Feet up. Pencil down.

Yowza, what a couple months it's been!  Gratefully, no serious illness or drama, just lots of office reorganizing, great mountains of farm work and endless house maintenance as we prepare to sell my father-in-law's house.  Art was the forgotten, sullen face at the bottom of the totem pole.  Barely home, I was simply not in sketching mood.  With some rare and annoying exceptions, creative folks live on a roller coaster of "Look what I've been doing.  I'm kicking some sketching/painting/sculpting butt!" then "I don't wanna' draw.  Don't know what to do.  Don't know why I even try.  I suck."  Whiners.

Anyhoo, after the May cycle drawing, I did basically zero art.  Sketchbook Skool Stretching was set aside as life became uber busy - for 2 months.  Then those pesky SBS people came up with Playing - a frolicking class of just plain goofing around with art supplies.  Oh, alright already!  Once again, SBS grabbed me by the ear and pulled me back to the sketchbook.

On July 4, two days prior to class starting, it was time to wake up ye ole art bones.  I've been working through inching through ignoring four of my many art improvement books for awhile: Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, Drawing Lab, Art Escapes, and One Watercolor a Day.  Can't pick just one.  I excel at indecision.  I grabbed the four, wrote each book's next exercise/project on my white board for all to see, and proceeded to actually do something!  First, Art Escapes - 1 minute sketches in pre-drawn frames took little time and captured itty bits of the studio.  Then, Drawing Lab - several rather awful gesture sketches of our 16 year old dog as she aimlessly wandered through the house. But, hey, I actually did something.

That evening, it was time for our annual sit-in-the-back-of-the-pickup-waiting-for-fireworks picnic and I sketched as the light faded away.  No instructions required - just me doing my artist thing.

Today's post was intended as a catch up for the past few weeks of arting, but it'll grow quite long.  I excel at wordiness.  You can't imagine how long these posts are before I viciously edit them.

Come back soon for the continued initial persistence, the miraculous and wonderful opportunity (okay, not actually miraculous) that kept me from SBS, and how Playing is playing out.  (Heh heh.  Clever, she is.)

What I did on my Summer(ish) Vacation

I returned yesterday from a mother/daughter adventure.  Mom missed the September trip, so the two of us flew to California and spent several days with my sister & brother-in-law.  Traveling with an "older" short lady with one bum knee slows you down - in a good way.  I drew quickly when out and about.  However, plenty of recovery time at my sister's house let me slow down and fill more sketchbook pages.

California plants, California cats, California seagulls and a Colorado mother were added.  Plants are less interesting, but better models.  They don't reposition endlessly or flit away in the wind.

Four busy cats would not sit still for the artist - until Dr. Macaroni finally dozed off in just the right spot at just the right time.  The quirky karate dude above him is a small bookend... that never moves and was a delight to sketch in indigo blue pencil.

I'm currently enrolled in Sketchbook Skool "Stretching" and one assignment is blind contours.  This page happened as Mom chatted with my sister, oblivious to my attempts.  Of course she looks nothing like this.  Blind contours are just plain hilarious.

The tiny gesture sketch below is in my tiny Pentalic journal (no bigger than a deck of cards).  I had finished drawing a nearby statue and then caught up with these two.  I stopped for a minute to swiftly sketch the tall sunshine-loving daughter and her short doting mother.  I looked at this afterwards and wanted so badly to fix & refine, but resisted.  These few inaccurate lines capture the moment just fine I think.

I managed to add at least a few pages every day, including departure day.  Airports are jam packed with people looking down - phones, laptops, books, knitting, sleeping.  Most are obliviously willing subjects.  The man below sat directly opposite of me.  He looked up as a fellow traveler brushed by him and seemed grumpy to us.  Then he was engrossed in his book.  He had a deliciously bushy face and I had to pull out my pen & paper.  He never looked up as I sketched.  As I finished, Mom quietly asked "Are you going to show him?"  "Um, no, he seems grumpy."  I whispered back to her.  Minutes later the woman next to me addressed the hairy, grumpy man as her husband.  I don't know if she noticed or appreciated my artistic rendering or if he was actually grumpy.  Regardless, I appreciate his perfect posing.  It nudged the pen into my hand one more time.  I added a few more down-turned faces before our flight was called.  Then it was homeward bound for me, Mom & my sketchbook mementos.

Go Figure!

