Inky Expressions

Welcome to my new blog! This first post is just a little introduction to me, the work I do and my vision for this blog/site.

I'm a teacher of ten years experience in primary school and in that time I have taught every year group and led English across 3 different schools. I have been using illustration to teach writing throughout my career and have amassed a great deal of knowledge as to how best to apply illustration to the teaching of writing, how to inspire writers and learners to both write and draw with their own creative voice.

In 2021 I was lucky enough to successfully publish my first children's book which I both wrote and illustrated. The book was published by Emira Press and received high praise by reviewers and children alike. I am hoping to publish many more books in the future and a sequel is already in the pipeline!

The 'Inky Expressions' page https://www.davidoatesartwork.com/single-project contains a selection of my illustrations that are perfect to use with your aspiring learners and get them inspired to write and create. These are free to clip/download and use in your learning environment.

My vision for the site is to provide a teaching and learning resource hub for educators that supports their teaching of writing and also help you to inspire a love of drawing in your learning environment.

At the moment I am working on a series of free ebooks with ideas for how illustration can be used in the classroom.