Sketchy.

So, that other resolution, it’s kind of lame in a way, but shutup, this is my blog and I will be lame if I want. You know how snarkydork is part of that project 365 and she takes a photo every damn day? And she did that nablopomo thing? And she posted every damn day? Well, I am too lazy to do that. But I figured it would be good for me if I could do one thing every damn day (and for the record, I’ve already screwed up and missed a few days). So see, I am a…draw-er. I draw things. But I am purely digital. As in, I only draw on the computer. I don’t use pens or pencils or paper, just bits and bites and béziers. I don’t use a stylus or a tablet (but I did buy one, so that’s going to have to change a bit) just a mouse. That’s just how I do it and I like it that way. But I got to thinking that while that is great and all, I often find myself faced with a blank screen. I’ll know what I want to draw but I can’t get my mind around how I am going to get there. And it’s frustrating.

So I resolved to make a sketch every day (and as I said, I already screwed that up and missed two or three days, but I’ll make that up, I promise!). So yeah, big deal, whatever, there are people who sketch all the time, you say. True, true. But I am not one of them. I tend to go from idea to project, with nothing in between. That’s fine too, I think of what I want to draw, I tweak it in my brain until I can visualize what I want and then I sit down and I do it. Except, you know, with the getting older and all, sometimes it doesn’t go from “here” to “ there” so easily.

The thing is, this is something I have done before. When I was in college and taking all kinds of artsy-fartsy classes, I drew every damn day. Sketches, costume designs, magazine layouts. And since I was doing it every damn day, I decided that if I also added in one sketch for myself, like my cartoon characters say, then I might actually get better at it. And I did it. And I got better. And then I graduated and I didn’t do it anymore. And then I learned how to draw on a computer and I never looked back and here I am.

So, I’ve been sketching every damn day (with the exception of those few days that I forgot). It’s pretty much the last thing I do every night and mostly it’s been ideas for a personal project. And so far, it’s helped. Things that I just couldn’t approach on the computer suddenly became crystal clear on paper. And now I can see in my mind how they can be constructed with my trusty mouse (and eventually my stylus and tablet). It’s not that I didn’t know this method before rather, I had gotten out of the habit. I like drawing on the computer so why would I draw with a pen? And granted, there have always been the little reminder sketches and jottings but not the dedicated sketching. And I think that goes back to the college art classes of sketch journals (5 sketches a day, every damn day!) and to being told by that art teacher that my sketches were too “sketchy”. But that’s the point here. It’s not a finished drawing, it’s not even something I am going to scan into the computer to trace. It’s just mental reference. The idea that if I put a circle here and a square here, then I can make…something.

It’s not revelvatory, it’s not deep. It’s just a sketch. And that’s the step I was missing.

And now, here is a surfing whale. This was not sketched beforehand. But it's a whale. And it's surfing.

Sniffle.

I am sniffly. I have a pathetic cold. Of course I do, I traveled on a plane with my husband for many hours. He has a cold too, only his is more sniffly and pathetic than mine. Of course it is.

Christmas was nice, traveling was ok, Weather was there, but snow wasn’t. Gifts were exchanged and merry was made and all was well. Returning took longer than expected but was not unreasonably long. And then the colds set in and New Year’s eve involved NyQuil, the cocktail of choice among my party set and (FINALLY) watching the two hour season finale of…Burn Notice. You know, that show that ended like twenty years ago? Well, many months ago, anyway. And now I am eagerly awaiting its return because if there is anything better than Jeffrey Donovan being a smartass, it’s Bruce Campbell and Jeffery Donovan being smartasses together.


There are no resolutions available for comment but there has been the purchase of a datebook, which figures into at least one, if not two resolutions. And there has been a massive grocery shopping trip which involved many fruits and vegetables being purchased. There are books stacked up to be read and cookbooks awaiting little flags to signify interest in various recipes, many involving new and exciting vegetables. The dust, however, still sits thick on every available surface, the pre-holiday laundry is yet to be put away, a suitcase is still in the middle of the living room and the trees (plural…did I mention that the cat got her own?) disgust me and I want them gone (they are fake, not shedding needles on the desperately-in-need-of-a-vacuuming carpet).

Obviously none of my resolutions involve cleaning.

Oh, I will be back shortly, when I sneeze less. And I will provide a recipe, as requested, for the Guinness Truffles, just in time for…I don’t know, Valentine’s Day maybe? And I will tell you all about my presents because I know how much you care, and…and…ah, whatever. I gotta go blow my nose.