I'm baa-aack!  I'm crawling out of the slacker rut thanks in part to two kind of big deals.  First, my home studio room is really coming together - more on that later.  Second, tonight I attended ... drum roll please... an open figure drawing session!  What?!  Did that just happen?  Yes indeedy!  Thanks to a fellow got-my-art-degree-ages-ago artist friend who knows more creative people than I do.  We both went for the first time tonight and I was simultaneously nervous & excited.

How'd it go?  Quite well I think.  No masterpieces, but I'm going simply for practice.  Yes, I returned to sketching a couple of years ago, but figure drawing is a whole new ballgame.  With a 30 year span between college class and tonight's efforts, the charcoal stick is rather rusty and my drawing joints were creaking.  No matter.  Despite the frustration at my mediocre efforts, it was massively satisfying to work back into the graphite groove.  The next session is in two weeks.  I'm going back.  I kinda' can't believe this is a thing I get to do now.  Somebody pinch me.

1 minute warm up gesture drawings.  Charcoal on newsprint.

And a longer pose - about 30 minutes.  My perfectionist told me not to share, but I ignored her.  This is all about artistic growth.  There's plenty of room for that.

 

PS or disclaimer or notice or something - In the interest of the model's privacy and my own modest tendencies, figure drawing efforts shared here will be limited to more generic, unidentifiable sketches.

Slacker

I'm in a rut.  I apologize in advance for this relatively blah post, but the artist is not always happy or motivated.  Journeys tend to have stretches of boring highway, so...

Perhaps it's the Inktober challenge.  Perhaps it's just my normal irritating stop & go habit.  Perhaps I need a muse.  Perhaps I'm recovering from family Thanksgiving hubbub.  Perhaps the monkey is babbling in my ear.  Perhaps I'm just lazy.  Whatever haps it was, I barely drew in November.  There were a few random sketches and a weekend of illustrated journaling while visiting relatives.  Yawn.  I am a couch slug at this moment.  I have books to read, errands to run, sketching to do!  Sigh.  I'm not even motivated to share my travel journal.

How to break out of this do-nothing rut?  Crud.  I should just start doodling.  Instead my pen will probably wind up making some short term goals.  Maybe I'll be inspired?  Maybe I'll simply draw?  Hold that thought.  I gotta' go buy dog food.  Ah, the exciting tales of an artist-in-training.

Esteem

We interrupt your regularly scheduled inktober post for this rambling public service announcement...

Life isn't fair.  Some people are mean.  Take away their power.  Let go & live your life!

There seems a persistent theme in life, and especially in art circles.  "I was told I'm awful, so I can't ________."  It pops up as "the monkey" in our SBS discussions.  Who do you blame?  How do you overcome it?  The discussion ebbs & flows.  I had some brilliant thoughts about this.  As brilliance goes, it was a flash & I forgot the rest.  Dang.  Here's what I remember.

1) I have the power.

I was fortunate to have supportive parents and an art teacher who cheered me on.  College professors were relatively kind.  I was blessed.  However, I was also a shy awkward geek with a few close friends.  We were sometimes antagonized and mostly ignored by the "cool" kids.  We didn't let them rule our lives.  I still liked school.  I still participated.  Sure, I often felt sorry for myself, but that's called being a teenager.  Eventually I realized the only one who could make me feel better about me... was ME.  You know - you have to love yourself before others can - stuff like that.  Does that mean it's all sunshine & daisies now?  Of course not.  That annoying inner critic is always lurking.  A good support system helps, but I'm the only one who truly has the power to soften that voice.

2) Teachers/parents/humans are NOT all horrible because one of them was crappy to you.

A recent Sketchbook Skool assignment revolved around drawing your first day of school from imagination.  Many drew a less-than-great memory of mean teachers and /or critical parents.  My kindergarten & 1st grade teachers were kind.  My 2nd and 3rd grade teachers were completely awful.  One slapped a friend right out of her chair.  4th through 12th were mostly good, some great, none awful, well, except the monotone government teacher.  I've compared notes with friends and - public or private - some teachers suck & some teachers were miraculous, with a whole variety in between.  Pat yourself on the back for surviving the inept.  Report the awful.  Thrive with the good.  Isn't that really how it is with grownup life?  We share this world with some horrid evil people and some incredibly saintly folks.  I believe the rest of us fall in between and weigh the scale more heavily towards good.  You just have to look closely and SEE the human being in the sour faced stranger at the post office.  And, of course, behind the wrinkles in the mirror.

