100 Cats Project - Week 1

This first week of the 100 Cats Project has been interesting. I have two rules for this project so far, I want to draw cats and I want to learn how to ink in different techniques. But I never thought about style, not really, or the kind of cat I would be drawing. And yet, just in this first week, I feel I've been pulling myself into different themes and styles. 

I'm having a lot of fun which is great, and that was also the point of this project. Yes, I want to learn a drawing technique, but I am doing it for the sole purpose of my enjoyment. I think the last time I got into a project and enjoyed it this much was when I taught myself how to knit. It’s sad really, to go through life like that, it’s sad that many people still do it.

One of my many email subscriptions suggested the book “Big Magic”, by Elizabeth Gilbert. I loved “Eat, Pray, Love” (the book) and I loved her Ted talk about creativity. So I got the audiobook and it was great. It’s a combination of a self-help book and pure inspiration, and I can only recommend it to anyone, because creativity is not only for artists.

I can say today that I am all recovered from the funk that sank me for 6 years out of the pens and brushes, but at some point I felt like I wasted precious time and I should be so much better by now. But, right now, I understand that it took that long for me to realize that I don’t care what others say, I like drawing and painting and if others like what I make, it’s nice, but that’s not the goal, the goal is much more deep and important to me. And there’s no time limit or big goal to reach except keep doing it.

I hope you do read Big Magic and tell me what you think. Leave your comments, thoughts, opinions in the comments area. Thank you for reading and see you next week.

Happy Easter!

I’ve been trying to move the posting day to Tuesday or Wednesday for a couple of weeks, but I didn’t want to stop posting and now I have the perfect opportunity. 

I animated a Happy Easter card a couple of weeks ago but I wanted to post it in time for, well, Easter. This is actually my last animation, I don’t know if I’m animating anything soon, I want to, but I have many things planned.

Animated version

I’m already at week 3 of the Artist’s Way and it’s been an actual roller coaster, some days are good some days are horrible. But so far, I haven’t missed a single day. I’ve been looking for other ways to help the process, The Random Word Doodle Challenge is a good exercise (today is day 9!).  I re-read “Steal like an artist” by Austin Kleon, it's so inspiring, I find new things every read. Also, I’ve been reading “Art & fear” but for some reason I get very sleepy when I do.

Not long ago I read "The Crossroads of Should and Must" by Elle Luna, great read and it goes a bit more in depth than her post. If you haven't read her famous post you can find it here . If anyone has any more suggestions, please let me know. 

Thanks for reading, stay safe during the holidays and once again Happy Easter!

Excersice for the brain = Creativity

Everybody want to be creative. It doesn’t matter if you are an accountant, a lawyer, a teacher or an artist. We all benefit from creativity, and in my search for a better creative life, I’ve noticed that creativity is something we can cultivate, like exercising a muscle.

There are many ways to do that. From reading books, watching movies, going for a walk or, if you are more like me, you can find challenges on the internet that will make you accountable for your creative workout.

There are many challenges, like @Sketch_Dailies on Twitter or the Character design challenge by http://characterdesignreferences.com/

But for me I needed something simple, with no pressure and fun. So after browsing the web for a while and trying other challenges, I came across Boost Your Creativity: The Random Word Doodle Workout on Skillshare (I swear I don’t work for them). It’s great for everybody, you don’t have to draw professionally and it´s fun. Besides the actual doodling part, I liked that sharing our work is very encouraged.

The first day, when I was done doodling, I was about to close my sketchbook and not show anyone my horrible doodle. But then I remembered a quote by Joseph Chilton Pearse “To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong”. I couldn’t agree more so I shared it and all the ones I’ve made so far, no matter how ugly they are.

Which brings me to the second part of the post. I was browsing in my Kindle library and came across a book I got and never got around reading it. The tittle was just perfect for this sharing work situation “Show your work!” By Austin Kleon. I read it in a couple of days and I recommend you do too.

It’s funny how we tend to find what we need as we go through life…