Back in November, when the last lockdown started, I received a creative email newsletter from Viktoria Illustration. She was organising a community sketchbook project inspired by walking in nature and creating some sketchbook work in response to it.

The timing was perfect, as there is little else to do during lockdown except go for walks, and it was a great way to get back into creating a sketchbook. I have some A6 Eco sketchbooks from Seawhite which I love as they are small and quick to fill up.

I started by going for walks in our local park, and it encouraged me to look at my surroundings in more detail. I found I’ve been doing this much more throughout the lockdowns over the last year. Walking in the same park over and over again has made me appreciate the changing of the seasons, and there were some beautiful autumn colours to sketch and paint during November.

I’m planning to do more walking and more sketching in the new lockdown. January isn’t seen as the most inspiring month, but I’m determined to find beauty in it.

Let me know if you’ve been inspired to draw the natural world, or your surroundings, when you go for a walk. I’ll be suggesting some sketch book prompts in my next newsletter too, which you can sign up for here.

Pages from my sketchbook in November.

I used Pental Oil Pastels , Caran d'Ache PABLO Pencils, and Winsor & Newton Watercolours.