Mama Gail’s

Dream book nook 📔🦕🎨🐶 Swipe to see the details 😊Illustrated in

Artists, do you experience this?? 👇

I sat down to draw and paint for fun the other day with nothing much planned but as soon as I opened Pinterest this reference image took hold of me and next thing I new I made this illustration ☝️

I liked it so much that I wanted to bring it into Procreate to develop it a bit more, maybe add a window with some patisseries and bread and what not but as soon as I saw it on the screen I hated it 😂😳 It was like the feeling I had when I looked at it in person, the same joyful feeling I had while creating this art was just gone🙁 Does anyone else experience this??

I carried on for a bit but eventually decided it didn't have to be anything finished, it could just be a little something for me, safely nestled in my sketchbook, ready to put a smile on my face when I need it😊 Plus I can always develop my ideas digitally and then go back to painting it traditionally one day! But please tell me I'm not alone😂

One of the things I really struggle with in art and illustration is, when using a reference picture, holding onto the idea that I have to draw absolutely everything I see which means I get lost in the details and spend hours on something I usually end up not liking very much 😬

Where did I get this notion from? I have no idea 🤣 I mean, isn’t the whole point of a reference picture to use *as reference* and not *to copy*?? Gosh, Michelle…🙄🤣

This study I did last night ended up taking me just under 40 minutes which I’m really happy with, I focused on creating my own interpretation of what I saw and by George did I have so much more fun that way. Also, an added bonus - I bloody love this! I want it framed and on my wall 😂

Will I be able to carry this new mindset along with me in future art making? I’ll probably have a few setbacks, old habits and all that, but hopefully one day (after lots of practice🫣) it will be the new norm for me😏

Anyhoo, if you made it this far, thank you for reading my little mini art blog and I hope you like the illustration ☺️❤️

Illustrated in with a combination of Gouache and Gouache brushes☺️

A landscape study in my Chalk Pastel Pencils which are so scrumdidlyiciously texture-y😍 and my … and let me tell ya, the combination of the two is like drawing with butter on more butter 😍😂

My favourite part about this illustration is the two little figures in the distance, how amazing that such a simple detail can transform a piece of art 🥰

I was sad and then I drew an illustration of a sleepy owl, making lots of random and scratcy marks of colour with my coloured pencils in my and then I forgot about being sad. Art is cool like that 😏 Swipe to see the yummy colours and texture up close 😍

If a duck in a quilt isn’t the cutest thing you’ve ever seen then what is?!🤣😍

My favourite way of making art these days is what I like to call digi doodling 🤓 Just a digital sketchbook page filled with mini illustrations, each a finished little piece on its own but part of something bigger too😍 I often only manage to do one a day because that’s all I have time for but at the end of week I usually have something super cute and I’m pretty proud of this one!

Summery things in my sketchbook 🌞 I'm entering my granola girl era and I'm cool with that 😏

Okay so I need number 1’s shoes and socks, number 3’s hair and numbers 2’s ⭐️confidence⭐️ What would you go for? 👇🏼🤩

A huge thank you to for consistently providing stunningly beautiful photography that inspired this quirky little fashion illustration 😍

I challenged myself to use the line work and colour palette in this drawing to make something different and I love how it turned out, so quirky!

To see the post that was used as reference head to https://www.instagram.com/p/CrBBMEROmNw/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Team work makes the dream work🥰

Mr Bear isn’t too happy because he has to work this bank holiday 😕 I hope everyone has a better day than Mr Bear, whether you’ve got the day off or not!🥰♥️

A super stylish tween I saw while having breakfast at one of my favourite restaurants! When I spotted her I just new I had to try and capture her😊 I find it rather difficult to show age when I'm drawing people and I'm trying to get better at it⭐

Bear💜Here's a little snippet of what I wrote in my journal after drawing this bear:

"... I forgot about the details, about trying to incorporate all the things I admire about other artists into my work and just created a bear as simply as I could and this bear feels so much more *mine* than anything I've drawn for a long time..."
I wrote so much in my journal on this one that it inpsired me to turn my musings into my next blog post because it just might help someone else who may be in a rut! I have a vague idea of the main focus of the the blog post but in general it will be about how I came out of an art block/creative rut and little things I've done since to maintain my art practice that have truly helped, that have me drawing every single day without fail but also without pressure!
For now, I hope you enjoy my little bear who will most definitely be a greeting card in my shop to be (more on that later) and I hope to bring you a blog post soon!
Have a lovely weekend friends🧡

My entry for the lovely .illustration 's DTIYS! When I saw this beautiful illustration I just HAD to put my own spin on it and I love how it turned out 😊
I've not been posting much lately because I've been doing practice sketch after practice sketch! I've really been drawn to drawing people lately and for a while I was fighting it because it's not the kind of thing I feel that I'm known for and it may seem out of place here on my little corner of the internet but then I gave into it because how else am I going to grow!? And now I'm obsessed😍
I've been watching tons of tutorials in the times that I felt uncreative and doing tons of practice portrait sketches in the times where I did feel creative but didn't have much time for anything else! This is the first finished piece that I've created and I'm so excited to create many more in the future😍 I hope you like it!