You have the power.  Life is beautiful, if you let it be.

Fossil Walk

Yesterday was National Fossil Day and our university museum declared it a free day.  My college self sketched in this museum eons ago.  I've always wanted to go back.  Also, I wasn't able to fully participate in Sketchbook Skool's  museum drawing lesson last April.   The planets aligned & pages of fossils & fur are now in my sketchbook.

6:30 pm  Gather sketchbooks and pens.

6:45 pm  Walk through museum doors with anxiety and excitement.

6:50 pm  Meander... Where to start?

6:52 pm  Empty area found.  With my back to a corner & Roz' warm up mantra in my ear, commence sketch of hugemongous leg bones.

6:55 pm  Two college guys appear nearby.  I start on a whale-ish skull and am distracted - hoping they ignore me.  Mojo gained is quickly fading & I move on.

Other than the fun coincidence of seeing my daughter's college friends, I was alone for about 30 glorious minutes.  Just me and some very old and very skinny buddies.

Then the program for kids ended and a constant trickle of families flowed through the museum.  I need to work on maintaining focus in the midst of varying distraction.  One more page of bones after the mammoth and I moved on to furry specimens.

I intended to sketch people too, but the kids were in zoom mode and I stuck with fur & antlers.  Six pages added and 40 minutes till closing.  The sketching bug was giving way to the food & couch bug.  I wrapped up with a page of blind contours.  Fun stuff.  A yearly museum pass sounds like a pretty cool deal right now.

Oh, and I'm counting these three pages for #inktober 14, 15 & 16.  Halfway there!

August, September, Inktober

While in the time-sucking land of Facebook this afternoon, I clicked a link to the October sketching challenge Inktober.  I'm in.

The idea is to create an ink drawing every day in October and then share it online with the hashtag inktober.  I know me.  This is not so simple.  First, I'm awful at follow through.  Second, I spend ridiculous amounts of time editing a post.  Third, the next round of Sketchbook Skool starts Friday, further limiting "idle" time.

My house. My rules.

1.  Sketch in ink every day - any size - any pen. 

2.  Post the sketches every 3 days, so we should wind up with 10 updates by Halloween.

3.  No dessert until a sketch is done.  I'm serious about this.  Don't test me.

4.  If it just can't happen one day.  Don't give up.  Pick up a pen and get busy on the next day.

Join me.  At least a few of you artsy people know you can do this.  I can also hear some of you saying "Nope, I can't draw."  First, I don't believe you.  Second, okay, then just doodle.  Try some zentangles or stick figures.  Think of it as art therapy.

Here we go!

Happy Artiversary!

I have been artistically trekking for TWO WHOLE YEARS!

(September 2012 - The Beginning)

My state-of-the-journey essay filled the screen moments ago.  Progress made.  Pride.  Slacking off.  Guilt.  Surprises.  Disappointments.  The blasted inner critic.  Blah blah, blah blah blah.

It was going to be a fabulous, epiphany-inspiring masterpiece.  Then, I got bored.

Instead of that...

In a nutshell, (but not a walnut shell - my tongue will itch):
Before, with the exception of a few short months, I didn't draw for 25 years.  Silly me.  Now, with the exception of a few days/weeks here and there, I've been drawing for over two years.  Not doing as much as I imagined, but way more than five-years-ago me would've imagined.

I kind of feel uneasy when a post has too much me me me in it, but then, it's my blog and my journey.  I do want to inspire... but today...

I ROCK!

(And, so does every one of you who continue encouraging me... sorry, had to add that.)

When Nobody's Looking

The recent trip to California was relatively short and jam-packed.  I don't like to hold up the crew, so sketched briefly here and there.  One morning, however, I woke up very early and couldn't go back to sleep.  The sun had just cleared the horizon when I started on the view from our room.

There were a gazillion boats behind these two, but this will do.

Then, a few days ago, my husband needed help on the farm.  Mechanical difficulties after I arrived gave me unexpected time to fill.  Out came the pocket sketchbook and a freebie ballpoint pen - the only drawing supplies I had with me.  That would do.

You don't need exciting subject matter or fancy supplies to take advantage of the waiting moments - just something to draw on and something to draw with.  That's it.  That'll do.

