Image above: Autumn Leaves Collection
Hello dear friend!
How are you? We are well and truly into Autumn here in the UK and as I am getting ready to head back to Spain for 6 weeks, I have been sorting out the veggie garden and trying to finish up more of my Botanical Alphabet project! With that aside, I wanted to dedicate this episode to talking about taking part in a daily art challenge and specifically Inktober which kicks off today!
This podcast is Episode #16 on the listening list.
If you are listening to this on Substack, you can simply scroll down to see the images and videos included in this post. If you are listening elsewhere, please pop on over to louisegale.substack.com to see the full post there.
If you are reading this via email, it is a long one, so it might get cut off at the bottom. Please pop on over to louisegale.substack.com to see the full post there.
Welcome to A Creative Connection with Nature and this little corner of mine in the online world with me, Louise Gale.
I am a Mixed Media Artist and most of my time here will be spent sharing the little creative ways I weave nature into my art practice. I will also be exploring and sharing little snippets of inspiration for you to explore your own.
Read the full blog post at louisegale.substack.com
Download your FREE October Coloring page here. I am sharing the same printable as last October.
Studio Update
So, before we dive into the 31 day art challenge info, here is a little studio update for the month of September!
I have been enjoying time out in the garden and I am still harvesting tomatoes, can you believe it! So plenty more sauce being made for the freezer and I am watching my butternut squash daily, which alas will not be ready before I head back to Spain next week, so will see how that goes over the coming month.
I also have some new shelving and a brand new door on my garden art studio. YAY! So I’ve been slowly making some upgrades to improve my little sanctuary in the garden. We also put curtain rails, but I am yet to make the curtains to hang on there which I plan to do once back in the UK in mid-November time!
Below is a photo of the before and after of my studio door. It is a saloon style door we found in a skip on a walk! For my US friends here (realising you may not know what a skip is after telling my US client the other day!) this is a like a giant dumpster that you have in your front yard when you are doing renovations on the house and passers by have permission to look in the open skip/dumpster and take anything they might be able to use or upcycle!
I love my new door as I can open the top section only if I wish and it has windows in also, so it lets lots of light into that corner of my studio!
Above Image: Before and after on the studio door!
Botanical Alphabet Update!
I am pleased to announce that I have finished up to letter T now. I am going to be sharing these on my social media once I have taken photos and they will be in my Etsy shop ready for the holidays! You can see all of the current gilded letters that are available here. I have also been taking custom orders to use the flowers on different letters, so I am also able to mix and match letters with the flowers I have already drawn too! And yes! There is a sale on my Etsy Shop with 20% off.
Here is just a peek below
I will also be changing the processing times for my Etsy shop when I am in Spain as I am only able to process and fulfill the orders when in the UK. So current orders are closing this Friday, October 3rd and I wont be back in the UK until the 18th November when I will be ready to create new gilded letters for Christmas and the Festive Holidays!
If you have any questions, comments or feedback, please feel free to comment below (on my Substack post)
I’m Still Thinking about Embroidery!
Also as a little side note, last month I mentioned an urge to return to embroidery! I got my mum all set up and she is diving in, so I hope to carve out some time when I am in Spain (the next 6 weeks) to have a go at returning to slow hand sewing again. Below is a piccie of me with my finished rose mandala design.
Above image: Me and my finished Rose Mandala design from class.
I absolutely loved this creative endeavour a few years back and really loved creating my Embroidered botanical class here as part of the Botanical Mandalas Masterclass series, so I may be revisiting some of those little projects too.
I also thought this would be a perfect creative project to take with me as I travel about this holiday season and for Thailand in February too! More on some embroidery thoughts in my November studio I think! How about you? Do you embroider at all?
Online course platform change!
As many of you know, I’ve been hosting my classes on Teachable since 2020. Then in July of this year, Teachable very suddenly announced a change in their pricing structure which means a huge price increase for me.
This update from Teachable would have forced me to raise the price of my classes, which is something I am not happy doing. I believe in keeping art classes affordable and accessible, so this new update made me think very deeply about the future of these classes!
After lots of reflecting on this and researching other solutions, I have made the big decision to move everything over to a new platform.
