Re-acquainting myself with doodling. Life is good.

Today, while checking emails, I idly picked up my pen and started drawing the edge of a face. Before I knew it, I’d been sitting in Starbucks for over an hour, just doodling. It’s been a really, really long time since I managed to lose myself in something creative. Even during my last year at CCS, it was rare. And I came to a realization–I never doodle anymore. So, here are some snippets of doodles I did today while I was supposed to be doing more important things. (the best time to doodle, right?)

(click to enlarge)

During highschool, I would make little doodles like this all the time. Every day. I would make little caricatures of teachers, sketch my classmates, make up fantasy characters. But sometime during college, I stopped. I had to pay more attention in courses that were harder than highschool classes. And since art was my major rather than something I did purely for fun, every time I picked up a pencil I was analyzing the concepts and meanings behind what I was doing. Everything had to have a reason. Learning to think about art that way was really useful, but somehow I stopped letting myself doodle.

Yes, challenging yourself is important. Yes, it’s good to explore the motivations behind what you’re doing. But I have to remind myself why I decided to major in art in the first place, which is I just plain enjoy doing it.

Also–my computer lives!!!!!!! I’m so happy to have Photoshop back–maybe I’ll even do some digital stuff soon.

And here’s a jam for your Wednesday. I’ve listened to Monsters of Folk before and been underwhelmed, but I came across this track today and I really dig it.

Sunsets & three legged cats

I’m so lucky to live close to a place like Ellwood. These clouds were such brilliant shades of pink–the picture doesn’t come close to matching it. I also met a cat with three legs and no ears whose tag read Cosmo. Very friendly.

The ocean is one of the most cliché things to paint. It also happens to be one of the most difficult things to paint. All those horizontal lines make for a pretty static composition. But around sunset yesterday, the waves were catching the sunset and turning this gorgeous glassy green–I had to at least try to capture it.

Attempt #1 is on top, and attempt #2 is below it. Both are gouache. The one on top was done there at the beach, and the second one I did at home, looking at the first one. Honestly I don’t like either of them, but I think the second turned out better. Things are always easier the second time, when you have a more concrete idea of what you’re going for. I might be riffing on this little scene for a while.

I make no secret of my undying love for Drake. His most recent album is, of course, a masterpiece, but this track off of Nothing Was The Same remains one of my favorites.