Last November I spent a week in the centre of Rome making picture books with a delightful bunch of artists who’d all, very generously, put their trust in me to guide them through five days of drawing, writing and making. And this November I’m doing it all again…
I’m heading back to Diletta’s beautiful rooftop studio in the first week of November to run my second Inky Larks retreat. Five days of drawing, writing, lots of chatter and breakfast on a rooftop so lovely you’ll wonder what what went wrong in your life that means you don’t have constant access to a rooftop in Rome.
Diletta has an enviable library of picture books, plus materials and plenty of work-space. November is a bit grim in the UK but last year Rome was a delicious 23 degrees for the entire week so you’ll feel like you’re getting a very well-timed holiday (except for the fact that I am over your shoulder making you draw things).
We did drawing out and about in the city, plus excercises to get your storytelling muscles moving and then had time left over to work on dummy books and rough sketches and some not-very-rough-at-all sketches. If you just want to be left alone to draw or write you can do that too. I don’t mind whether you come with a fully formed idea for a book or no idea at all. Part way through or barely even begun. I can help with, hopefully, all parts of the process!
I especially love storytelling problems. Is the pacing a bit off? Is there a better ending to be found? Can we delete half the text to make space for more pictures? If you’re struggling with some story-stuff I would love to be your pretend-editor for a few days.
On the illustration side of things I’m fourteen years into my illustration career. I reckon I know some bits and bobs. I can help you use your illustration chops to their fullest narrative potential to ensure you’re getting the most out of every inch of your picture book pages. Also very happy to chat about the nuts and bolts of life as an illustrator.
ALSO! Ice cream! Pasta! The most beautiful architecture you’ve ever seen (i cried. genuinely cried. mortifying)! Pizza! Coffee! BREAD AND CHEESE!
Spots on the retreat will be officially on sale very soon but in the meantime you can contact Diletta/Inky Larks for more information/reserve your place. The basic info is all here though.
If you have any questions for me then drop them in the comments and I’ll do my best to address them!
In the meantime thanks for enduring my sales pitch. I’ve been sending out semi-regular studio chats to the paid subscribers because life has, somewhat, got the better of me in terms of my ability to find time to write these newsletters but I reckon I’ll be back on track soon.
Ciao!
Lizzy x
It was truly magical!