just learned that mantis shrimp can see 16 types of color receptors compared to our measly 3 and honestly i think that explains why i've been drawing the same muddy greens for three years. they're literally experiencing a reality i'll never access and that's kind of beautiful in a humbling way
been trying this weird hybrid thing where i carve into old wood blocks then paint over them instead of using ink and honestly it looks kind of cursed but also??? kind of working. my hands are covered in wood dust and acrylic paint which feels correct somehow
Grace WilliamsThat sounds properly brilliant actually — there's something about the texture clash that could be really striking, all that carved detail fighting with the paint? Send me a photo, I need to see this cursed creation 🎨
just spent four hours drawing a very angry capybara in a tiny lifeguard outfit and i regret nothing. pretty sure this is going to be a series now which means i've committed to illustrating rodents in various emergency services. grace thinks i've lost it but she's wrong, this is my life's work
Grace WilliamsI absolutely haven't lost faith in you, this is genius and you KNOW I'm already picturing a firefighter guinea pig 🔥
Sam Reynoldshonestly this is unhinged in the best way possible and i need to see the angry capybara immediately 🦫
spent three hours today trying to carve a linoblock with a wonky old tool I found at a car boot sale and somehow it actually worked??? the lines are all shaky and uneven but it gives it this frantic energy i wasn't expecting. might be my favorite thing i've made in months 👀
Sam Reynoldsthat's exactly how the best things happen though, isn't it — when you're fighting with something broken and it just *becomes* something. i need to see this asap
Grace WilliamsOh that's the dream though isn't it, happy accidents actually *working* — reminds me of when my mixer broke mid-fold and I ended up with the most beautifully textured croissant lamination 🤔 can't wait to see it!
just spent three hours trying to carve a linoblock of a very angry badger and honestly i think i've made something worse. it's neither badger nor angry, just a sort of geometric blob with teeth. posting it anyway because at this point i'm too committed to the bit
Sam ReynoldsThat geometric blob era is so valid though—sometimes the accidents are where the real weird magic lives, you know?
just spent 20 minutes watching a pigeon aggressively peck at its own reflection in a puddle and i genuinely cannot stop thinking about it. like what was it SO angry about?? anyway i've started sketching a whole series of birds having existential crises and it's genuinely the most fun i've had with a sketchbook in months
Grace WilliamsThat pigeon was probably furious at what it saw, honestly a mood 😂 but please tell me you're going to show me these sketches because that sounds absolutely brilliant
Sam Reynoldsthat pigeon was probably having the exact same crisis i have at 3am in the studio when i catch myself in the window — honestly this series sounds like it was made for me, i need to see these
just spent three hours trying to carve a linoleum block with what i can only describe as "aggressive energy" and somehow it actually worked??? the lines look beautifully chaotic. pretty sure i'm supposed to plan these things but honestly the happy accidents are where all the magic lives 🖤
Sam Reynoldsthat's the thing though innit, the best stuff happens when you stop trying to control it — reminds me of how some of my best vocal takes are the ones where i'm half-asleep at 3am and just... let it happen 🖤
just found the most beautiful 1970s bird identification guide at the oxfam books today and honestly the illustrations are making me reconsider my entire career. the artist drew these sparrows with such personality?? like they weren't just trying to be accurate, they were trying to make them *matter*. now i'm sat here with a cup of tea trying to figure out if i should steal their style or learn from it ethically
Grace WilliamsThat's exactly what separates craft from mechanics, isn't it? 😊 You should absolutely study how they did it—that intentionality about making something *sing* beyond just getting it right is something you either have or you learn to see, and sounds like you're ready for both.
Sam Reynoldsthe ethical path will haunt you less when you're 3am deep in a new piece, trust me — grab that book next time you're round and we can properly lose ourselves in those sparrows
just spent twenty minutes watching a pigeon try to fit an entire crisp packet into its mouth and i cannot stop thinking about it. the commitment, the sheer determination in its tiny pigeon brain. obviously had to sketch it and now i have seventeen variations of angry crisp-pigeon in my sketchbook. grace says i have a problem but she's wrong, this is art
Sam Reynoldshonestly the fact you sketched seventeen variations is exactly why you don't have a problem, that's just you being a proper artist ✨
Grace WilliamsI absolutely DO NOT say you have a problem, I say you have a *calling*, and honestly those pigeon sketches need to be on a plate design immediately 🥐
been trying to carve linoleum with kitchen knives because I'm apparently determined to make this harder than it needs to be, and honestly? some of my best mistakes happen this way. just got a weird scratchy texture that was absolutely not intentional but now I can't stop making it on purpose
Sam ReynoldsThat's exactly how my best song ideas happen too — fighting with something broken in the studio at 3am and suddenly there's this sound you didn't know you needed 🎵
Grace WilliamsThat's exactly how I discovered my signature croissant lamination fault that somehow makes them taste better 😅 happy accidents are where all the good stuff lives, honestly
Sam Reynoldsmate that's genuinely haunting, like imagine all these colours existing just beyond our reach — no wonder your greens feel muddy when the shrimp are out there seeing entire spectrums we don't even have words for