One... Annnnnd I'm done 🏋️ 😂
Meet Moody Milton! He is me when it comes to strength training day😂😅
I designed Milton as a part of his very own daily planner sticker sheet that I'll be stocking in my soon to be shop😍❤️ I am so excited to be able to plan out my week and stick this little guy next to "gym" 😂 But more importantly, I'm excited to see this particular product come to life and share it with you!
I'm also thinking of having him as a waterproof die cut vinyl sticker for water bottles, phone cases, sketchbooks and what not. I know I'd love to see this face on my waterbottle when I'm suffering at the gym, would you? 😂🐱Let me know in the comments below 👇 ♥

Day 12,13,14 🍓🌨🌿
Day 10 and 11 of my 100 Day Style Challenge did NOT go well. I felt unprepared and uninspired, and slightly pressured. Even though I have not once put the pressure on myself to produce a finished piece every day, or to post every single thing I drew, I was starting to feel that pressure regardless. I also struggled to decide WHAT to draw. Even though one of my challenge rules was to always decide what to draw BEFORE I draw to avoid that stress, I was still struggling with that decision.
But then on day 12 I remembered that I had a box of prompts I had made ages ago and decided to leave what I drew that day up to the three random prompts I picked from the box. I picked Rain, Strawberry and Growth. Three prompts that actually work very well together but that I never would have thought to put together myself. As soon as I picked them, I knew exactly what I was going to draw.
But I decided not to rush it. I decided to use as many challenge days as I needed to explore this topic before I felt ready to move on. I spent the first day sketching out ideas, concepts and composition in my sketchbook, removing myself from the digital. And then spent the next two days rendering it in Procreate, playing around a little with exactly how I wanted it to look. And I'm really happy with it😍 AND it is most definitely going to be a sticker in my soon to be shop! Eeeek!
Since then I've picked another set of prompts, done the sketching and exploring, and will now beging the rendering. I am still only allowing myself 30 minutes each day, but giving myself the permission to take as many days as I need to explore and I am actually loving it. The fact that I have 30 minutes carved out of each day for my personal art has been so amazing for my art practice and the fact that I know that I can carry on tomorrow allows me to really enjoy what I'm doing in the moment. I've managed to change my mindset to the one that I should have had from the beginning- it's not about producing a drawing every day, it's about just drawing every day! I hope you like it and I can't wait to show you what's next😍

Introducing... The Lockdown Teacher Card!
I drew this stressed out little lady quite a while back in preparation for the end of the school year in the UK and I've been so distracted by other artistic things (isn't that always the way😂) that I totally forgot to share her with you!
Something you may not know about me is that I used to be a teacher (😱) and so I have always had great appreciation for what teachers of the world do every day. Then Covid hit, and if it wasn't clear before, it certainly is now... Teacher's are basically heroes!😍 This card was inspired by all the anecdotes told to me by friends and family who are teachers about the things they went through during the height of their particular lockdowns. I couldn't resist creating this little homage to our teachers of what they went through for all the youths of the world (insert Miranda Heart saying yoouuuuttthhhs)
As always, you can find this card at Thortful.com and/or directly at https://www.thortful.com/list/60e5946b23bd3c000103bb5d
Lots of love to all our teachers!

Here's a weird fact about me...
I used to absolutely hate avo. It was way to 'gooey' and tasted of aboslutely nothing🤣 And then something changed within the last year and now I'm possibly it's aboslute biggest fan😎 When I told my mother she said, "Oh, how the mighty have fallen," to this once picky eater. Fair enough, Mom😂 And so it only seems fitting that avo became the inspiration for my latest range of greeting cards for a very exciting new project!
So I'll be in avo/art heaven for a while and in just about two weeks I'll be able to share with you this new and exciting venture!🥰
What's your favourite thing to eat with avo? I'm a sucker for poached eggs and avo for brekkie🤤 Let me know in the comments below👇 there might be a new avo dish I need to try😱

