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| Five down, 95 more to go for November. |
After a summer of almost zero studio time, my work groove has felt... well... not groovy. Both my hands and my thought processes are rusty, and I have been frustrated with my lack of creative grace.
But then I remembered The Hundreds.
Unbelievably, more than a decade has passed since my friend Tim Deibler and I challenged each other to make 100 thumbnail sketches every month for a year. Even though our success with the challenge waxed and waned, I managed to fill two sketchbooks with compositions and ideas... mostly from life, but sometimes from the television and videos.
It seemed a fine idea to take up the Hundreds challenge again, not only for tuning up my skills, but also for helping me get to understand Maine better. Believe it or not, today is the two-year anniversary of my move here from Colorado, and in a lot of ways I still feel very much a stranger.
So I relaunched my Hundreds effort in mid-October and managed to get 50 sketches done by yesterday, so now I'm off and running on the start of a new month. It's been blowing a literal gale here (more power outages, but so far not in my area!), so today's sketches are a mix of life drawings from inside my house and compositions derived from photographs I took this morning outside. I gave myself no more than ten minutes to find each composition and sketch it in ink before moving on to the next one.
Carrying a sketchbook with me is a long habit, but giving myself an assignment and a deadline ensures that I'll take it out and use it regularly. It feels good to flex both mental and physical muscles... so, hey! Why not grab a sketchbook of your own and join me?
2 years?! time flies
ReplyDeletehmm this sounds like a good idea, will have to see if i can find the time :)
:-) Yeah, like Patrick says... time must be wrestled into submission. The good news is we get an extra hour here tonight... we're setting the clocks back to ridiculous winter darkness. But hey! That's enough time to do some sketches! (HA! I've been in a workshop all day. Sleep first, sketch later.) ;-)
DeleteJennifer, One NEVER finds the time. You MAKE the time or it doesn't happen.
ReplyDeleteSherrie, this has been a life time go to for me. and it's so satisfying. Been doing it with water colors. Tiny cartoons. What I love is composing the page as well. It's not just the individual but the group...and that's another brain/hand/gut skill. Love your drawings. Show us more.
Yes! Page composition is also fun... Some days that is the parameter and others it's just speed. (Whaddaya mean I tend to labor things? Helloooo? Printmaker! :-D ) Just get'er down.
DeleteOf course part of the exercise for me these days is also trying to figure out how to make my glasses work. They tend to slip down my nose all the time, and then the wrong correction is in front of my eyes and I can't see what I'm doing. I'm realizing that a lot of my sketches are being made more by feel than seeing the actual marks. D'oh!
Oh gosh I remember you posting about these before. Ten years...really!!! Where did that go? I might try to join you this time around I might manage 50 for this month at least. I really need to be more disciplined.
ReplyDeleteSherrie hopped over to visit you after reading about your challenge on Lisa's blog. This is a great idea and it does seem so much more manageable that trying to do larger sketches. Thanks for sharing. Have a delightful day. So glad to meet you.
ReplyDelete