Stop... Go... Pennzoil

My son and I have done this routine since he was a kid.  "Stop" will be said or overheard for whatever reason.  He or I will then say "go" and the other one "Pennzoil."  I could text "stop" to him today & the shtick would continue.  If you remember past Pennzoil commercials, you'll understand.  If not, you're totally perplexed right now.  Sadly, I can't find any links/videos of this to share.  Is this relevant to the subject matter of today's post?  Kinda' sorta' maybe.  It's stuck in my head, so there it is.

Anyhoo... Every so often I have to fess up to slacking off.  I am drawing more, but in spurts.  I gain & lose momentum like a wimpy car on a mountain road.  My rolling stone gleefully flies down the hill and then settles in a nice little rut in the valley.  Start, stop, start, stop... You get the idea.  Two years of progress & it's still a struggle.  I kind of think most creatives deal with this.

What distracts me?

The dog, the cat, the husband, Facebook, chocolate, email, laundry, snail mail, housework, IMing my sister, the weather, the blogosphere, the kids, paperwork, books, chocolate, bills, blog posting, YouTube, errands, cooking, the newspaper, TV, chocolate, the internet, the sunset, the fly on my knee.. it goes on pretty much endlessly.

Of course some of this is necessary, but many times it's just the inner critic pulling my sleeve, pointing out what I could be doing that is less challenging.  The Voice nags, nags, nags - "You have more important things to do.  You're ignoring the cat/dog/husband.  Stop being selfish.  Art doesn't really matter.  Don't start - it will suck anyway.  It's more fun to BUY art supplies."  

The ONLY way to shut it up is to hit mute and sit my butt down and start.  There really isn't a shortcut.  There is no easy button - just do, do, do!  That makes you want to sing doesn't it?  Okay, now I'm humming.

Scene Three

On a recent Friday evening my phone dinged at me - "Hey, do you have plans for tomorrow or Sunday?"  Hmmm, what will I be getting myself into?  Isn't that what we all think when an ambiguous question pops up?  Or... is that just me?  Oops.

Anyway, we had a Saturday cycle trip planned, but I was free Sunday and replied as such.  I soon discovered my friend Kristi had volunteered to paint 3 small background panels for the community theatre.  She was requesting my "artistic talents."  My initial reaction was, well, YIKES!  Me?!  Can I really be that much help?  The only large art I'd done was the whimsical sidewalk chalking last fall.  However, one of the themes here is to try new creative ventures, so I agreed.

a fireplace palette.

We met on a Sunday afternoon to begin what would take three additional evenings to complete.  The "small" backgrounds were 8 foot panels.  Small in theatre world I suppose, but not to this gal.  The musical was Into the Woods and we were charged with creating Cinderella's house/fireplace, a baker's shop/oven, and Jack's house/shack.  Thankfully, Kristi had a few ideas to get us started and we planned our attack with pencil & brush.


I painted Cinderella's fireplace.. stone by stone by stone.

Kristi tackled the baker's shop... layer by layer by layer.

                        

Working on the baker's oven.

We teamed up for the third panel - Jack's shack.  I roughed out the sketch and laid down the initial wood grain of the boards.  The next night  Kristi added detail to the wall and floor while I painted the window boards.  I think this panel had the best end result.  The team effort was a blast and there was plenty of chit chat.  Kristi was an art major as well and we tossed around mutual artist issues - like how intimidating it is to start something totally new on the page or canvas.  Those discussions were punctuated with comments on the project at hand - "Hmm, should I use another color?"  "What are you thinking?"  "How about I add a shadow here?"  That kind of stuff - bouncing back and forth as we worked.   

This project was time consuming and I was exhausted when we left each evening, but it was a fun experience.  The occasional complimentary cast member was a nice bonus - a nice confidence booster.  (And NO, I do not want to be a regular set painter.  Seriously, not.  Well, maybe I would help a waaaaays down the road.  Now, it's back to paper and small canvas - which are small in reality, not just in theatre terms.)

The first two panels on stage.  This was the last night we painted, so didn't get to see all three together.

All "finished."  For an artist - it's really never finished.  You just run out of time.

Now wasn't that a productive way to procrastinate my Sketchbook Skool homework?

Happiness is...

My husband called me yesterday while I was helping a friend paint sets for the community theatre.  It's been a fun, but time-consuming challenge.  More on that later.

