Continuing practise

How is my practise and word of the year going? Well, it’s the start of February and I have managed to blog on a loosely weekly schedule. There’s no schedule, that word is glowing up the vague remembrance to actually write something on the website I pay for. I notice the weird internal dialogue about taking up too much space, something I have been pondering as maybe a theme for a painting. I have so many ideas, and only ever execute about 1% of them, it’s fine.

The notebook I started for morning pages into art journal is sitting under a pile of sketchbooks, and I am not the least bit surprised by that. It’s not that I haven’t been doing daily art practise, tho, it’s just that notebook hasn’t been the place for it. I very quickly began to feel constricted by the spread-a-day idea, and that I was running out of daylight for more exciting art practise when I was focusing on filling that book. Just the fact I am feeling excited, and more importantly, somewhat confident about making art, is good to observe.

I have been looking at my collection of unfinished sketchbooks, and trying to choose one to loosely focus on filling.

It has to be ‘loosely focus on’, because I get constricted fairly quickly on anything that involves the word “should”.

For the moment I have picked out an old Strathmore that is so old I don’t know if they even make the size/style anymore. I don’t need to look, because honestly I don’t need to buy more sketchbooks.

Ha ha ha ha ha.

Who is laughing? Hello? What are you trying to say, like?

Excuse the interruption, as I was saying… I have picked out an old Strathmore sketchbook that is small and half full, with the idea of a daily sketch practise. Just graphite, no erasers unless it’s for highlights at the end, nothing fancy, just grab an object and meditate with a pencil. Sometimes it’s just drawing without any reference. The internal dialogue went wild, by the way, with the who do you think you are fuckery.

Take up space.

I’m fairly sure I have picked up some form of art supply and used it almost every day recently, so I’m in a happy place with the daily practise practise. I have a weekly touchstone in the form of a Let’s Face It class, and I am really enjoying the immersion in portraiture, and all the inspiration from all the artists in that community.

It’s the first time I have participated in this year-long adventure, and it has very quickly become my favourite of all the versions of this type of community. I mean they are all good, but this one is just The Thing I Need Right Now. It’s just absolutely lush. First there is the lesson, then there is my response to the lesson, and then there is all the ideas that explode in my brain, and it feels like a non-stop flow of inspiration that I’m really excited about.

So January is over, and February moves on, and I am rocking my word of the year.

When the wee* internal dialogues go into battle, I just say ‘I da ken fit am daein, am jist practisin’ and practise getting out of my own way.

*sometimes they are affa muckle

Aye chavin,
Suzanne