Draw With Debbie

Draw With Debbie Drawing with a focus on playful experimentation. Avid sketchbook creator.

10/07/2026

L O S E T H E F E A R
Sometimes the best thing you can do is rip a drawing in half. This piece just wasn’t quite working. The composition felt too tall, centre too static. I could have kept fiddling around the edges… instead I tore straight through the middle.

Suddenly everything changed.

I began with random marks and collage, then drew back into the surface using ink, a foraged stick, charcoal, a white Woody pencil and a touch of green Inktense. But it wasn’t until I physically disrupted the drawing that it really came alive.

Reassembling the two halves created a stronger, more dynamic composition than the original could ever have been.

It’s a good reminder that creativity isn’t about protecting every mark you’ve made. Sometimes it’s about being willing to sacrifice a decent drawing in the hope of finding a better one.

Don’t be afraid to cut, tear, crop, paint over or completely reinvent your work.
It’s just a sheet of paper…! Nothing to fear.

The real work is learning to trust yourself.
What have you been afraid to change in your own work?

09/07/2026

P L A Y I S T H E W O R K
After three months away I’ve returned to what every artist knows awaits us - emails, admin, updating my website, filming a new online course. Wonderful things… but they don’t always leave much room for drawing.

And when you haven’t drawn for a while, getting started can feel surprisingly difficult. That’s when I give myself permission to play.

Not play as a reward after the “real work” is finished, but play as the real work. These drawings weren’t made with an exhibition or finished painting in mind. They began with no plan beyond making marks, responding to the flowers in front of me and following my curiosity. Ink ran where it wanted, collage interrupted the drawing, colour appeared almost by accident. One mark suggested the next.

This kind of open-ended exploration is where new ideas are born. It’s where I stop trying to make a good drawing and start paying attention to what the materials are telling me. The irony is that some of my strongest paintings begin this way.

We often think of play as unproductive, but for artists it’s essential research. It’s experimentation. It’s problem solving. It’s how we discover something we didn’t already know. Sometimes the most valuable thing you can make is a drawing with no agenda at all.

Do you give yourself permission to play?

01/07/2026

U N F O L D I N G • B A L I
Some places ask you to slow down.
I began this mixed media handmade concertina sketchbook while wandering through the ancient rice terraces of Bali, far from the busy tourist coast. Here, the landscape has been shaped over centuries by the subak - the remarkable system of sharing water that reflects the Balinese belief that people, nature and spirit are deeply connected.

Some of these pages were completed on location, while others evolved later back in the studio, guided by sketches, photographs and the vivid memories that drawing always leaves me with. I love that an unfolding book can grow over time, gathering together different moments and ways of seeing.

Rather than recording a single view, it becomes a visual journey. Every page flows into the next, just as one walk through a landscape leads naturally to another.

I finished this very book while filming my brand new online course, UNFOLDING, where I’ll show you how I create these handmade concertina sketchbooks - from folding the book and preparing expressive backgrounds to drawing on location, adding collage and bringing the pages together into one continuous story.

Every place has a story. This is Bali, unfolding.

UNFOLDING – my new online course – coming soon.
Excited!

24/06/2026

S C O T L A N D C A L L I N G!
Wild landscapes. Mountain light. Sketchbooks filled with memories. We can’t wait!

Join and in the Scottish Highlands in July 2027 for a week of fast, loose and expressive landscapes, with . Learn to work on location with confidence, embrace experimentation and create a sketchbook that tells your own unfolding story of Scotland.

An incredible creative adventure in an extraordinary place, shared with a group of like-minded artists. If the prospect of this is enticing you- don’t delay as spots are filling very fast…

For full retreat details and booking information via Uptrek, click the linktree link in bio.

D R A W I N G M A T T E R SI’ve been soaking up art in Paris this week and, perhaps unsurprisingly, it’s the drawings t...
29/05/2026

D R A W I N G M A T T E R S
I’ve been soaking up art in Paris this week and, perhaps unsurprisingly, it’s the drawings that have stayed with me the most. ➡️➡️ swipe for more

At the Fondation Louis Vuitton , the amazing curves and sails of Frank Gehry’s building felt like a drawing in space. His scribbles brought to life in an extraordinary way. Inside, I was fascinated by the work of Calder. His wire sculptures are essentially drawings in three dimensions - a line wandering through the air, creating form with the lightest possible touch. Calder was inspired by Paul Klee. It’s always interesting to trace back connections.

Then there were the Matisse drawings from the day before. So few lines. So much said.

It’s a good reminder that simple is not easy.
A confident line only looks effortless because it sits on top of years of looking, editing, refining and understanding what can be left out. .

Back at our apartment, inspired by all this, I set up some radishes, beans and garlic from the market and drew them directly in ink - no pencil, no safety net. Just looking, responding and letting the line find its way.

Drawing is often seen as preparation for something else - a painting, a sculpture, a finished work. But increasingly I think drawing is the thing itself. A direct record of attention. A way of thinking. A way of seeing.

Sometimes a single line can say more than a hundred careful brushstrokes. Agree? What do you think?

H E A T & P I C A S S OParis in a heatwave… seeking out the shady side of the street, leafy squares with a cool drink ...
27/05/2026

H E A T & P I C A S S O
Paris in a heatwave… seeking out the shady side of the street, leafy squares with a cool drink in hand and a slow morning looking at art. We escaped into the beautiful Picasso Museum today where the air conditioning - and the paintings - were equally appreciated.
➡️➡️swipe for a glimpse of my day - and my favourite paintings.

I loved seeing Picasso alongside works by Matisse, Cézanne and the powerful contemporary paintings of Henry Taylor . So many conversations across time about colour, form, humanity and emotion. Afterwards we lingered over lunch and then sat drawing in a nearby square while the city drifted by around us.

Travel always feeds the work in unexpected ways. Looking, walking, sketching, absorbing.

“Art is a lie that makes us realise truth.” - Pablo Picasso.

Day ended with wine, moules et frites. Perfect

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89 Chandos Street
Crows Nest, NSW
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