30 Day Drawing Journal Challenge

Random Observation/Comment #562: I almost forgot the joy of just sitting down with a pen and drawing what’s on my mind — I highly recommend this challenge.

Why this Challenge?

I can draw one good line at a time, gauge perspectives, scale sizes well, and be patient with results. However, one of my all time goals is to be able to sit at a bar and draw something amazing on a napkin on the spot. I want someone to give me a subject and story, and then I can draw them a scene from it. Why? Because it’s cool and it’s on my 30 before 30. Why not?

What did you Draw?

The way I approached this challenge was less structured than my others. I first randomly started from watching Planet Earth with hump back whales. I decided to draw one in a cartoon form with the closest writing utensil at reach (a ball point pen).

The result wasn’t terrible, but I found value in 1) not copying from an existing drawing, 2) using a permanent and easily-bleeding writing utensil, and 3) keeping a simple creative structure.

My next drawing was of Henry (of course), but I started adding the environment and a few accessories to the piece. This lead me to asking Vinessa for advice on what to draw next. A koala bear dancing ballet in a tutu:

The pattern I liked in this challenges evolution was setting a structure:

• Animal
• With accessory
• Wearing special outfit
• In environment
• Related to something from that day

Here’s a few samples:

From Zurich’s street parade, I drew a lion DJing:

From a wine festival, I drew a seahorse scene drinking a glass of wine:

From Vinessa, I drew a karrot karaoke knight:

From Crater Lake National Park, a Shell-fie

From watching Zootopia on the plane and starting the roadtrip, a sloth driving a racecar:

One of my personal favorites, a flamingo on a tightrope:

From the cruise’s first night, a polar bear cooking tepanyaki:

This, too, didn’t last very long because I ran out of animals I knew how to draw. Instead, it involved into something more or less random about the day. I’d draw something from a scene or funny part, and it always took a path of its own. Ever since August 8th, I’ve been drawing on a daily basis and really enjoying myself.

Here’s a few more notable ones:

From the cruise’s honeymoon package of chocolate covered Strawberries:

From Alaska, a king crab eating a soldier:

From drinking all day at the wine tasting:

From flying to Heathrow after a long honeymoon trip:

From the first presidential debate:

From our 1 year anniversary:

From random nights and knitting hobbies:

From our secret blockchain project:

From a random fun weekend:

And my personal favorite, when Vinessa got a haircut and dyed her hair black:

From 30 day challenge to 90+ day adventure onward!

What’s Next?

I really love this as a part of my habits, and specifically as a wind down mechanism for going to bed early. It keeps devices out of the bedroom and gives me more creativity than just writing. On my ideal night, I’d be in bed by 10:45PM with my pen and notebook to sketch something from the day. This has definitely continued and become part of my day! Maybe I’ll even have a separate blog section, blogpost, or instagram feed for these.

I highly recommend this challege to anyone and everyone. Even if you can’t draw, you only get better when you try.

~See Lemons Love Drawing

Originally published at https://seelemons.com.