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Day 10. These past few days have been a labor to get done as I’ve been dealing with a flare up of a chronic illness but I still tried to put down a little (digital) lead. My favorite part of this challenge is that I actually think about drawing now, and I really value the insights I’m getting into my approach. Like I’m still trying to figure out how I manage “turn it” on for some sketches and nail them yet just completely miss the mark with others. It’s definitely a problem that’s plagued me since college. Sometimes I can render a figure or object recognizably and other times I can see where my brain turned off and stopped drawing what I see. I have a really bad habit of drawing what I think I know instead of what is being observed.
I’m going to spend the next few days before I get into week 3 of this challenge coming up with a personal action plan in regards to where I am and where I want to be at with art. I’ve been feeling all sorts of aimless when I draw and I think that is partly because I’ve lost sight of my end goal. I think a little refocusing is in order anyway as I’m feeling I set the bar purposefully low for myself.
DAY 10
Day 8 + 9 are coming in late and lacking. Up first is day 8. I tried to spend a little more time on each sketch and as a result didn’t get a lot of drawing done. I do feel like I’ve started hitting a little stride though. Looking back the thing that jumps out at me right away is that I’d do so much better if I spent more time drawing. At first I set a simple goal of an hour which I upped to two but I really want to experiment with like a four hour chunk of time. Looking back I think my original goal was a little modest because of my past experience at an art trade school, having pursed art and having “failed” at it really haunts me. This challenge is really helping to pull me out of that mindset though so I’m more than willing to put in the time and approach drawing in a more dedicated fashion.
DAY 8
Day 9 busted my butt. I tried to go into it with the same energy as day 8 keeping up my habit of not deleting stuff but I got rid of a ton of stuff I didn’t like. It’s a habit that I really need to break as I feel junking mistakes is a lot less valuable than letting the mistake live and figuring out how to correct it. On the positive side I’m starting to figure out where I mentally check out when drawing and why. It feels like equal parts frustration and distraction; like I’ll get distracted and noodle, and then I’ll get mad that my non-referenced non-plotted doodle doesn’t look great. It’s another counter productive habit I want to prune from my skill tree.
DAY 9
Day 11, I’ve fallen a bit behind in posting but I’m playing catch up today. I’ve been drawing but I haven’t come here for what’s become my daily dose of drawing introspection. I don’t have a lot to say about day 11 other than I can tell I got flustered at the very beginning and never really recovered. One positive is that I do remember where I threw in the towel, so hopefully I’ll be a little more mindful during future sessions and can recognize when I’m starting to tailspin, hopefully correct it.
DAY 11
Day 12. I tried to focus on some planar heads to counter the other day’s frustration over them. I did still get very frustrated at my lack of understanding, but I walked away, made a coffee and returned to the work. I just gotta keep moving, even if I’m only making baby steps.
Day 13. Spent about the same amount of time as I did with day 12 yet I produced a lot less. The planes of the face really escape me so I’m trying to get into a habit of doing planar heads. I struggled the whole way through but I did get one bright idea at the end. Motorcycle helmets would be a great additional reference to look at while sketching planar heads because some of the more box-y ones could help me translate the transitions to the side of the head. I feel like I was more frustrated than challenged here and it really shows in my work.
Going into week three I’m going to start pre-planning longer drawing sessions so that I get more structured results.
Day 14, more planar heads. Nothing remarkable, I finished more heads than yesterday, so I’m taking that as my small win. I’m going to spend the night looking back at the last 2 weeks and coming up with a solid action plan for week 3. I’m also going to start drawing first thing in the day rather than at the end when I’m all beat down and ready to throw in the towel.
DAY 14
Day 15. Not a lot to say other than it felt like an off day. I drew for about an hour and a half and called it quits.
Day 15
Day 16. I hit my mark of drawing for an hour and that’s about it. I feel like I’m coasting a bit because I’m starting to use my 1 hour goal as a bit of a crutch to just draw for an hour and quit. I’m technically still meeting my goal but I feel like it’s for the best if I push myself a little harder.
Day 16
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