A word from Alice – Alice Draws The Line

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A word from Alice

  • The power of personal projects

    by Alice Savery
    I am a big believer in personal projects. Alice Draws the Line came about because of one of them. My new year's resolution for 2008 was to do a drawing a day for the whole year. I kept the daily drawings all in one sketchbook and by the summer it spilled into a second volume. It wasn't easy, it was a challenge. 
    Posted in Drawing a Day, Sketchbook

  • Making Sloe Gin...

    by Alice Savery

    Those of you that follow me on Instagram will no doubt be aware that I love to gaze at hedgerows. I'm forever looking at what is growing / changing colour/ appearing / disappearing. I love to photograph what catches my eye and often share these via Instagram stories. I feel like I have been on 'Sloe watch' for weeks.

    I'm not a big drinker (understatement of the year), but I do like some sloe gin, often as a long drink with ginger ale in the winter. I made some and photographed the stages and then did nothing with it and today it became a blog post. 

    Posted in Hedgerows, Seasons

  • Gathering inspiration and documenting the process

    by Alice Savery

    Andrea and I first met last summer when she hosted an Insta-meet at her beautiful holiday cottage and shepherds hut, Wild Meadow. Since then, Andrea has started her photography business. She has a great lifestyle package where she takes 'photos that tell your story, reflect your brand and connect with your community' which is exactly what I was after. 

    Andrea took a lovely selection of images and we had a really enjoyable day, with me doing all the things that I like doing and Andrea documenting it all.

    As those of you that have followed me for a while will know, I love collecting botanical finds and drawing them. My favourites are fallen treasures - seeds, leaves, fruits etc, and next to that I love to collect examples of seasonal species that grow in abundance - grasses for example. 

    Posted in About Alice, Sketching The Seasons

  • How to make a quill pen from a feather...

    by Alice Savery
    Last week I was given two new feathers. One we think belonged to a Red Kite - there are some that live near the studio and can be regularly heard and seen circling the skies. The other may have belonged to an Owl of some sort. I need to look it up. The arrival of these feathers, the Quentin Blake image and some recent appreciation of very inky drawings spurred me into action. 
    Posted in Alice Draws The Line, Sketchbook

  • Iris Illustrations

    by Alice Savery
    I've been drawing a bunch of cut flowers each month from September 2019 until now, May 2020. In the May bouquet were these Irises. Each month Tammy from Wild Bunch Flowers selects the stems. Tammy is based close to the studio which has made this project even more special. 
    Posted in Sketching The Seasons

  • Travel Sketchbook from 2006

    by Alice Savery
    I've been drawing a bunch of cut flowers each month from September 2019 until now, May 2020. In the May bouquet were these Irises. Each month Tammy from Wild Bunch Flowers selects the stems. Tammy is based close to the studio which has made this project even more special. 
    Posted in Sketchbook

  • Grandmother

    by Alice Savery
    She and I would often sketch together - at the garden fence so we could study the horses that lived in the field next door, or in a duck field, or at a gate to draw some sheep. She would often sit in a field and sketch the view and carry on the work at home.
    Posted in Alice Draws The Line

  • To the woods

    by Alice Savery
    When the first wave of lock-down restrictions lifted here in the UK, I stopped in a lay-by at the edge of a woodland. I had to pick something up ...
    Posted in Forest Bathing, Nature connection, Noticing Nature, Seasons, Signs of Spring, Vitamin Tree

  • Draw The Line, a guide to starting sketching by Alice Draws The Line. Drawing challenges for beginners to pick up a pencil and start

    by Alice Savery
    Fancy having a go at drawing? Scared of a blank page or not sure where to start?
    I've made a drawing guide that you can buy and download to conquer just that. It's ideal for beginners and you are encouraged to play with mark making and do some fun, short exercises to start your drawing journey.
    Posted in Alice Draws The Line Workshop, Downloadable drawing guide, Draw The Line, Printable drawing guide, Start drawing by Alice Draws The Line, Start drawing guide

  • The Greenhouse drawings

    by Alice Savery
    I took a chair, a cushion, my watercolour paper, paints and some coloured pencils and along with my vase of flowers and an audio book I spent some blissful time sketching away in what felt like a little bubble.
    Posted in Botanical Illustration, Original drawings

  • Beginner's Botanical Watercolour Workshops...

    by Alice Savery

    This workshop came about because I use watercolours to work in. People have asked how I create my artwork and so I have been trying to break my process down into stages - and in this case, workshops. 

    As teaching watercolour is such a huge topic and not actually possible in just an hour and a half to two hours, I wrote this workshop with that timescale in mind. What we have is a bite sized introduction to the medium of watercolour. During the workshop we play about with basic watercolour techniques and start to build confidence using the paint

    .Beginner's Botanical Watercolour Workshop by Alice Draws The Line

    Posted in Alice Draws The Line Studio, Alice Draws The Line Workshop, Beginner's Botanical Watercolour Workshop, Beginner's Watercolour Workshop, H.Art workshops, Workshop, Workshops in Herefordshire, Workshops in Shropshire

  • My Drawing A Day kit... and sketchbooks galore!

    by Alice Savery

    I've occasionally been asked on Instagram about my sketchbooks and the materials I use to create my artwork.

    So here we go, some answers...

    Posted in Drawing a Day, Sketchbook, Sketching