Your learning experience inside the platform and classes seems almost identical to Teachable and I hope this move means I can continue to host my art classes for years to come. So, if you are current accessing my courses at artclasses.louisegale.com I will be writing to you this week about this migration which I will be performing over the coming weeks. I hope to have everything moved by November 10.
If you have questions, feel free to comment below (on my Substack) or email me.
Inktober!
So, here we are in a new month and October is the month where many creatives from around the world join the #Inktober challenge.
I may dip in and out this year due to other commitments, but for those of you who would LOVE to play, here are my own prompts that are more Botanically Inspired!
Many of the flowers on the list are also tutorials in my book - ‘Drawing Botanical Blooms’, so if you already have the book, this is a fabulous way to practice what you learn inside and explore some other flowers too! The Book Club (free when you purchase my book) has videos included, so you can draw along with me too as we work through the flowers in the book! The book includes tutorials for the following flowers:
🌸 Hydrangea (day 3 of inktober)
🌸 Anemone (day 5 of inktober)
🌸 Wild Rose (day 8 of inktober)
🌸 Trillium (day 9 of inktober)
🌸 Pansy (day 12 of inktober)
🌸 Peruvian Lily (day 15 of inktober)
🌸 Gerbera (day 17 of inktober)
🌸 Stargazer Lily (day 20 of inktober)
🌸 Passion Flower (day 26 of inktober)
🌸 African Daisy (day 27 of inktober)
🌸 Sunflower (day 31 of inktober)
Find out more about my books here: https://louisegale.com/books
These daily challenges are a great way for us to get back into a lovely habit of showing up at the art table and creating something. I also use them when I am working on a new book or series of art to keep me going! I have created most of my books kick started by daily projects such as this!
Below is an image from a previous Botanical Blooms Inktober where I drew out some coloring pages for my Botanical Blooms Coloring Book.
My invitation to YOU! How to play along:
- You can join for a few days, a week or the whole month, up to you!
- Use the prompts to draw (or inky paint) your own Botanical Blooms as a single drawing or a page in your sketchbook. You can also color, collage and paint if you wish... why not! 😆
- Post your art or photos on Instagram and tag me so I can see your art and comment.
- Also use the hashtags #botanicalinktober #inktoberwithlouise so everyone can find each other!
Tips as you work on Inktober or a daily project such as this!
I hope you feel inspired to use these prompts to create a little every day! Or like myself, to dip in and out as you wish. No rules at all!
It’s such a rewarding way to slow down, notice the natural world, and sharpen your inking skills whether you use simply a pen or us colored inks. AND… if you want to use other materials, of course, that is okay too!
To help you along the way, here are some tips to make the most of your daily drawing practice:
1. Study your prompt before drawing
Take a moment to look up the flower. Notice its main features—shapes, petals, leaves, or textures.
2. Start with a quick thumbnail
A tiny, rough sketch helps you test composition and proportion before committing to ink.
3. Focus on strong shapes
Capture the silhouette first. Plants can be intricate, but their essence often lies in their outline.
4. Play with line variation
Thick lines can shape your drawing, while finer lines bring delicate details like veins, shading or textures to life.
5. Suggest rather than overload
You don’t need to ink every tiny vein or dot. A few well-placed marks are often enough and keep the drawing simple and fresh.
6. Keep it consistent, not perfect
Even 15–20 minutes a day is enough. Progress comes from showing up, not from flawless results.
7. Gather a variety of references
Mix real-life observation with photos or even botanical art for your flower. This keeps your interpretations unique and is a great way to get inspired!
8. Experiment with composition
Close-ups, patterns, and creative framing all add interest beyond simply drawing the entire plant. Have fun changing things up if you fancy too!
9. Embrace happy accidents
Ink smudge? Wandering line? Turn it into a shadow, texture, or new branch. Plants are organic—perfection isn’t the goal.
10. Share your journey
Posting your work (or sharing with a friend) creates accountability and inspires others to join in. Please do use the hashtags if you are on Instagram and I will pop on over and take a look!
Above all, let the challenge be joyful. By the end of the month, you’ll have not just a collection of drawings, but a deeper connection to the beauty of nature and if you able to get outside for a beautiful walk, all the better!
Do you have any tips to add? Please comment below. I would love to hear them.
Happy Creating Everyone! 🌿
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