Mini-series: nature and me
If you’re a follower of my social media channels and recipient of my newsletter, you will have seen that over the last month, I’ve been exploring the ways in which nature infiltrates and supports me in daily life (something that I know resonates with many of you too); this has culminated in a mini-series of three illustrations. I thought it would be fun in this blog post to delve into these a bit more, to reveal the layers and intention behind each drawing.
The concept
Prompted by seeing the many ways that art has depicted people’s need to receive support and connection from other people and the benefits of this, it made me think about where I find my own solace and resilience, which is undoubtedly in nature.
The 'natural world' is my go to. It literally fills my thoughts from the moment I wake until my head touches the pillow each night. It has permeated through my life in this way from my first memories, through to my career as an ecologist and into my creative pursuits. It serves as a constant companion that inspires, nurtures, heals, amazes and uplifts me on a daily basis, as it does for so many others; and there began the idea for exploring how I could depict these feelings in art form.
Sketching out ideas
Without really having any concrete idea or intention about how to go about depicting nature’s role in my life through a drawing, I did feel strongly that the first aspect I wanted to portray was the way that nature can nurture, protect and heal. I felt that it was also important to have a figure in the drawing too.
I began by sketching out a few rough poses in my sketchbook and once I had one to fit the idea in my head, I leapt straight to paper and let the idea evolve further from there.
Nature as sanctuary
In this first illustration, I wanted to show the figure being enveloped by nature: the beautiful nurturing, protecting and healing side of the natural world.
It seemed fitting, therefore, to show the figure enfolded in a swirl of leaves to represent the comforting feeling and sense of security that nature provides.
I felt it important to keep the figure stripped back, so there are no real features defined in the drawing. I also wanted to keep it raw, illustrative and gritty in its appearance; providing a feeling of spontaneity and straightforward honesty.
I didn’t set out to produce a series, but after the first drawing was complete, I was overwhelmingly compelled to explore the concept further.
Nature as strength-giver
The next drawing was a little more complex in its intention. With this illustration I wanted to depict the idea of new beginnings and show how nature can support this, providing strength, resilience and inspiration in testing times.
There’s a lot more symbolism and layers in this drawing compared to the first; I knew that it needed to involve the sea as this is the place that for me utterly resonates with these emotions. I also knew that I wanted to include the Sun to represent the idea of the Sun as creator and in this way, giver of blessings and strength; the hare is an animal I am inherently drawn towards and in this context represents new life and a fresh start – the quiet presence of the hare next to the figure indicating a feeling of constancy and support.
Nature as headspace
The third in the series focused on nature’s magical power to clear and ground the mind and body, providing a sense of peace and a place for contemplation and finding clarity.
I wanted to portray a sense of lightness with this illustration, hence the opening in the vegetation, in front of the figure’s face and the butterflies representing thoughts being released and a sense of being gently unburdened.
There’s also still a sense in this drawing of the vegetation providing an enclosing backdrop to the figure.
In conclusion
I’ve really enjoyed producing the mini-series: nature and me, using these initial illustrations to explore some of the ways that the natural world provides a sense of place and belonging. I hope that you have enjoyed seeing this mini-series unfold and that some of the drawings resonate.
Whilst the originals will be staying with me, I will be making prints available from my shop. I also have a sense that these ideas will continue to linger and may be something that I pick up again in the future, to make into either larger, more ‘complete’ drawings, or something else entirely!
If you’ve enjoyed reading about this series, check out my other blog posts on previous drawing series’: Nature Folk Art and Ecology.
All drawings were produced on sanded art paper (10x8”) and were 4.5x4.5” in size.