The Edinburgh Scribble
A new place for my doodles of life in Edinburgh
Hello and welcome to my first Substack post. This is my new way to send out my sketches, a cross between a newsletter and a website. Somewhere I can create and interact with those who like Edinburgh (and cats) as much as I do. A smaller space where I can share my drawings to those who want to see them and not into the vastness of social media! I hope to have a place where you can comment and be involved with my process and the decisions I make going forward.
I will share my daily doodles as usual and also the weekly WhereArtI Quiz, plus insights into how I make my art and how I go about making a living as an artist in Edinburgh. There will also be events and happenings from the city and insights into life here with a family, and expect a few cat sketches too.
The main thing is being more real, I am finding social media can take so long to prepare for that the pressure on each post becomes magnified and I end up posting only the finished piece and only my favourite works which I hope people will then share and ultimately buy. And then on to the next ‘perfect’ piece. It can seem like an endless treadmill at times.
Back to the good old days
So expect more of what I loved to share in the early days of Edinburgh Sketcher, over 10 years ago. The pieces that don’t work out, the failed attempts and screwed up drawings that all go into making the ones that do end up on posters, coasters and tote bags.
In my sketching workshops I often tell people to just go for it, don’t worry about mistakes. In fact leave them in, they tell the journey. So I will be doing more of that and taking my own advice :)
The way forward
I don’t want to put to much pressure on myself or become too set in stone that it becomes a chore, I don’t work at my best like that but this is how I plan to go forward. I will send out a monthly round up of my sketches along with some process insights and maybe some ideas to get you sketching too.
I love a good quiz, and highlighting the ‘beauty in the everyday’ so each Monday I will continue my WhereArtI Quiz where I sketch an architectural detail or view of the city and you have to tell me where I am. 24 hours later I randomly pick a correct answer to win a piece of ES merchandise.
I have some great ideas for paid subscribers which I hope to add occasionally like:
Printable downloads
Art tutorials
Fan art ideas
Live QnA sessions and workshops
Discounts for commissions and my etsy shop
You can sign up below now for just 12 pence a day which will support me sketching this wonderful city with my ink and watercolours.
Do let me know what you would like to see here, I want this to be a place of chat and creativity, and inspiration for me and for you. Thanks for following my journey so far and lets see where it goes next :)
Mark ES
