Tag: #Sketching

  • Return of the Sketchbook

    If there was one thing in life that I could fix, it would be to make it easier to hold on to good habits. I am great at creating and sustaining bad habits; I’m master at that. But good habits? Hell no. Even if I do follow the three-month rule, you know, if do anything for three months then it will become a habit; Even if I do that, for something that is good for me, if I take one day off, I will never return to that good habit.

    Case in point, and it’s not the gym, I used to be very good at drawing something just about every day in my sketchbook. A while ago, I remember reading a profile on the painter Chris Ofili, and in it Ofili described his daily routine which was that when he woke up in the morning, he would do a sketch. I thought that was a pretty good idea, and from my perspective, drawing a sketch everyday means that you are creative and accomplishing something, every day. So, I tried to keep that up.

    And sadly, I couldn’t. I go through periods where I’m on top of it. Especially with the kid, she has several sketchbooks, and it’s an activity that we can do together. But at some point, something comes up and the habit gets broken all over again. The current sketchbook that I have was started back in 2022. I’ve almost filled it up, but still, you know – there really isn’t an excuse for three years.

    So, today, I decided to get back on that horse. No more of looking at my sketchbook on my desk, gather dust. Nope. It’s time for me to get some more creativity flowing, even if the drawing is basic and simple. Getting started and creating the habit is the point, regardless of what the sketch looks like.

  • Creative Workout

    A long time ago, I read this profile on artist Chris Ofili in The New Yorker, way back in 2014. There is a lot of great stuff in it, but for some reason, I latched on to a paragraph where it describes how the artist does a sketch in 15 minutes every morning as a sort of warm up as he starts his day painting. That resonated with me, as I thought it showed an insight into how Ofili starts his process of being creative. It doesn’t just “happen” but has to be worked up to.

    I found it similar to a story I heard about John Steinbeck and his process. Somewhere between his second divorce and third marriage, when he was raising his two sons alone, he had a process of waking early, writing in his journal and composing letters, then getting his sons ready for school. Once the boys were off, he was ready to start working, until the boys came home.

    I have been thinking about these two artist lately, about their process, and how they “get started” each day. I have been trying to write a blog at the beginning of the day, or at least when the kid is in a remote class. I have even adopted doing a sketch, with the kid most days, to allow my head to think creatively, but in a different way. I sort of think of it as getting into shape; Training myself to think creatively. Since I cannot work on a project every day, I need to stretch creative muscles routinely.

  • Outlining: New Possibilities?

    I am working at staying productive for this month. I was able to blog, journal, and even got in some sketching time with the kid yesterday. It was a very creative day, more than normal for me. On the fiction front, I was able to spend a little time working on an outline for a novel that I have been kicking around for about two years.

    And working on the outline was rewarding, on a level that I didn’t know existed in me. I was working on character development, and trying to figure out how to build a foundation that these characters that they would either fight against or learn to accept. And as I worked on these characters in an outline form, a narrative theme started to reveal itself to me. The story is about three guys who form a band, and I always thought the theme was about learning follow your ambitions, even through failure. As I worked on the characters, I started to see that the theme was actually about being open to possibilities.

    Most of my good friends are following their dream, and some of them have been chasing it for twenty years, and to be honest, very few have achieved that ambition that set them out so long ago. But very few of them are angry and bitter about it. (I have met my fair share of bitter actors, so don’t get me wrong, I know that chasing a dream doesn’t equal happiness.) But what keeps my friends going? What keeps me going? Is it staying curious, and being open to new ideas and possibilities?

    I don’t know, but I want to explore it.