The Great Gatsby! A musical!
A giant WOW! We saw it at the Papermill Playhouse last night. It was unbelievably amazing. The costumes, the music, the acting, Jeremy Jordan, the sets, the Costumes!!!
So as we slog through another rainy day I am reliving the energy and fun of the show and doodling some flappers kicking up their heels in a joyous Charleston!
Funerals are hard
Seeing and experiencing the raw emotion, pain and loss
Bringing up difficult memories
They gut you and drain you
After attending a funeral yesterday of a good friend’s ex, and seeing their teen kids who will navigate the rest of their lives without a father, just wrecked me.
After I was home I just could not get a focus on what to do or to draw.
My sketchbook project seemed inconsequential
And outside of my grasp
Took a short walk to clear my head and realized that sketching something was actually tremendously important.
Drawing and making art is where I connect with my soul, my being. It’s where I find my angels and inspiration
It is where I am grounded and whole and alive
I needed to draw, and I needed something timeless… and so shells. The spirals of infinity. The beauty of nature. The power and eternity of the sea.
Sketching these tiny shells brought me so much peace. Tiny shells and tiny sketches- but tremendously soothing
After I was done I sat on the couch with a view of the yard and watched blue jays swooping and darting all around. A blue jay party like that is a rare occurrence in our yard. It was so joyful and special it inspired my sketch today.
I drew it quickly and painted it quickly to give it a little movement and spirit
These moments of presence and grace are the best reasons for this daily practice.
Feeling shifts already as I complete day 19 of 100…
Green tea
Specifically Matcha Green Tea
Every day - I drink 1-2 cups of organic matcha every day
For the antioxidants
The flavonoids
The anti-cancer benefits
The anti-inflammatory benefits
It was a bit of a crazy weekend with the Art Walk on Sunday. Not a lot of sketching time for sure. Live outdoor shows are very all consuming - and exhausting! But, they are fun and I saw so many friends, neighbors and clients. And the weather was beautiful after a total wash-out on Saturday.
I have been working on this page of illustrations for a few days, doing a drawing a day - and then I added watercolor today. And more green tea leaves, so showing it all as one.
It is fun to keep a sketchbook journal and draw one thing each day. I had started that practice back in January and did it for the first half of the year. Somehow I fell out of the practice, I am not sure why… but I loved it and I think it’s time for a return.
Sketching every day! Matcha tea every day! btw Jade Leaf organic matcha is my personal favorite and dissolves better than a lot of other matcha powders I have tried. Though they are all a bit resistant.
What are you drinking? and what are you sketching?
I am born and raised in Brooklyn (well until 13 - but those are some formative years!), so it has always had my heart. And I have always been in love with the bridge.
This sketch of the Brooklyn Bridge from Dumbo, is the first step in a series experiment.
Maybe I am cheating here a bit, as I drew it yesterday and added watercolor today - so counting it as one each! I get a pass as I am buried in prep for the Maplewood Art Walk and Music Festival that is happening tomorrow. It’s my first show in 6 months and I always forget how consuming the prep is.
Tons of distractions today, putting our crazy little dog on high alert - he startled me any number of times! Pens, brushes and pencils flying out of my hand!
But I stuck with it and did a bit of doodling…
These 1970s groovy ladies are preliminary sketches for bigger ideas. You gotta start somewhere.
I almost gave up today but I knew I would be disappointed with myself if I didn’t commit to putting some ink and paint to paper. I am happy and satisfied that I stuck with it.
There will be more to come...
I have sketching and posting daily and made it through the first week. Some days were definitely more challenging to carve out the time.
But it is so worth it. It’s fun to look forward to, and very satisfying when completed.
Posting them on the weekends will be difficult as family is a priority. But I can catch up with the postings on Mondays and just make sure I do the sketching.
So it stays fun and achievable - which is key!
Yesterday we went to Montclair State University for their open house event and this is a sketch from one of their buildings. Love the red Spanish tile roofs!
And those vivid red rooftops inspired my desire to paint more red… hence the cherries today.
