Creating with Autumn

Connecting and creating with Autumn to help deal with the darkness

Hello, I’m Rachel. I write about nature and creativity to encourage connection and wellbeing. To find out more about what I write about go to this post or click here to go to my home page.

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Hello, I can’t quite believe we’re halfway through November. If you’re in the Northern Hemisphere and in the depths of Autumn, how are you finding it? Here, in the South of England, we’re finally free of the anti-cyclonic gloom (as it was termed by the media - high pressure trapping windless cloudy weather over a lot of the UK). For what seemed like weeks, we were blanketed by low grey cloud. The sun didn’t break through and the dark evenings arrived even earlier than they should have.

And it really affected me, physically and emotionally. I felt as low and grey as the cloud, trapped under an opressive blanket. Despite liking cooler temperatures, I often don’t do as well in the darker half of the year. I’d always thought it was from being an early years teacher (small children love sharing their germs) or undiagnosed vitamin D deficiency. But - I’m not teaching now and my Vitamin D levels are stable. There are other factors at play this year but am I now drawing the conclusion it’s the light. Whether I actually have diagnosable SAD I don’t know, but regardless the remedies are the same. So I, along with many others rejoiced when the sun returned this week. There may have been joyful squeals. I felt like I could breathe properly.

Blue skies, sunshine, and a dog walk on the downs.

A few weeks ago, back when we still had light evenings I wrote a post about an Autumnal nature toolkit to spotlight the good in this season. I sound really positive!

A nudge from Autumn

And I am, I do love Autumn, but I wrote that when we had light evenings and the sun still had it’s hat on. I could think about the positives rather than the negatives outweighing them. I could merrily dole out advice to others without remembering that it can be really hard. I still believe the ideas can help, but then I forgot my own advice. Then I realised autumn was running away and I was in danger of missing its jewels. I’ve spent way too much time on the sofa wrapped in blankets - a valid coping strategy but not at the expense of getting outside. I’ve also not liked any of the art I’ve been doing recently and realised it was probably due to a lack of real life inspiration. As a nature inspired artist, I take lots of photos and have sketchbooks of ideas from my green (outdoor) sketching, but I need a regular top up of the real thing. Time to combine the two needs.

I felt drawn towards leaves, because, well - autumn leaves! The colours, the shapes, and the mosaics they form on the forest floor. One of my favourite local spots is an old estate which is now owned by the council. There are lots of non-native specimen trees such as maples which bring a rich tapestry of colour. I led a Green Sketching workshop there a couple of weeks and they didn’t let me down.

Maple helicopter seeds and a mosaic of fallen leaves

So this week, we went searching for autumn’s positives. The sun was almost shining, and there was a pleasant chill in the air (I like being wrapped in fleeces and scarves). We peered at architectural seedheads, marvelled at vivid sweetie like berries and collected fallen leaves with intricate patterns and the full range of autumnal hues. I had a plan!

I’d been reminded by

Ali Edwards

about pressing autumn leaves to preserve them - at least long enough to draw them rather than ending up with piles of crunchy leaf litter on my table!

October Nature Diary (2024)

I tucked them inside layers of paper under my huge art encyclopaedia that doubles as a press. It feels like some kind of magic which enables the simple physics of weight to stop them from curling and crisping. And then they sat there. It felt like they were glaring at me, urging me to do something with them! In the end, it was wanting to write this post that motivated me to get my art stuff out. Whatever works!

I’ve seen some beautiful realistic paintings and drawings of autumn leaves, but that was beyond me this week, I needed an easier way back in. I also wanted to stay in my sunny living room rather than my dark, north facing dining room/art studio. I needed my pipette, bamboo pen, ink and watercolours on the living room floor with Bridget Dog looking confused at what I was doing! Process not perfect.

If you just want to play, then I highly recommend continuous line drawing, all you need to think about is the shapes and the movement of your hand across the page. It is simply drawing without taking your pen/brush/tool off the page. I know it sounds scary and you do need to let go of the outcome but I find it really freeing. I did have to slightly cheat at first as my bamboo pen doesn’t hold much ink but I was still keeping it simple. It was much easier with the pipette. My eye traced its way around the leaf shape as my hand drew the outline. I then went a step further, inspired by an activity we did in a recent writing circle with

Beth Kempton

and layered different leaf shapes on top of each other. That turned into a bit of a fun brain puzzle! Try it!

First 2 photos using the bamboo pen, then using the pipette. I'm using walnut ink but any liquid /ink stuff will work.

Autumn also summons up a warming, rich colour palette. Sepias, russets, crimsons and ochres. I’ve started a sketchbook purely for playing with colours so another happy half hour was spent mixing and comparing watercolours against their real life muses. And who knows, it might later show up in a painting, or it might just have been a lovely time playing with paint.

Colour matching autumn leaves with watercolour

This post seems to have been a noticing, creating with and nudge from nature all in one. Maybe it has set a seed in your mind that nature can offer something positive to help with these dark days? If you can, try to get outside, in your garden if you have one, or a walk around the block. Maybe doodle some autumn leaves, or snap a photo of one that catches your eye. And those of you in the Southern Hemisphere, squirrel this away for a few months time.

Let me know if you find inspiration from these Autumnal jewels. I love to hear about your nature noticings.

Until next time