a creative, messy, often chaotic artist, in a slightly out-of-character way, I also love writing a list and checking things off. So this is an online meet-up at the beginning of every month to get your shit organised. We set intentions, brainstorm ideas, set goals, and also give ourselves a good old pat on the back with a ta-da list too!

Art Play Dates

These are free, playful and fun art sessions. Each month I choose what I want to play around with that month and you can either join in, or go off-piste, and do your own thing. I might spend a session playing with wet textures, playing around with how things bleed, mix together, blend. Other times I might grab a handful of random materials and play around with those together. Maybe in the summer, we will go outside (or I will, and you can join on your own outside). I’m hoping this will evolve and grow as it continues. All previous Art Play Dates are available as replays, and each new session adds to the back catalogue to watch and play along with.

Picture Book Club

One of my favourite things on the MA was when we looked at Picture Books together and analysed them, so I am thrilled to run this on my Substack. I announce the book at the beginning of the month along suggest some questions for you to consider, and then we have a live Zoom together at the end of the month to chat all about it! It is available as a replay afterwards for those who can't make it.

And here is is again, so you don’t have to scroll up again.

Hopefully see some of you in the comments and chat and in my Gather • Filter • Make community!

Ella xx