Vivid juicy and chock full of anti-oxidants.
My sketchbook is a Canson XL Series Watercolor book, 7x10, 140lb paper
My pens… Micron, 05pt
Pastry case at Bovella’s Bakery
Super tired today but still showed up in my sketchbook. Happy I did, it is very satisfying as I head to the couch for a little nap.
I met a dear friend at Bovella’s Bakery in Mountainside recently and I was totally captivated by the pastry cases. So inviting, charming and captivating.
I thought I was done, but was lacking something so I added the splashes of color and it gave it some zing.
My sketchbook is a Canson XL Series Watercolor book, 7x10, 140lb paper
My pens… Micron, 05pt
An apple a day keeps the Dr away, as the saying goes.
We saw it in action when our daughter was little. Apples were one of her favorite foods and she ate one every morning. Sometimes 2! And she was rarely sick.
As in she has only been on antibiotics twice.
I can count her stomach viruses on one hand, and have fingers left over. So I highly recommend that whole apple a day thing!
Today’s inktober prompt is Golden, and it is anything but golden outside (back to rain, fog, grey – Again) so I wanted to do this one to bring some sunshine into my day.
Enter the Golden Delicious apple. A beauty though truth be told, not my favorite apple variety.
Gala, Fuji, Honeycrisp are my first choices (red delicious and mcintosh are my least favorites).
Today I sketched in ink before painting, looking for a variety of loose painted and detailed drawn for contrast and interest.
My favorite part of this is where some of the yellow apples bleed into the purple shadows.
My colors: lemon yellow, permanent gamboge, permanent scarlet, ultramarine, and dioxazine violet.
My sketchbook is a Canson XL Series Watercolor book, 7x10, 140lb paper
My pens… Micron, 05pt
The text is paraphrased from SpecialtyProduce.com ivory flesh is fine-grained, aqueous and semi-firm with a crisp light tender consistency. They are also prone to bruising. Love the way they are described and makes you want to nurture these little beauties.
This morning got off to a rough start, but I was determined not to let it ruin my day.
It’s just not worth it.
So, I took a long, very brisk walk in the sun to clear my head, and wondered what I make in my sketchbook today. Being cranky and irritated do not encourage creative inspiration or flow – very much the opposite.
I decided I needed a very low stakes, low stress, option. Something easy to shift my mood.
Loose watercolor pumpkins scattered on the page was my answer… which is mostly about mixing paint (and always soothes my savage beast).
Painting my little pumpkins Just. For. Fun.
Lovely, bright oranges, reds, yellows, golds, and umbers (raw and burnt).
It felt really good.
Really calming
My breathing slowed as I appreciated the moment, and the process. And I was loosening up.
Then I added a bit of color splashes.
Now to ink or not ink? I love my ink lines, so I went right in with ink instead of agonizing over the decision.
I highly recommend this process of loosely painting circles and ovals… you can make pumpkins, tomatoes, onions, grapes, cherries, to name a few.
I’ll be doing more like this for the soothing, centering, relaxing feeling it brings. I highly recommend it.
Do you think you will try it? If so let me know….
Facial expressions are hard!
Drawing them while keeping an illustrated character consistent is a real challenge. It takes a ton of practice so today I am using the daily challenge to continue to hone my Ava Appelsawse skills.
A few years back I heard Rosemary Wells, creator and illustrator of Max and Ruby, speak at the Mapso Book Festival. She was amazing and she explained that she starts each day with a warm up illustration of her 2 characters, which she then tears in half - and throws away!
This first piece is purely for warm up and to get her hand ready to work. I was shocked, and awed.
I quickly sketched Ava here peeking around the tree, book 2 has more than a few scenes in the woods, so this was good practice. Will I tear it up and throw it away - not so fast! It may still end up in the 2nd book. Either way it was an excellent warm up and a great way to start my day.
Inspired by artists who have done 100 day challenges (or longer) I have decided to try my own. Seems very fitting to begin on October 1st when so many daily drawing challenges kick off… Inktober, Artober, Catober, etc.
