HeyJaredThe Quiet Blackbird
Chats on illustration, children’s books, creative voice, process, and freelance life, with a sprinkling of inspiration and cool finds.
- Indexed issues, last 90 days
- 5
- Latest publication
- Sep 27, 2026
- Audience
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- Earliest in this view
- Jul 15, 2026
Latest issues
In which nothing much happened (opens the original)
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I feel like I haven’t done much since the last Meanwhile, Cat.I’ve had three publisher meetings. One with the Ladybird team about my second picture book, and two with new publishers about brand new projects. So I kind of misled you. I have been working on things, I’m simply contractually prohibited from proving it.I’ve also spent several evenings being asked to look at approximately 500 things at once whilst trying to figure out the worst maps I’ve ever seen (even the teachers didn’t recognise t
The Art of Returning (opens the original)
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I don’t know exactly when it happened, but somewhere in the last two weeks I started wanting to draw again. It arrived in the itching of my fingertips, and in dreams, and with the urge to play with paint, and graphite, and ink. I found myself thought drawing, which to the normal folk who don’t think in pictures, is like seeing the processes and movements of drawing in your minds eye, I guess much like how you see snowboarders and gymnasts visualising their moves before they begin. And it made me
I Don’t Want To Draw Today (opens the original)
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I have officially failed at the 100-day drawing challenge.And the three-materials challenge.In fairness, I was trying to do both at once, whilst also juggling holiday childcare and willing my brain to come up with picture book ideas, so it probably wasn’t the most sensible decision. But I was feeling like I needed to draw more and I wanted to get back into the habit of drawing from observation. I also (and I’m being painfully honest here) thought it might be good for Instagram. I know I’m not su
Side A, Side B (opens the original)
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Two birthdays happened here this last fortnight. Neither mine, but both my own fault.My eldest turned eleven, which feels completely impossible because I’m fairly certain she was a baby last time I looked.I celebrated by dropping her birthday cake. It was going to be the most magnificent Star vs. the Forces of Evil cake. Fuelled more by audacity than any real skill, I spent 4 hours pretending I was on The Great British Bake Off, until gravity stepped in. There are definitely moments in life/pare
The Cat Wanted, The Cat Got (opens the original)
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It’s hot again.I know, this isn’t exactly groundbreaking news. We all know it’s hot, but being British it seems remiss not to at least acknowledge the weather. This week has been downright unforgiving for anyone who prefers their sketchbook not to stick to their arm.The only creatures that seem to have handled it with any sort of dignity are the swans.<a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!xTjX!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%
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