daily

Portable Sketching Kit

Sketching daily is a great art discipline and finding 20 minutes to sketch is fairly do-able even in the most hectic of schedules.  Grab yourself a few basic tools (set out by tutor Nina Weiss) and you’re good to go…

pencils…
sketchpad
20 min drawing
  1. A box of coloured pencils
  2. a small sketchbook (her hands give an indication of its scale)
  3. 20 minutes

Nina finds it’s important to have these basic tools to hand at any moment when inspiration strikes.

Soon, this blog will feature her on a much longer drawing assignment, working from a photograph she took while travelling.

 

Portable Takeaway

What drawing/sketching/writing tools do you currently have?

Pool them together – you might be surprised.

Now pack them in such a way that you can have them with you, easy to get hold of, for as much of each day as possible.

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poetry

1 Nov, Day 1 of Poetry challenge

Can you write a poem, today on the topic “NEW DAY“.  This is day one of the PAD (Poem a Day) challenge for November.

If you’re taking part, interpret that how you will, and write a poem.

(If absolutely uninspired by this given topic – I know I’m finding it a bit obvious, cliched and bland – then do an experimental dip into Poetry Foundation online – lots of poets and poems to find out about – they also publish the American Poetry Magazine (front covers of it are featured image above this post).  Dip and dive through the website till you find something interesting or pick something totally at random and see if it can be melded to the topic of New Day – and that’s you at the startline.)

If you still come up with banalities and no inspiration – how about working them into a form of poetry which you haven’t tried before?  Then at least you’ll be learning and experimenting.

Robert Lee Brewster, setter of the Word Digest challenge – write a poem a day in November – has written his own example on that theme.

Robert Lee Brewster’s New Day Poem:

“& suddenly”

i had no desire for sugar
or processed foods or
anything else that might
taste good but tries to kill me

& i went for a run & lifted
weights & even sit ups
were not impossible & i
thought this is amazing

that i’m becoming this
version of myself that i
always thought i could be
until around midnight

when i gave in & had a snack
that turned into a meal that
transformed into a slide
that i hope someday will end

*****

 

October – daily Creative prompts

Continuing the experiment with creative prompts from Sketchbook Skool.  Here are your daily challenges for October, should you choose to accept this mission.

10-365ADAD-prompts-october.jpg

Sketchbook Skool is an excellent provider of online drawing classes – find this list above and more info on their courses over at:

https://sketchbookskool.com/blog/a-drawing-a-day-october-daily-drawing-prompts

 

Creative Prompts – what?

Creative prompts are a trigger, a starter, a warmup.  The idea is that you see the word and it’s a catalyst to make creative work sparked off by that thought.

10 Benefits of Creative Prompts

  1. the randomness.  It comes from outside yourself, so it take you out of unnoticed ruts
  2. it works quickly – read a word, start making
  3. the breadth of themes covered – just look across the month
  4. serendipity – you are likely to stumble accidentally upon a particularly meaningful       theme to you personally, in among so many choices
  5. it encourages play, you can experiment, there’s no big commission at stake
  6. you can engage in the same themes with other people, everyone knows what the theme for the day is, it can become a fun shared activity
  7. it gives a starting point, instead of a blank screen/page/canvas
  8. it’s something to aim for – and you can still be surprised by feeling drawn to something different as you begin – you can go with that ‘diversion’
  9. it’s fresh, daily
  10. someone else has done the work of thinking where to begin, you just respond

Creative Prompts for August

Feel you want to write or draw something, but just not sure what to tackle, today?  Or want fresh warmup challenges?  Sketchbook Skool have given a challenge a day for August!

What do you mean – it’s a little bit late telling us this, August has started already?!  Do I hear dissension?  Verily, I raise a quizzical eyebrow.

But wait – let’s find the positive – you can start today and choose either the prompt for the 1st, 2nd or 3rd of August.  Oh look – the challenge against today’s date is “First” – so that takes you to the first anyway!!

Right: pencils sharpened, favourite writing pen aloft, knitting needles at stun-ningly gorgeous, or whatever creative tools you wish…… and GO!

 

Daily Discipline of an artist

Henri Matisse was a prolific artist – his firm daily discipline during his time at Riviera was:

dawn: Club Nautique: row in canoe for 2 hours

practise violin in apartmentScreen shot 2017-06-01 at 23.26.32.png

9 a.m. start painting.  Work 3 hours.

Lunchbreak.  Nap.  Then write correspondence – family and friends.

4 pm Restart painting, paint til daylight fades

Draw with pencil by artificial light

Dine

(6 days a week)

(from Richard E Grant’s BBC programme: “The Riviera – A History in Pictures) http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p013gpvy/player

This may sound surprising to people who believe the cliche that artists are irresponsible, lazy over-emotional characters.  But when you look at someone who made great art, often, during their lifetime, they are actually hardworkers.  It was that regular turning up at the easel, putting in the hours, making a great deal of art – and destroying much of it which they felt didn’t work out – gave them space to experiment but rigorously edit out all but the best, to keep enough successes to make a dent in Art History.