Busting a Move
Here we are back at that time of the year again—sketchbook challenge! This year has been completely different because I had nearly completely stopped any sort of creative things involving paper, pens, pencils, paints, etc. Really the only thing I have done since probably spring was to do a little art supplies shopping followed by dabbling a bit with the new stuff once I got home. The thing is, I can feel it that I have been in an arty lull, and it is not a pleasant way to feel. I saw the challenge coming up and kind of felt dread, but also felt like it was a signal to dig out of a hole.
I am actually doing two this year, the main “30 Day Sketchbook Challenge” with Susan Yeates, then another “motivator” with a small group I met through the original challenge. I decided to keep both of them much simpler than I have done in the past. Over the years, I have gotten pretty good at drawing realistically, but it takes time to do that.
I have wanted to be able to make simpler, faster drawings and keep more of a daily life sketchbook journal. I really like the work of Samantha Dion Baker and Danny Gregory and would like to head in their direction. I am only a few days into drawing (and painting) again, and I feel my brain waking up already.
My husband and I were talking about the brainwork that I got out of drawing yesterday. My main assertion is, in order to draw well, you have to tune out parts of your brain in order to clear the path from your eyes to your hand. Our brains like habits and shortcuts and do not especially like to be challenged, but in order to be healthy and strong, a brain, just like a body, needs to be challenged, stretched, and exercised. Getting a pencil in hand and a page of a sketchbook in front of you with an ambition to recreate a 3D object on that page is a great way to challenge a sluggish brain. My husband likened it to flying a game survey in reverse order, which they sometimes have to do due to weather conditions—he says they see all sorts of things they never noticed before simply because they flipped the usual pattern. A small tweak and a bit of novelty shifts your brain from neutral to drive, and sometimes to overdrive.
A few minutes later, I heard a quote from Kurt Vonnegut: “Practice any art…no matter how well or badly, not to get money or fame, but to experience becoming, to find out what’s inside you, to make your soul grow.” This year, I had to overcome lots of mental inertia to get this particular art practice going again, and so far it feels GREAT! I am aiming to build momentum to keep it going, and to overcome some other areas of inertia I know I have fallen into.
I wish for all of you a happy and productive new year!