Art like a Giant Tortoise - Step by Step

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Sunday - 02 January 2022

I’ve gotten into the practice over the past couple of years that when I show up to work on one of my drawings, I’ll put everything else off to the side and put my attention to my project for at least 30 minutes. If I want to do more, that’s always good, but I tell myself to be there for at least the minimum time.

I continued with my ink drawing of a giant tortoise. I was thinking that I’d add some watercolor pencil in to add traces of color and to fill in some darker areas. I may still do that. I got caught up with how can I shade and shadow using a very fine point fountain pen. I played with how I held the pen and how much pressure I used on the paper. Today it was very easy to go past my 30 minutes. It also helped I was listening to Krista Tippett’s On Being podcast with Gordon Hempton, Silence and the Presence of Everything. I highly recommend it.

 

Progress on my pen & ink drawing of a giant tortoise.

Detail on the giant tortoise

 

New Year's Intentions

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Over the past year, I have showed up regularly to share things I’ve been working on to Instagram and Facebook. I thought that this year, I would also share regularly here on my own website. I don’t need to do much, or finish. Rather it’s more important that I arrive and do something. I’ve found that one of the reasons I take on very detailed, complicated projects is for the meditative aspect in working on them.

Saturday - 01 January 2022

I keep a collection of images that I am inspired by and would love to do something with someday. For today’s drawing, I continued a drawing of a giant tortoise that I started a while ago. I love all the textures and am interested in the challenge of how to draw all that using only a fountain pen. I may in the end add some color or ink washes to flood some of the darker spots but for the moment will keep to my fountain pen only.

 

Start of a giant tortoise drawing

 

Mental Reframing

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Some of my chocolate wrappers. Just some.

Some of my chocolate wrappers. Just some.

 

I had an opportunity to attend a two-part workshop this week, How to Tidy Up Your Life led by Lalita Ballesteros. The principles she talked about there were based from Marie Kondo’s work, The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up. I’ve read Kondo’s books but have never really put any of her suggestions into place. Lalita asked a question during the workshop this week that got me thinking and and appreciating the possibilities of a decluttered life.

The question was to not think about what you want to get rid of, but in a future life where you can picture the you you want to be and the lifestyle you want, what do you want to have with you?

I began thinking about the chocolate wrappers I’ve been drawing. I have such a large, untidy and unwieldy pile of them. Two weeks ago, I thought about decluttering and for one week I would draw one and at the end of the session, I’d throw away the wrapper. That was great for one week. Seven wrappers gone.

Unfortunately, my large, unwieldy pile still remains, not looking that much diminished. After the workshop this week, and considering this question of what do I want to have in the future with regards to my wrappers, I realized I want a sketchbook filled with drawings of chocolate wrappers. And once that sketchbook is complete, I don’t need to collect any more wrappers.

Identifying a boundary and limit to the extent of my project, has made me surprisingly pleased and happy. The paper clutter has been resolved for that thing. I will draw the wrappers that I like and when my sketchbook is done, no more wrappers are needed. I found this a really helpful reframing.

If you think about who you want to be and the life you’d like to lead, what things will you bring with you? What have you outgrown and no longer need?

Knowing Yourself

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AToomre 2021-09-10 Chocolate wrapper.jpeg
 

Knowing Yourself

Taking on a personal challenge or beginning a new habit can exciting. Just think of the possibilities! The change! And then, old habits show up. One thing that can help with learning that new skill or practicing the new habit is to be aware of what you already do. Be willing to have some stumbling on the learning path.

I've had more free time recently because I finished up my Amsterdam Dailies. One thing I've been wanting to do is to pare down my collection of chocolate bar wrappers. I collect them so I can draw them. The pile is a bit out of control though. I like to be fairly tidy, so I came up with a mini art and house-cleaning challenge for myself.

For one week, I will work on one wrapper a day, limit my time to about 30 minutes and see if I could get the essence of the wrapper design down on the page. One session per wrapper and the end of it, the wrapper goes out.

At the end of this mini-challenge week I wanted to have seven drawings done and have the pile of my wrappers be seven less. Repeat the week challenge as necessary over time.

Last night was my fifth drawing and my fifth wrapper. So far so good. Except that I went on auto-pilot. I enjoyed my drawing. I loved the wonky lettering. The colors were wonderful. The shapes not very complicated. And when the timer went off, I was not done.

Figuring out how to draw and color a complete picture in a short period of time is a skill. What a challenge!

If time is not an issue, I’m good at paying attention to details and rendering fairly accurately. For my mini challenge though, I have to experiment and try new things. I need to mix things up. Maybe I use fewer colors, use only pen, skip some details, work on a smaller piece or only a part, try mostly paint and little ink or pencil, use pencil instead of paint, or something else entirely.

Sharing this story is not to say that you can’t or shouldn’t continue to do the things that you enjoy and are good at, or that you need to beat yourself up if the new skill isn't smooth from the start (please don't). Rather, it’s being aware of how you usually approach things and figure out what parts of what you usually do will work and what new strategies to try out. Keep at it and be gentle with yourself.

What’s a challenge or habit you’ve taken on recently? What are you learning?

Summer Selfies and Don't Say No to Yourself First

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Summer Selfies with creative friends

Summer Selfies with creative friends

 

Hello! It's been a long while since I wrote my last blog post. I hope you have been well.

Over the past month or so, I've had the chance to travel twice, once to the Boston area and then to the Chicago area to see my parents, friends and colleagues. I made a point to try to meet as many people as I could while visiting. My friends and I had fun with taking selfies to commemorate doing something social and finally meeting in person after online workshops taken in 2020. So many smiling faces!! While away I also got in a little bit of touristing with my daughter before she starts at Roosevelt University in Chicago next week. I am officially now an empty nester. It's strange not having her in the neighborhood. 

Recently I came across a piece of advice on life which I connected with and have since been trying to follow as best I can. It is: Don't say no to yourself before you've even tried. Let other people say no to you. It is very easy to self-select yourself out of the picture by not applying, not trying, not submitting, or not asking because of fear, a sense of insecurity or a feeling of not being good or experienced enough. Instead of not mentioning your idea or question aloud, say it or ask it. Let the people responding turn you down. Maybe though, instead they will say yes. If the idea is put out there, yes is always a possibility. If you turn down the idea first, the answer will always be no.

The last drawing from my Amsterdam Dailies. White pen and gouache on black paper

The last drawing from my Amsterdam Dailies. White pen and gouache on black paper

A couple of weeks ago, I finished drawing my Amsterdam Dailies series after 297 days! I decided to end the drawing series at the end of my first day in Amsterdam. Keeping the drawings from my first day's experience seemed a good way to constrain the project. For me, the first day in a place is often the most exciting and interesting because everything is new and different. I want to now turn the drawings and various of the dailies into a book. A working title is, My First Day in Amsterdam. It'll be an interesting adventure learning how to make a book.

I put together videos from every 50 days of progress. I have three videos now done through Day 150. Three more to go. If you want to see the days as they are done, you can see them on my Dailies page or you can follow me on Instagram or Facebook. The videos can be found on my Dailies Collections page or on my YouTube channel.