I’ve had trouble finding joy in creation lately. I’ve been trapped in this cycle of staring listlessly at my phone and waiting for something to happen— maybe I’ll suddenly be in the mood to write again, or draw again, or… something. Maybe someone will talk to me! Maybe I’ll find something good to read!
It occurred to me this evening that I haven’t drawn traditionally in a hot minute. And I was like… well, that’s weird. One of the simplest joys I’ve ever had was art, especially on paper. That’s where I started my art journey. Obviously. So I set my phone down and opened my sketchbook for the first time in a while.
Honestly, I think by drawing solely digitally, I’ve been limiting myself and killing my own spark. I find it hard to waffle around when I’m on a digital canvas. If my canvas is white, I haven’t filled it, and if I haven’t filled it, I’m not done. When drawing digitally I must make a complete piece of art. In my little notebook, I can just… do stuff.
So. Well.
I did stuff! I’m not satisfied with how most of this looks, but drawing with a pencil and paper limits my ability to endlessly tweak my work. Sure, it’s not perfect. But I’m forced to acknowledge it’s not bad. I drew something and it wasn’t perfect and I simply live with that. It feels silly to call this an exercise, but for me it was. And this exercise was the most fun I’ve had whilst drawing in a while.
So, this is just your reminder to be a little more lax with yourself. Have fun!!! The world is too shitty to be caught up on imperfections in the hobbies you indulge in completely voluntarily for nothing but your own enjoyment!!!