🌸Flower picking 🌸
This is my entry for the week two prompt, flower picking😊
I drew most of this yesterday while sat relaxing in the park and it was so nice🥺❤️
I played around with shadow and lighting and found a technique I love! I’m sure that will change but it’s always fun to try new things🤓 I do have to have to say that I feel the hands are rubbish🤫 but they are quite a step up from my usual stubs and so I’ll take them as a win😂
Thank you so much to the following beauties for hosting this amazing challenge:

laezza


flair stitches

✨ I see you ✨
I'm so excited to have finished this piece and finally be able to show you, especially after you lot have all been so incredibly kind to me in my stories and on my previous post about me being afraid to draw in a new style! As you can see, it IS rather a different style than my usual stuff but I just had so much fun with it and I'm already itching to create something new and that's what it's all about! 😍I haven't quite figured out how I like to do shadow and lighting in this new style yet but I'm excited to keep practising❤
When I first got the idea for this piece, I sat down and wrote out everything that I was feeling. I wanted to make sure that I got everything I wanted to across to the viewer. It was actually so therapeutic to draw out an emotion/feeling/state of mind. Maybe one day I'll share with you what I wrote and exactly what this means to me but for today I'd like to let you take away from it what YOU see, what it portrays to you❤️
Thank you once again for all your love and understanding in the lead up to this🥺🥰 I hope you like it❤

🌟 Art v Artist 🌟
These have been popping up on my feed and it has been SO cool to see the different faces behind the art I admire so much😍 so I thought I'd throw my hat in the ring😊
I also thought I'd create one myself because I've actually been meaning to pop on here and talk about my art lately.
Lately I've not been drawn (excuse the pun 😉) to this 👆 style. I currently have three pieces sketched out but I have no inclination to finish them because I'm just not feeling this style right now. In fact, a piece that I actually am working on is so completely different it's quite scary 😂 I'll be showing it to you soon and you'll see that it clearly has influences from all the artists I admire and follow here, while still holding on to glimpses of me❤️ but it IS different for sure.
It's scary because I imagine that the small little following I have on here decided to stick around because they like what I create. What if they don't like it if my style changes and evolves?
But then I remember how much I was enjoying myself last night while drawing this new piece, even my husband noticed how bubbly I was at 9pm which is very rare for this early to bedder 😴 😂
I also remember that I joined this community to share my creations, not to put them up for approval❤️
I'm not really sure where all this is going but I've challenged myself to draw as much as possible without overthinking it and see what flows out of me. Perhaps a new style will evolve or perhaps I just need a refresher to remind me of what I love to create. We shall see! ❤️

A cozy Giraffe in plaid who loves his coffee😍
This little guy is a result of another one of amazing shape challenges! I'd actually had this image in my head for a while but wasn't quite sure how to execute it, and then I saw the shapes Lisa chose this week and I just knew🤣😍
I'll be posting a video tomorrow to show you which shapes I used and how I manipulated them slightly for the form of the giraffe!
Once again, I also used Effort Gouche Procreate Brush pack for that handpainted look😍😊
⭐️

☔ Ah the British weather ☔
Where my UK peeps at?? Remember this past Monday around just before 6pm when the heavens opened up and poured its guts out in rain, thunder and hail? Well, I do... Because I was literally lost in the woods😂
I'd gone out for a walk planning to be home long before the rain was due but I got lost, so horribly lost that I'll kindly ask you not to ask me where I landed up because I do not know but I did make it back home😂
Anyways, this 👆 was me, though I wish I was standing under a cute, whimsical, giant daisy. Instead I stood under a tree for a few minutes before deciding to leg it home where I was welcomed with a "How wet are you?" 🙄🤣☔ Ahh at least it inspired a new illustration❤️ Weclome to the UK Mrs B!