Me - Hello.
Hubby - Hello!!
M - Hello?!
H - Helloooo!!! .... Who is this? (our conversations tend to start out goofy)
M - Your wife.
H - You must be painting.
M - Why? Can you hear the noise here?
H - You sound happy.  You sound happiest when you're painting.

It's an exaggeration since I don't paint often, but I love that he said it.  Later in the evening we were out on the cycle.  At one point, while increasing speed, he leaned in with great gusto and swiftly switched gears several times.  When we got to cruising speed, he briefly put his hands up and did a slow ninja chop in the air.  I chuckled.  Yeah, cycle-riding makes him happy.

I Can Sketch 65 (mph)

Intro:  Bought a Harley last year.  (back story here)  Trips planned.  Short-ish rides happen.  And, well... old butts need comfier seats and better suspension.  Traded for touring cycle.  Wider backrest (couch) for me.  Backrest and better seat for him.  Suspension is smooooth!

The past few months were too worrisome and busy to ride much.  On Sunday, my husband's first fatherless Father's Day, he said "Let's get on the Harley."  It was time for some two-wheel therapy.  

I've pondered sketching while riding, especially with the new comfier set up.  Too windy?  Too bumpy?  Would I feel secure?  Only one way to find out.  I stuffed a Moleskine Cahier and a pen in my jacket.

Cruising along in the open air behind my steady hubby is nice relaxing good for the soul.  The countryside rolls by and random thoughts float through my brain.  Fifty miles into the ride, out came the pen & sketchbook.  Wiggly lines, but not too bad.  The road got a little rough while drawing my driver's right arm.  (Okay, the suspension has it's limits.)  The lines went all kinds of wonky and then I laughed - hysterically.  With a grin, I put the pen away.  I will most certainly be cycle sketching again.

I shared this adventure with Sketchbook Skool classmates.  They think I'm brave or trusting or crazy - maybe all three.  That makes me laugh too.  In real life I'm kind boring - introverted and all about safety (hence the helmet).

Crisis and Recovery

My pop-in-law has been hospitalized for nearly a month now.  It's been a very tough ride for him and difficult to watch.  However, within a week he will be released to a nursing facility for continued recovery and rehab.  This is wonderful news!

The tractor sketch in the previous post was done hours before we took him back to the hospital in April.  Since that time, my heart hasn't been in a creative place.  While my sisters-in-law were in town & on hospital duty one evening, I rode along to help my husband with farming tasks.  A little time sitting in the pickup resulted in the first pages in 3 weeks.  My fingers felt heavy and the voice in my head was awfully loud about how not-so-great it was, but whatever.  In the end, it was a bit of needed therapy.

These are both in my little Moleskine - first pen & watercolor of a houseless farm in the distance.  Those little brown things are box cars, which are often used for storage.  This paper doesn't like watercolor washes.  The second page was fairly quick - recording what I could see in the side mirror as my husband finished up the field.  Didn't have time to add the bottom half.

There is hope again.  We look forward to some sense of normalcy and a little bit of boredom.  As I told my sister today, considering the past two months, boring is awesome!  Maybe we can get back to the house updating soon and I can move into the studio room and my pop-in-law can sit in his living room again and cuss about the wheat price.

My Oxygen Mask

Rollercoaster medical stuff.  Ongoing home renovation.  Sketchbook Skool.  Everyday life.  In all honesty, it can be a bit much.  I whined in Skool that it's been difficult finding time for daily journaling and when I did have time, my mind was in "No" mode.  "How do I fight this?"  My query was answered by Danny Gregory - our main Skool instructor.  He kindly responded that journaling during critical times can be the best times:  "Making art may be the best way to slow down, take a breath, and unwind. It's not selfish if it makes you feel in balance. 
Failing that, give yourself a break. If it's not a welcome distraction or a way of getting insight, then maybe you are seeing trying to draw as yet one more burden, one challenge too many."

I read that and my first response was "Hey, I don't want to give up!"  Then, "Well, maybe I should back off."  Then, "No, I need to rediscover the zen in sketching."  So, I picked up my small Moleskine and a pen, walked into the garage, and sat on the floor.  My husband likes home repair and carpentry, but I find it mostly tedious.  He's seriously crazy busy with work and worry about his Dad.  The baseboards must be done before the carpet guys come on Monday.  So, I'm sanding baseboards.  I needed to sketch the blasted sander.  As usual, I started out tense and annoyed.  However, each mark was less forced and a certain calm settled in.  Adding the bits of watercolor balanced the scales and I was ready to return to reality.  Sketching with pen is a little wonky, but I honestly don't care. 

