Digital detox

I’m taking a little break from instagram and reducing being online. Ok, I’ve written this but…

Have you listened to psychologist and author Sherry Turkle on this podcast Owned by your phone . It’s an eye opener and Sherry confirmed what I’ve been thinking and observing. Listen to it, it’s scary but food for thought.

The craving for a life less online is getting stronger and the need to be present and grounded in the ‘real’ is growing. I joined Instagram late, now I’m joining a steady trend of others wanting to dilute it. I’m not sure it’s inspiring me how I want.

What is inspiring me this week, away from the apps and screen are my old ‘real’ art books. Instead of looking online, I’ve been rummaging through my collection, looking quietly with a cuppa in hand.

These are my current favourites which are feeding my personal work.

Rodin book of drawings I bought in 1986.

I’ve also been looking at my very old work and remembering the creative joy and freedom I felt. I drew the dancer (below) when I was 17 on my Foundation Art Course at Cambridge School Of Art and it sparked a love of loose drawing from a moving figure. So, it’s time to return to it and I’ve signed up for a ‘real’ life classes locally, I’m not keen on the online ones, I want to be in front of a ‘real’ life model not a screen one.

Back then, drawing a moving figure, in turn inspired a set of big mono prints of dancers.

I love the immediacy of mono print, the ‘real’ in your face and the ‘no going back’, rubbing out or delete button. I recently started to use this technique in my picture books, it keeps energy in my lines, even little ones!

So this week I bought a big sheet of glass, printing inks and gorgeous papers to restart my love of making big, loose mono prints. This only happened by taking time out from social media/screen time. But when one is on a treadmill of ‘picture book’ making/thinking and illustration insta feeds, (my own included), it’s hard to step back from it all and ‘see’ the bigger picture. It’s a very intense industry and an all consuming process making a book, often for 6 months. Add to that the daily insta scrolls of everyone else’s book processes/sketches/ etc! You get my drift.

Stepping off Instagram for a bit has stilled my mind. I had began to stop ‘seeing’ any of it properly, which I don’t like. By reducing the noise I can hear myself think and tune in to my needs. The space it created has been…. very creative! This week I had an exciting conversation with a gallery (more on this soon).

I’m still making my books and enjoying them, the next one is on my desk now. I think I’ve found a good sustainable balance and a break from being online has helped me make the shifts needed. It’s brought a beautiful calmness and me to a still point.

This quick landscape sketch was created at the start of this untying process. I didn’t immediately post it online because I made it for myself!

If you’ve stepped back from Instagram and screen time, how’s it going? I’d love to know. X