Oh. My. Gouache...
I'd been feeling so stuck with my style lately until the wonderfully talented came out with yet ANOTHER amazing Procreate brush pack... and this one seriously takes the cake😱😍
Her new Effortless Gouache pack is an aboslute dream! Can you believe that that👆 was done entirely digitally in and NOT on paper with actual gouache?? Or am I just being biased🤣 Regardless, trying out this pack was exactly what I needed. The simplicity and flat nature of gouache means not getting bogged down by the finer details but focusing on the main shapes, focusing on telling the story, without the mess🤣 I've done another illustration with this pack and it is such a refreshing change to create illustrations without worrying about the tiniest of details.
Because of the wonderful things that Procreate can do I often get bogged down by them all. Blending modes, shading, lighting, guassian blur, adding depth and realism and so much more. Don't get me wrong, they are absolutely great but it often means that I put off creating artwork because I feel the pressure to illustrate as realistically as possible. With this Effortless Gouache pack, I can't be as meticulous because Lisa has worked incredibly hard to make sure that these brushes are as realistic but also as unpredictable as real life gouache can be- in the best way possible! It's forced me to focus just on the shapes, colour and telling the story and I LOVE it😍 Though I'm sitting on the couch with my iPad and Apple Pencil, I actually feel like I'm painting with gouache which is the most cathartic experience and also just proves how much of a genius Lisa is!
This illustration was inspired by one of Lisa's latest shape drawing challenges which I thought was the perfect way to test out her own brushes- a challenge in which she chooses shapes from her one of her Character Drawing Toolkits each Monday, creates something of her own, and then challenges us to do the same.
As always, Lisa, thank you for sparking my creativity when I needed it the most❤

🌟Let's get back to it🌟
Oh, hello there! We are back from our amazing little getaway and I am feeling refreshed and raring to go🤩 I said to my husband (still so weird and wonderful to say that😍) last night that I was so excited to get back to Instagram, to which he said, "But you never left!" Which I guess is true😂 I continued to scroll and loved seeing all the amazing content that you put out there each day while we were away but it's exciting to be back and be a part of the community again, putting my own two scents into the metaphorical piggy bank that is this wonderful community of artists and small business owners😍❤
So what's in store for this little page of mine?! Today I'll be starting to work on my next blog post which is all about content strategy and content planning. I'll be talking about how I came up with my content strategy, how I plan my content and I'll also go into depth about the system I use to organize my ideas. Most of us are running our businesses and pages as side hustles and I am sure it's safe to say that I'm not the only one who has way more ideas than the time to execute them! So I've come up with a little organization system to help me with that which I'll be sharing with you in the next blog post🥰
I've got a few new illustrations to show you for which I used a brand new Procreate brush pack that takes the meaning of "Digital Painting" to a whole new level😱 I've also done an unboxing of a very exciting small business purchase, for which I'll also do a little review in case you were thinking of getting one yourself! I've got some quirky reels planned because why not, they're such fun🤣 And lastly, I'll continue to share with you pieces of my Mental Health Awareness Greeting card collection, going into my thought process behind them and why they're so important to me, not just the designs but the movement in general❤
Right then- so much to do! Can you tell I'm excited to be back??🤩😂 What's your favourite thing about this Instagram community? Let me know in the comments below👇 I'd love to hear it😍

Happy Mother's Day to all the lovely South African mothers, step mothers, grandmothers out there!❤ A special Happy Mother's Day to my wonderful mother Gail Millardwho was the inspiration for this illustration😂 Just like mother duck in the picture with her sneaky box of Oreos, my mom almost always came back with a treat😍

🌟What are the Core Values of your small business?🌟 Second blog post is live!🌟
In this blog post I talk about having core values as a small business- why you should have them, why they're important and how I curated my very own. This one took a little longer than expected because I had to do a little work figuring out just what the core values of my small business are going to be and how I'm going to implement them! I even share some excerpts taken from a notebook which I have now assigned to my small business as THE notebook😂 in which I did all the soul searching for this topic and write about what's important to me and how I can make that work for my small business to be.
I also include a sneak peak of what my next topic is going to be which should be a super interesting read for all those looking to up their Instagram/social media game👀
You can find the blog post at https://www.michellerobyn.com/blog/what-are-the-core-values-of-your-small-business 😊If you're a subscriber, you should have already received an early access link in your email❤
I'm feeling so excited and so much stronger as a small business to be having completed this next step in my journey. It's such an important one, particularly when it comes to crafting a brand and a community around your business and I'm excited to share this next step with you and can't wait to hear what you think!❤
Once again, I'll leave you with a short quote:
"...Why are they important? Why does any small business need core values? To make it short and sweet, core values are what will be guiding every decision I make as a small business. If I know what my core values are I will always have a foundation to stand on moving forward... Little things that guide big actions and decisions! This also means that I will attract customers and create a community of like-minded people who believe in the same things I do. So how do you decide what your core values are and how they’ll be implemented?..."

Poor miss Fox just doesn't want to disturb sleeping Robin!🥺
This is my entry for drawing challenge: #33❤ I also used her Plush Pencil Procreate pack for the majority of the piece and used the generic Procreate Gouache brushes to create the Robin😊 Lisa's ability to create Procreate brushes really is out of this world and it is such a privilege to support a fellow South African! Head on over there and give her some much deserved love🤩