In case of emergency -

Put your oxygen mask on first so you can then help those around you.

Sketchbook Skool Bravery

Home renovation continues along with worrying about my pop-in-law's medical issues.  We're on another roller coaster ride.  C'est la vie.

Along with the ceiling painting and pharmacy runs - Sketchbook Skool started Friday.  This six week course is taught by six different artists who keep impressive illustrated journals.  I'm really looking forward to seeing the videos of their processes and learning new techniques.  Week one is already quite inspiring in spite of my lack of homework time.

I finally did a little sketch yesterday and an illustrated page this evening.  If this is going to be a long term habit, it needs to be less time consuming than the pages I did for last year's online watercolor journaling class.  So, I tried less for perfection (whatever that is) and more for just getting the image on paper and adding journaling.  This took maybe 30 minutes.

I was feeling awfully intimidated from the moment I entered the class a few days late and saw all the absolutely fantabulous pages, some by very seasoned artists.  Then I got over it.  I had an inkling I wasn't the only one, so I posted the following to the group's Facebook page:

An observation on feeling intimidated: 

The fantastic work of my klassmates was ridiculously intimidating at first.  I'm a little out of practice, but not a beginner.  Still, I kept thinking "I have no time.  How can I measure up?"  I've seen some similar comments.  I finally kind of yelled at myself "We are all unique & this is NOT a competition!"  Then I did a 5 minute sketch between errands.  Skool is about learning a wonderful lifelong habit.  In addition to our teachers, we learn from each other.  Every artist has their OWN voice and journey.  How boring if we were all at the same point of the journey and drawing in the same style. 

I'm blown away by the beginners diving right in.  You rock!  Anyone out there still hesitating?  Just start - pen to paper and then share.  Don't imagine your page has to be perfect (that's impossible anyway) or even recognizable.  It's YOUR life and YOUR art.  You know we'll be supportive and kind - offering advice when requested.  Get to it!

That was earlier this evening.  So far over 60 people have liked it and there are a bunch of "me too" comments.  Wow!  I guess it's obvious I wasn't the only one feeling intimidated.  By the way, some of my classmates really are brand new to drawing and they are doing fine.  So, random reader, you can do this too.  Grab a pen and slowly draw something simple.  Add a few words.  Illustrated journaling - it's a good thing.

Update:  127 likes and 37 comments.  Yeah, I'm definitely not alone.  Really digging the camaraderie.

Procrastination - Digitized & Immortalized

Eight weeks have zoomed by since I sent off the little brown book for the Sketchbook Project.  I searched their digital library today and my book is now digitized.  Eep!

I have not looked at the photos taken prior to sending the book - an attempt to make it seem "new" when finally viewing it online.  I began clicking through the pages...  Oh man, how I wish I'd not procrastinated away precious drawing time!  The cartoon figures made me want to yell "I really can draw!"  Sigh.  Another lesson learned.  Motivation for next year perhaps, or at least to keep on sketching and hopefully improving.

If there is a bright spot, the middle isn't too bad - including the appearance of my duck-talking groom.  Regardless of my regrets, here's my sketchbook story in all it's procrastination glory:

An Artist's Tale -or- Procrastination is my Super Power

The Sketchbook Project mobile library will be traveling around the US starting this month and continuing into the fall.  I would love to see the work of other artists in person, but alas, it does not stop nearby.  If anyone else is interested in seeing my book or any of the many, many others, this link will take you to the full schedule. 

Dread Not, Draw More

Looking at the past few weeks, it might appear this artist is veering off course or losing focus... or something.  Not to worry.  I'm still trekking - still finding my way - still making it up as we go.

I had a minor epiphany last week.  You know when you're dreading something and that dread climbs on your shoulders and pulls down your arms until you grow exhausted from the weight of it?  Yeah.  That feeling kept hitting me as I contemplated a certain watercolor exercise.  Ridiculousness.  Some trepidation or discomfort is expected with new steps and I'm sure my inner critic was exaggerating the dread, but it was just too much.  Perhaps I was jumping in too far beyond my current abilities and comfort zone.  Whatever it was, I gave myself permission to step back and change course.   Hence the minor epiphany:  New paths will cause some anxiety, but they must also cause some excitement.  The good must outweigh the discomfort.

