♥ ♥ ♥ 50 + Days of Sketching Daily!!! ♥ ♥ ♥

I've been sketching every day for over 50 days now. Yay! Double and triple yay!!! 

Photo taken by my husband of me sketching a few days ago.

My long running M.O. was to show up for sketching when I felt like it or had to get a project done; extended creative draughts of not creating for days or weeks that were filled with self-doubt, imposter syndrome, self-deprecation, leaving a wake of unfinished art challenges, missed deadlines, excuses and resentments. And that wasn't fun. Sketching was exciting when I picked it up in 2019, but recently not so much. I blamed stress, fatigue, depression, over extending myself and a growing dispassion for deadlines. I wrapped up last year feeling incredibly drained and it lagged significantly into this year. 

To return to joy in creating, I had a sense that I needed to just show up and sketch; that it had to be loose and practical, and that I had to enjoy it to make it a long term practice.  AKA: focus on the next right step rather than finger pointing at the past. I've been mostly successful in finding this place of sketch-able-ness. Sadly, I keep catching myself saying things like "it's not like I'm creating anything to write home about" and I really have to be careful when I think anything like that. I try hard to not engage in negative self talk and that one is a doozy. It sounds honest and humble but it's really a self-jab. 

My latest sketching practice most often includes loosely sketching with Tombow brush markers followed by outlining the brush strokes with a thin black Pitt pen. Single line sketching is also big on my radar. It's delightfully soothing. And I look forward to it every day.

Below are a few of my favorite sketches from the last couple of weeks. Some of the sketches are from reference photos in books, some from photos of recent activities

Left: elephant. Right: seahorse.

Left: crab apples and a basket. Right: blue ringed octopus (I finished the main outline and realized I liked it just as it was). 

Left: Sophia and Marcelo picking grapes. Right: five gallon buckets of picked grapes. 

Sometimes but not often, I just sketch in black ink. The holly hocks on the left is an urban sketch; the other four are from photos on social media.

Left: Parisian rooftop scene. Right: holly hocks (I really love sketching hollyhocks!).