It may not come as a surprise that my illustration work has shifted heavily towards landscapes. For quite a while I felt like I was stretching myself too thin, trying to draw in many styles, focusing on multiple subjects, and even working on illustrating 3 stories at a time.

It took a mental crash to wake me up to the fact that I was trying to cram far too much into too small of a box. Isn’t that how it usually goes? From the outside it is far more obvious, but I often allow my passion to override my logic pertaining to what is actually possible in a certain amount of time.

So I took a step back to assess where I was at with my illustrations, what was working and what wasn’t, and revisited my “why.”

Why

Finding your “why” is so important because staying true to that vision will help guide you through times of difficulty. For me, the why has always been along these lines:

I love nature, and I want to inspire others to appreciate and love nature.

It could be written in many ways, but nature is my greatest inspiration, my teacher, my muse, my why.

How

So how do you bring the “why” to life? I start by trying to incorporate it into every piece of art I create. Whether I’m simply celebrating the beauty of a forest trail by painting the dappled light falling on the path, or I’m capturing an epic wave crashing on rocks with grand brushstrokes on canvas. I need to FEEL the connection to nature in my artwork at least once a day.

*View from the top of Bealach na ba, Applecross, Scotland*

Focus

The easiest way to ground yourself when feeling overwhelmed is to find a focus. For me that was pretty easy. Painting landscapes is my greatest joy. Although I have huge goals that include learning how to illustrate books of all kinds / all topics, I am of no use to myself or anyone else if I’m completely overwhelmed.

So rather than try to draw everything in the world, I went back to a focus that brings me joy: landscapes.

I decided to give myself a goal of illustrating my favorite places around Scotland. Through that focus, I’ve started to develop a workflow that is more enjoyable, and a style started to emerge.

The Bealach na ba (highest road in UK), Scotland

It excites me that these pieces feel like they are from an animation. I want to use bold shapes but focus on strong color and light.

While I continue to develop my workflow, I try not focus on learning new ways of using color and light within the landscape. My hope is that the more natural this becomes, the easier it will be to start incorporating other elements such as people, animals, architecture, etc.

So to anyone out there who is working on your illustrations but feeling overwhelmed, I encourage you to join me on this journey of self discovery and find your joy!

*Standing Stones of Calanaish, Outer Hebrides, Scotland*

See more of these illustrations in my gallery!