My goal is to do something to stay on the road every day.  Currently, I'm about 1/3 through Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain.  The exercises are not difficult, but they are revealing some intriguing things I never really thought about when I'm drawing.  I highly recommend this book to anyone with any desire to learn to draw or improve their skills.

My drawing table yesterday: Drawing on the Right Side workbook on the page I just completed, remnants from the Sketchbook Project and a small card my sis sent me.  The card illustration is a stick version of DaVinci's Vitruvian Man by Jeffrey Metzner.  Check him out here.  The animations are hilarious, especially The Scream.

Up close...

Several ongoing adventures are keeping me busy and I'll share them soon.  Right now, it's time to draw.

Cute Procrastination... or maybe Motivation?

Sunday:

We spent the weekend de-Christmasing inside the house.  I love overdecorating, so it takes awhile.  Sunday afternoon Milo plopped on my lap and actually stretched out towards me instead of the usual tail-in-the-face posture.  Aha - a chance to draw his face!  I barely started and he stretched.  Fortunately he settled in the same spot and I sketched a teensy bit more.  He stretched again... and again... and again.  Then promptly turned 180°.  Sigh.

Monday:

I could no longer resist the 50% off calendar sale at our local Hastings.  My husband is a sucker for coolers and flashlights.  I'm a sucker for sketchbooks and calendars.  I found a page-a-day word origins calendar to enrich our brains, a small desk calendar with separate pages for doodling, and this most adorable planner.

I'm not usually a sucker for cute things (except toddlers & pets), but this little thing is so freaking cute, it's entirely irresistible!

I didn't notice the goals page until I got it home - bonus!

The days are a perfect sketch/doodle size - big enough to record the day, small enough to not be intimidating.

Extra pages between the months have random uplifting quotes.

There are a bunch of blank pages at the end, some with titles like "Books to read" or "Places to go."  It's quite motivational.  Even the spine exhorts "Take me with you."  How fab is that?

Tuesday:

After multiple super chilly days, yesterday was in the upper 40's, so I finally took down the outside Christmas lights.  The highlight of the day, though, was picking up The Artist's Guide to Sketching by James Gurney and Thomas Kinkade.  This book was on my if-I-ever-get-rich list.  It is out of print and the cheapest used copy on Amazon is $139.  Yikes!  I put in a request through the interlibrary loan system and 2 weeks later here it is.  I finally cracked it open after supper last night and I'm already loving it.  I hope to stumble across a not so outrageously priced used copy someday - maybe on eBay.







Wednesday:

Half of the art supplies I ordered with my Christmas bucks arrived!  Woot!  I can't test them out just yet since I STILL haven't started on my Sketchbook Project pages.  That's right, I just shared a whole bunch of stuff that had nothing to do with what I SHOULD be doing.

I'll be creatively cramming over the weekend, but I now have a new, improved and hopefully quite brilliant and somewhat simple idea.  I'll let you know if it actually goes as planned by next Wednesday.

A Slacker and her Cat

With 2014 hours away, I would normally wrap up the past year.  That was mostly covered, however, in What a Difference a Year Makes.

Since October, this artist has been slacking off quite a bit.  A bit of sketching here and there, a touch of watercolor and the end of clay time.  All types of artists have periods with no desire to create.  Some keep plugging away and some go on hiatus.  I've mostly been on hiatus.  Perhaps those few months of extra stress and the time-consuming pottery class are to blame.  Or maybe I needed the time off.  Or maybe I'm just making excuses because it's difficult to make time for art every day when you're not in the mood.  It's easy to not pick up the pencil… work, family, cooking, cleaning, reading, TV, perusing art blogs… all those things can be easier than starting and failing and learning and failing and trying again.  My sister showed me this talk by John Cleese about what it takes to make your life more creative… space, time, time, confidence, and humor.  Yes, he mentions time twice.  You have to put in the time and be willing to play with the problems and ideas and not grab the first solution just to avoid the discomfort of indecision.  He's humorous and wise.  Go watch it.

On a lighter note - I received multiple art journey gifts for Christmas, one of which was a chair to sit at my art desk.  No more stealing the kitchen stool!  It took Milo less than a day to claim my new seat.

Apparently, I'm supposed to share… or just give it to him.  I have a feeling it's the latter.