28 days of life (9/28/2020)
I remember in high school and even in college, one of my favorite things to do was illustrated journaling and research. I have 3 large sketchbooks filled with writings, drawings, research and photo collections.
Somehow, over the years, amid the grind of daily life and work, I lost the motivation to schedule some personal art time for myself. Quite frankly, I don’t even know what I would do. My personal art time was running my business, trend research, updating my website and scoping out new prospective clients.
And then, I got the email. Skillshare kicked off a workshop class, “Create a Daily Art Practice this Inktober: A 28-Day Self-Care Challenge” intended to help artists and non-artists explore drawing again. It was time to get back to basics.
COMPLETED: REFLECTIONS (12/30/2020)
This was an absolutely delightful learning experience. Illustration has always been a hidden passion of mine and this allowed me to combine typography and illustration. The first part of the exercise focused on free style drawing while the second had a more emotional tone that left me pondering, even after a few weeks. All in all, loved the exercise! I want to continue this exercise, perhaps during 2021?
DAY 28
(Complete This Sentence) You Get To...
Rest. This was such a wonderful journey but lord knows I need to rest my emotions and mind for a bit. They've had quite the workout. Thank you so much Jessica for such an incredible exercise.
DAY 27
Use Your Wounds
Just gonna post this and not delve in.
DAY 26
Cheer Yourself On
This whole workshop has been an emotional roller coaster and helped me connect with my feelings and emotions. Although I deliberately kept the artworks lighthearted, most stemmed from crevices of my heart that just had a band-aid on. I think the message for today is the best prompt I can ever give myself.
DAY 25
Change Your Tone of Voice
If my inner-inner-innnnnnner voice could talk.
DAY 24
Reframe An Affirmation
My life motto on days I can remember.
DAY 23
What Would A Best Friend Tell You
This was simple. Food fixes everything! Croissants are my go-to.
DAY 22
(Complete This Sentence) It's OK...
This pulled from a conscious and a subconscious feeling that revealed itself as I actually finished the piece.
DAY 21
Giving Yourself Permission
I have a weird subconscious habit of holding my breath in stressful situations. Or I take small breaths.
DAY 20
Active Listening Throughout The Day
I heard the phrase "It's Your Choice" and thought it was very poignant of many social debates today. Also, it can relate to emotional choices.
DAY 19
Allowing Your Own Experience
Sometimes it feel like I beat myself up over how much more I can do when in reality I did your best. This is a little kick to that negative inner voice.
DAY 18
Addressing Unkind Thoughts
A lot of negative mind chatter stems from comparing myself to others. At the end of the day, I can't be anyone else but myself.
DAY 17
Respond to Your Day
I had a client meeting today but there were so many embarrassing moments. False lashes came half off, locked myself out the house, and randomly injured my hands. What a crazy day!
DAY 16
A Message in One Word
One word that came to mind today was "LIVE". We're bombarded with so much negative news, and it can be hard to go on. Amid shootings, bombings, and so much more, the living have to to keep living with memories of lost loved ones.
DAY 15
Name A Feeling
This was an emotional dive that I wasn't expecting. I've been emotionally low the last few days and the next phase of the 28 Days of Self Care Challenge just hit differently. Gone were lists and process and overthinking. Now, it's just whatever the little voice whispers. I couldn't decide between "sad" and "grateful" but essentially "grateful" won since this pushed me to create. Strangely, the yellow was supposed to be a background color but it turned into a lemon...like I'm trying to make something out of the tart bag of lemons life tossed at me.
DAY 10
Grocery Run
I'm a creature of habit and basically get the same items, under $50 unless sidetracked by some sales
DAY 9
Self Care Necessities
This didn't turn out as planned. I had to make some color adjustments and even then it's not "quite" what I envisioned but it kind of is. Haha. I wanted to try flat illustrations, like a color pop/post-it note style on a door. Nevertheless, I think the idea comes across.
DAY 8
I keep Wearing
I live in leggings but these are also essential to my wardrobe. Accent earrings, name rings, bright lipstick and a purse that fits everything. What more can a girl ask for.
DAY 7
Current Cravings
Decided to try a different color palette for this. I like the violet but it was tricky gauging the opacity. Maybe I'll try a monochrome design.
DAY 6
Daily Routine
My schedule can be all over the place but one consistent thing is a cup of tea. Right now, I absolutely love this Vanilla Chai loose leaf tea from a local vendor. I almost signed up for a subscription supply.
DAY 5
Ingredients to my Mess
I think I'm getting the hang of this. No pages were scrapped during the design of today's prompt. I just cleaned my workspace so I delved into my bag. There's always a purse of "you never know" items.
DAY 4
Latest Reading Material
I think I'm finding my flow with this. Went back to acrylics and just a simple pen. Honestly, my books are never stacked properly. It'a a bit all over the place and to represent that, I built a "fort?" of books because...why not.
DAY 3
Creating With: Art Stuff
To be honest, I'm not sure where this project will lead me. There are styles I've explored in the last two days that I love yet there are so many different ways to express an idea. Perhaps I'll switch to just pen and "watered-down" acrylic for the next prompt.
DAY 2
Recently I Learned: I’m a Turbulent Campaigner (ENFP-T)
ENFP, INTJ or ESTP? I was so confused when my friend asked me this question. Did I miss a generation? A vine? A gif? After a quick google search I discovered these spy-like codes referred to 16 various personalities assigned to you after a small test. I took the plunge and was pronounced ENFP...with a T. Aside from having my personality down to a science, I was fascinated by how accurate this actually was, so I made it my project.
One of my focus throughout this workshop is to discover a style that represents me. Since this test felt like a portrait of my personality, I decided to explore a portrait composition, omitting the facial expression to focus on the test result. AND the struggle of finding the right skin tone for a chocolate skinned girl.
DAY 1
Currently Listening to: Mai Tais (Train featuring Skylar Grey)
I was so flustered about how to start this project without overthinking it. I could dive in but that quickly resulted in two drafts being scrapped. Thinking of bridging the gap between over-processing and being free-spirited, I limited myself to 2 "rough" sketches, 2 color palettes (plus black) and simply just writing. I loved the flow of time in the lyrics, the joy of living your life to the full and having no regrets. That's all for now. We'll see what tomorrow brings.