(Or, what to do when you don’t know what to do!)

Last week, in practicing what I preach, I took part in an online workshop and it was such a tonic and an energiser!

Lucia Leyfield of Wild Ink is an English artist and illustrator I have followed for a while. Lucia is a very charming and encouraging proponent of ‘box journaling’ as a low pressure way to use your sketchbook and step around creative blocks and procrastination.

Just grab a pencil and your sketchbook, it really doesn’t matter what kind, A5 is just fine. Lightly rule your page up into blocks, Lucia uses 12 per page, I prefer 8 larger blocks.

Choose a photo from your camera roll and sketch it very simply. If an image works better over two blocks I join them up landscape or portrait.

I prefer to add some watercolour but Lucia uses coloured pencils and watercolour pencils, and it’s worth doing the workshop to hear her talk about how she chooses a limited palette.

You can just do one square at a time with your cup of tea in front of TV or all in one arty session. There are no rules.

Over time this builds up to a really fun visual mosaic or record of the things you enjoyed over that month. If one drawing isn’t great it really doesn’t matter.

You might stick with one topic, say your garden or botanicals, or you could branch out into people, projects or trips. I especially love including overhead phrases or vocabulary. Give it a go and do let me know how you get on!

Workshops are a great way to challenge yourself and nudge your skills forward. Have a look at some workshops I’m running this year to see if anything floats your boat.