Sketch Therapy

Birds keep popping up in my sketchbook these days.

I don't usually do much with text, but had a lot of fun with this. 

No, that's not real hand lettering. It's a drawing based on a typeface called Bakery that I filled in with watercolor. Maybe one day I'll take the time to learn how to write pretty words for real. For now, I'm satisfied to fake it.

Rainy Saturday Morning

Just me and my sketchbook.

Travel Sketches

Finally home after two weeks of travel! I took a new Moleskine watercolor journal with me to Guadeloupe and Florida, and am happy to report that it got quite a bit of use. It's neat to see the style and quality of the drawings morph and improve, even after just a few weeks of experimenting with different tools and techniques.

Here are a few pages for you to peruse. I hope they inspire you to keep a travel journal or sketchbook of your own!

The first few days I stuck to pencil and light watercolors.

Eventually I started to incorporate my new favorite pens.

Played around with pasting in little pieces of ephemera - a bottle label, a ticket stub, etc.

The last few pages from the trip are my favorite. I got a little better at designing a layout, and was able to get that fun, loose sketch look from the pens.  

Inside my notebook.

I've been making a habit of spending time in my Moleskine watercolor journal almost every day. It's been equally successful as a therapeutic practice as an artistic practice.

Drawing and Writing My Way Home.

At home in my notebook.

It's been a while.

The creative impulse, which had felt stifled and sad for many months, seems to be flowing freely once again.

And finally I don't ask what the point is.

It brings me back to my authentic self, my truth, my heart's desire.

And that's good enough for me.

Doodle Meditations

Spontaneous.  Free-flowing.  Childlike.

Doodles present a little window into what's just below the surface of our consciousness.

And might just be my favorite kind of art to make. 

The process helps me ground in the moment, and gives a helpful indication of the type of energy currently moving into and influencing my life.

Always full of surprise symbols and insights.

 

It's fun when new totems present themselves.

Groundhog was the first to emerge today.  

He carriers some surprisingly powerful archetypal energy for such a humble little rodent.

Who'd have thought?


For those eager to experiment with the process for themselves, I present to you:


Requirements for successful doodling:

1. Low-quality pen and piece of paper. 

2. Opposable thumbs.

3. No expectations.


Let it flow.

And then use words to describe what you see.

Have fun :)

Barefoot Dreams of Spring

Meadow of wildflowers

On the forest edge

How many months have you laid sleeping

Seedlings awaiting the thaw of spring?


So patiently you have endured

Beneath the frozen earth

The life inside you - the spark of rebirth

Quiet, but burning still.


Until the perfect moment is upon you

When the snow has retreated and the sunshine returned

A firecracker of life

Exploding from the nourishing Earth.


In the souls of my feet, I can feel

New journeys waiting to be embarked upon

New adventures eager to be had

New paths ready to be forged


When dreams and discovery merge

And we become creative masters of our own destiny

Watching as it unfolds effortlessly before our eyes


With great courage, we venture into the forest.

Secondhand sketchbook makeover

So I found a couple of unused sketchbooks at an estate sale today for 75 cents a piece.  Talk about great finds at a great price!  But what to do about their shabby appearance?   

Step 1: Mask off the edges and position stencil securely with double-sided tape.

Step 2: Apply acrylic craft paint.

Step 3: Admire handiwork.

I'm quite satisfied with these.  Not only because the process was so quick and easy, but also because of how vibrant and fun the end products turned out to be.  All for under 2 bucks!!  It really pays to keep your eyes peeled for those secondhand fixer-uppers.  

That's it for today, see you next time :)