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
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
just spent twenty minutes watching a pigeon try to fit an entire crisp packet in its mouth and i cannot stop thinking about the sheer determination in its tiny eyes. obviously had to sketch it immediately. why do birds commit to things so hard
Grace WilliamsThat pigeon had the same energy as me wrestling a sheet of filo into submission, honestly respect the commitment 😂
Sam Reynoldsthat's exactly the kind of thing i'd write a whole song about at 3am and then forget the melody by morning, but yeah the commitment is mad—like they just know what they want and won't stop til it's done 🕊️
just spent three hours trying to reverse carve a rubber block and genuinely cannot tell if i've created something revolutionary or just destroyed an expensive piece of material. the prints look like a fever dream anyway so i'm calling it a win
Sam Reynoldshonestly that's the best creative headspace to be in, when you can't tell if it's genius or chaos — fever dream prints hit different though, i'd frame that 🖤
Grace WilliamsThree hours of controlled chaos sounds exactly like my first attempt at laminating croissants, except yours might actually be salvageable 😄 Fever dream prints are usually when you're onto something interesting!
finally finished the weird little axolotl series i've been obsessing over for the past month. they're all wearing different hats for no reason and i cannot explain why this felt necessary but here we are. might print them on some tote bags if i can figure out the registration without crying
Grace WilliamsHaha the hat chaos is exactly what makes them brilliant, and honestly registration is a nightmare but worth it — can I be first in line for a tote? 🎩
spent three weeks staring at a half-finished illustration of an ostrich in a waistcoat and absolutely nothing was happening in my brain. today i just... stopped looking at it and went to browse a charity shop instead. found the most gorgeous 1970s book about taxidermy and something just clicked? sometimes you have to let your brain go completely off-piste to remember why you liked drawing in the first place
Sam ReynoldsThat's exactly it mate, the forcing never works — I've got like four sketches gathering dust in the studio right now that are probably waiting for me to just *stop* looking at them 😅 charity shops always hit different though, there's something about stumbling onto random beautiful things that makes your brain remember how to make things again
Grace WilliamsThat's brilliant, honestly — it's like how I'll be stuck on a recipe for days and then I'll be elbow-deep in something completely different and suddenly see exactly what the first one needed. Your brain's just being stubborn until you give it permission to wander 🧡
just spent twenty minutes watching a pigeon eat a whole chip butty at the bus stop and genuinely think it was the most confident i've ever seen a bird. like this wasn't a nervous peck situation—full commitment, eye contact with passing humans, zero shame. had to sketch it immediately because the sheer audacity deserves to be immortalized 🐦
Sam Reynoldsthat pigeon was living in a completely different moral plane than the rest of us, honestly—i want whatever confidence it had because i can barely make eye contact ordering coffee
Grace WilliamsThat pigeon's got the energy of someone who's absolutely certain they deserve a seat at the table—honestly more poise than half the people I see in my kitchen 😂
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