Every Day in May, Ta-Dah!

gads turn off the sound!
mac is not letting me turn it off during export!

I haven’t done a prompt with challenges in a couple of years.
I have no trouble thinking of things to sketch and time is what makes
filling a sketchbook hard — I work at our business full-time.

So why do a challenge when I was swamped and stressed over a deadline on a huge project?   Because sketching is my second form of meditation (first is actual meditation), and it provides me a way to free my mind, calm my stress, enjoy my day.

To up the ante, I did no pencil —
NOT that I think pencil is a no-no — I’m not one of those people —
but pencil does slow me down, make me prepare mentally for a “good” sketch.
I wanted to just make it through the month still sketching every day, because I am doing a sketch a day even if I don’t post them (sometimes I can’t for privacy reasons.)

I chose a too-small Hahnemühle Watercolour Book —
I ordered the A6 size by accident — I don’t like small journals —
because as I started this I thought of the exercise as a throwaway.
It was a throwaway —
I threw away
judgements and perfection (10-minute sketches do that for you)!
I gained a fun finished journal, sanity during a long push,
an appreciation for small journals,
and even a few tricks I will continue with —
like more colored ink-in-waterbrushes (besides the greys for grisaille.)

My cover and commitment on the inside cover…

…my test pages for inks (you can really see that I started with my normal inks in waterbrushes — browns and greys — but then added a whole other page of colorful inks.
I started using them in waterbrushes two years ago, so I had color for the middle of the night!  Then I loved them for grisaille or brunaille…

And finally, my thoughts — which I often record at the end
of a journal looking back — but rarely share.

Jutta and admins, thank you for the best EDIM ever!

See You next year! The list, above.

About dkatiepowellart

hollywood baby turned beach gurl turned steel&glass city gurl turned cowgurl turned herb gurl turned green city gurl. . . artist writer photographer. . . cat lover but misses our big dogs, gone to heaven. . . buddhist and interested in the study of spiritual traditions. . . foodie, organic, lover of all things mik, partner in conservation business mpfconservation, consummate blogger, making a dream happen, insomniac who is either reading buddhist teachings or not-so-bloody mysteries or autobio journal thangs early in the morning when i can't sleep
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12 Responses to Every Day in May, Ta-Dah!

  1. dweezer19 says:

    Your defication is admirable Kate. I am trying to do my morning pages but if I post on my blog I sometimes have to count that. Just. Not. Enough. Hours. Congrats on a job well done!

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  2. loisajay says:

    I loved the music! It was very festive and jubilant, and made me smile.

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  3. Dan Antion says:

    Congratulations Kate! This was very well done and I know you were busy. I don’t know how you found the time, but I’m gald you did,

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  4. Faye says:

    I enjoyed the video, but I did turn off the music. I often do because I really work better in quiet. I have a new MBkPro and the cursor arrow skips around as I type so that the words end up on the wrong lines and sometimes in the middle of other words. No one has been able to fix it for me. So I understand if Mac wouldnt let you cut off the sound.

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  5. I also view drawing and painting as a form of meditation to relax the mind. Love the no pencil zone, I need to work straight from pen more often as a challenge!

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  6. Love your pen work! I agree – I don’t like to use pencils first – it is straight to the ink for me, too! LOVE your list of prompts – I’m going to share with my daughter! Happy PPF 🙂

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    • Tammie if you are on FaceBook, there is a list of prompts (I think) for every month — It started with EDIM but now many people keep it going. Also, Doodlewash does prompts every month I think! I wanted to follow your blog but can’t find a button!

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