drawing

New paints = big fun

I bought myself a new pan of paints on Wednesday and decided to give them a try last night.

I did a few brushstrokes of paint on the page and, once they dried, I outlined them with black marker and little faces and antennae to create these fun little creatures:

A small drawing of stylized figures made from a brushstroke of paint with details added in marker
Image description: my small drawing of a series of creatures created by making a brushstroke with light orange paint and then outlining them/adding details with black marker. The figures are mostly rounded with big eyes and look like little ghosts or bugs, some have antennae. My initials and the date are on the right hand side.

I’m delighted by the one in the skirt. What a fun little dance they’re doing!

(Yes, I can be delighted by my own work, aren’t you? I didn’t know it would turn out so well.)

Index Card A Day 2022

I’m doing the Index Card a Day challenge front June 1- July 31 again this year. Even though it is only 3 days in, I feel invigorated by the process of relating to the prompts and figuring out what I can draw in response.

Yesterday’s prompt was peony and at first I felt a bit stuck because I couldn’t even remember what a peony looked like. Once I googled it, I had no idea how to draw it.

However, I decided to abandon all hope of doing it well and just aim for giving the impression of a peony with my drawing.

I think it worked out ok. 🙂

An index card drawing of three peonies surrounded by a Robertson Davies quote in green text.

Image description: an index card drawing of three pink peonies with a quote written in green in the spaces between the flowers, giving a slight suggestion of leaves. The quote reads “The little boy nodded at the peony and the peony seemed to nod back. The little boy was neat, clean and pretty. The peony was unchaste, dishevelled as peonies must be, and at the height of its beauty.(…) Every hour is filled with such moments, big with significance for someone.
Robertson Davies, What’s Bred in the Bone”

May 1: Low Key

I want a lot out of this month but I am trying to teach myself to add things slowly instead of trying to do everything all at once.

After all, I know that successful changes, new practices, come from starting small and building up.

BUT

I also know that jumping right into a bunch of new practices all at once feels good. I feel engaged and energetic and accomplished…until I run out of steam.

And despite the fact that I run out of steam EVERY SINGLE TIME, my brain still wants to chase that excited feeling of doing ALL OF THE THINGS.

Without the benefits of medication and experience, I would be planning to do more art, more writing, more exercise, more Taekwon-do, more house organizing, more everything all at once, starting right now, maybe half an hour of each, on top of what I already do each day.

It would be fun today but by the end of the week, I would be out of steam.

So, instead, I am layering all of those things into my life during May.

I will ‘touch’ each habit each day but only really focus on one at a time.

Let’s see how it goes.

?a view of a backyard patio with bare trees in the background
My patio and trees are on the same plan that I am – the basics in place but we’ll add new things a little at a time and let them grow. Image description: The view from one corner of my patio. A lawn chair is directly across from me and beyond that there are trees that don’t have any leaves on them next to my red shed.

I like firm guidelines

I always have trouble with vague guidelines.

I don’t mean to suggest that I can never wing it, or that I need strictly defined rules in every situation. That’s definitely not the case.

But since ADHD affects my perception of both my own efforts AND of what is enough in any given situation, I can have an extra struggle with choosing where to apply my efforts.

This ‘note to self’ is about creating a more defined guideline for myself.

A drawing of a robot in a yoga pose. The caption says ‘just pick a few battles, two maybe.’
Image description: a drawing of a robot in warrior II pose with a caption that reads ‘Note to self: Just pick a few battles. Two, maybe.’

Small Bits of Art

I’m doing the Index Card A Day art practice again this year and I’m having fun with the prompts.

And it’s so very true that creativity thrives under constraint…or at least that you can have a lot of fun when you have to channel your creativity in a specific way.

Here’s my response to the ‘snapdragon’ prompt:

A drawing of a fire breathing dragon in a flowerpot.
Image description: a drawing of a fire-breathing dragon growing out of a flowerpot. Text next to the drawing reads ‘Well, I was going to draw snapdragons but all those little seed packs look the same, you know?’