The world hasn’t been this different and changeable in known times. With the AI of internet advertising changing how we look at each other and the divisions that all are facing…little should be taken for granted.
In these times I find myself reading books, drawing, and working remotely in every aspect of life but more noticeable in tasks that used to be interactive or collaborative. I’ve become introspective and even more introverted to keep my family safe and myself sane.
I’ve always journaled, if not on a daily basis, in a frequency that kept me in touch with my inner dialogue. When I married, then moved and had children, this tendency to write dropped off quite a bit. It took a bit of time to find myself and shape myself into the new person I’d become. The stages we find ourselves in can hinder us in ways that we don’t even see until they have evolved into a new stage in life.
So here I am again. Frustratingly in stasis yet working. Even my art website stands in mid-construction abandonment – I had started the year hoping to finally figure out how to tile images and share them in a non-social media way, and as a curated look at the types of drawings that I do. Now it stands like an abandoned hotel project; The construction-yellow tape worn by age, twirling in the odd breeze, an unfinished and slab-constructed shell. Now I wonder if there’s even a reason to have an old-school website anymore. Dare I use instagram as my main site with a linktree in the profile like everyone else seems to be doing?
Procreate, Adobe, and paper.
There’s a thing I miss when I draw on an iPad (I am fortunate and happy to have one), and that’s the tactile feel of the pen or brush against the grain of the paper. I do enjoy the freedoms of drawing digitally and just posting without waiting on paint to dry or happy little errors that aren’t so easy to fix. But there’s also little to no chance that years from now I’ll get the joy of flipping though them as I do when I find an old sketchbook (well worn on the edges from stowing it away quickly in a purse) to see my drawings. I’m working on using Procreate (learning it, testing brushes and styles) and paper together. While I miss getting to play in photoshop and illustrator out of work, there is a bit of freedom in just drawing without having to do anything on a desktop.
Classes
Skillshare has given me a great source of guidance in writing and practicing my art skills. You never really finish learning, and I do enjoy the teachers and classes they put up.
Early in the year, I signed up for an illustration workshop (Make Art that Sells) with Lilla Rogers that helped free up my block and got me through the thick of the shutdown. I had reachable goals even when I felt anxiety of world-events. I am happy to also have access to their MATs MBA class – tho I haven’t quite made my way through it completely because it is so packed with goodness and everything you might need to know.
Print-on-demand sites have been started (Society6 and Redbubble)and all I draw is in consideration of what I might do with it now. Will I make a pattern today? Or possibly an illustration that would work better as a character in a book? Is this just for me for fun? The classes have mainly made me start to look at all avenues that art is consumed in these days. Its never really one thing anymore, is it?
Continuing on in life – to draw, grow, attempt balance, and adapt.
Draw Each Day 