January 2025 Inspiration: Books, Illustrators, Films & Other

Can’t believe I'm actually writing this post still in January and not late as usual. I read not much really but I found so many interesting things - I'll try to share them all today.

Reading:

Great works of Naive Art by Doreen Ehrlich. It’s a nice book with quite a few great artists to explore, even though there’s not much information about them. I found quite a few wonderful artists there. One of them is Alfred Wallis, who was a fisherman in Cornwall and he painted really beautiful boats after his wife’s death. Also, I loved the ‘Lavender’ painting by Margaret Loxton, it’s dynamic and peaceful at the same time. And of course, Grandma Moses, her art is just stunning!
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan. I believe this book is so famous you probably don’t need any special introduction. I just love reading it.
Becoming a Successful Illustrator by Derek Brazell & Jo Davies. This book is full of practical tips on how to promote work, find clients and run a business as an illustrator. It is quite inspirational and has great ideas to try.

Everything else:

All kinds of boats. Have you ever noticed how beautiful, colourful and detailed they are? I started this year with a few trips to the fishermen's villages and got really inspired by the boats, so I sketched a couple of those when I had time.
Beatrice Alemagna' Talk on OFFSET Dublin 2018. I love everything Beatrice Alemagna creates and it was very interesting to listen to this speech.
Short documentary about the art of Lotte Reiniger. I was speechless when I saw how detailed and thoughtful her work is! Absolutely stunning.
Harlequin by Lotte Reiniger (1931). Can you imagine how much time and effort is in this piece?
Chip Kidd’s talk from The Design Studio session at TED2012. Very inspirational and fun speech about book covers.
A Man on the Inside (2024). Short Netflix series about a man who becomes a private investigator in a nursing home to find stolen jewellery. Don’t want to spoiler much but I just loved this series for how people are shown there with all kinds of emotions and stories.
Arrietty (2010). A Studio Ghibli animation about tiny people - the borrowers - and how they try to survive in the human world. It brings up the topic of the coexistence of different creatures and how important it is to be open and kind to the world around us. It’s so beautiful and kind, like everything by Studio Ghibli.
Creamy Vegan Broccoli Soup. You might know how I love cooking. It inspires me a lot and I believe it’s a huge part of my life as I’m trying to heal and keep my body nurtured and energised. This soup is so perfect for the winter and I think adding beans into it makes all the difference. It's just soo good!
Knitting Ingrid Sweater (pattern by PetiteKnit). It’s a very beautiful design and goes quite easily even though I used another stitch at the beginning (mostly because I was distracted by the movie I was watching at the same time). I almost finished knitting the body so hopefully, I will have enough time left to finish and wear it until the warmer weather appears here.

I hope you found something interesting here and wish you all the most beautiful rest of the week!

Anna