My parameters… a daily watercolor and ink drawing which I will share here on the blog. I can do anything I want but will use some of the daily challenges as prompts, if I am ever in search of inspiration. The goal is to keep me sketching. Everyday.
I believe a daily sketchbook practice is tremendously helpful and important. For creativity, for health, for focus, for connecting with your inner being and your voice, for feeling your feelings, for fun. Fo Fun! Is there any better reason?! And I haven't been doing it consistently enough. It will be a challenge to do one daily, and post it - but that’s why they are called challenges! right?!
For my first I am turning lemons into lemonade… we have had SO MUCH rain recently. The unending grayness was really getting to me so to cheer myself up I had sketched some bright, mod 1960s raincoats last week. Thought it could make a great surface pattern design so this morning I filled another page.
I had a great time creating these little ladies… and I love painting the little squares of color for my palette. Day 1 of 100 completed!
FINDING YOUR CREATIVE CONNECTION
Weekly Inspiration to help you find and stay connected to your creativity.
This week’s creativity trigger is an artist date…
#4 Visiting a Farmer’s Market
The farmer’s market in Union started last week and I used the opportunity to take myself on an artist date. I learned about artist dates when reading The Artist Way by Julia Cameron. If you are not familiar with the concept it is a once a week, solo excursion to explore something that interests you, you find fun and that will spark your imagination. It doesn’t have to be an all-day thing, an hour, or even 30 minutes can do the trick.
It was unexpectedly very hot here on Thursday, and I had long list of to-dos, you know how that goes when it’s the have-to’s vs. the want-to’s … and I almost didn’t go. It’s easier sometimes not to, but I had the inspiration on my morning walk to go as an artist date – not just a shopping chore. Again, getting out of your routine, talking to new people, seeing and noticing new things can be very reviving.
Being the first one of the season, it was very light on farm vendors and I was a bit disappointed. My initial instinct was to zip through and return home to the air conditioning, but I am glad I didn’t. I went to the Wagner Farm tent first as they had a tiered display of herbs in pots and I can never resist potted herbs. I ended up having a lovely conversation with the couple working the booth and bought some fresh ground beef, in addition to herbs. And I will be back next week for their fresh eggs!
Alstede was the other farm with a booth, and the radishes I bought were delicious, and so cute. I love the visual of all the vegetables lined up in baskets and piles. I could sketch and paint those every day. And the roasted zucchini we had with dinner was so good! Topped it off with a lovely conversation there too.
It was so nice to take my time, really look at the produce, the colors, all the shades of green, and the abundance. It was more about the experience - taking time to really look, and interact as opposed to going there to shop. What I first thought was a bit disappointing ended up being very inspiring and gave me a lot of material to work with.
It’s difficult to communicate the essence of why/how it can create a spark… maybe it is slowing down and really looking. Not rushing through to get to the next thing on the list.
Maybe it was finding and seeing all the abundance within the limited choices.
Maybe it was interacting with new people and hearing about what they create… they created these offerings of produce!
I do know that when I got home and was trying to describe to my husband the initial reaction of ‘not much there’ to my actual experience – he wanted to go. And he definitely wants to visit next week.
I think the only way to get across the advantages of the artist dates and triggers that I experience is to do a deeper dive into how it makes me feel, and what it brings forth. Then maybe I can inspire you to try them. I truly believe we all owe this to ourselves. By taking a little time each week to cultivate and nurture our creativity, and fill our buckets, we are serving ourselves and all those around us.
I encourage you to visit your local farmers market, not just for the fresh local produce, but to really look, interact and experience it. See what surfaces, and what sparks you.
Please let me know if you try it and how it feels! See you next Tuesday.
Cotton Candy Chickens
Stay creative my friends.
Erin
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This blog series is an exploration into staying creatively connected. How to find it, nurture it, and keep it flowing. And, possibly to find it again if it’s been disconnected for years, or decades.
In each weekly post I will share one idea/artist date/activity that I have tried and invite you to give it a try for your own creativity connection. If it’s flowing, there is so much more peace and enjoyment in life.
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