Day 10 check-in: The 30-Day Drawing Habit

How y'all doing? Drawing daily!? Huzzah!!!

Hello Grown-Ups Table!

We are officially 1/3 of the way through the 30-day Drawing Habit experiment/challenge/party! WOOHOO!!! If you are late to the party and want to join, it’s never too late to start. For folks who have been drawing 10 minutes a day for 10ish days. CONGRATS.

Apparently it's going AWESOME. Our assignment this week is blind contour selfies, and these magnificent art pieces are by Waydegrins, Sara Courchesre, and Dana Marine

And how’s it going so far??

Before we talk about this week’s assignment, a few DRAWING HABIT BIG PICTURE check in Q’s for you. Let’s share oour thoughts in the comments.

• Have you set aside 10 minutes a day to draw? (If so, huzzah! If not, that’s okay, you can start today!)

• Have you come up against a little self-doubt and/or frustration and kept going? (If so, huzzah! If not, that’s okay, you can start today!)

• Have you let go of even a teaspoon of expectations, and found yourself focusing more on process than on the outcome? (If so, huzzah! If not, that’s okay, you can start today!)

The obvious GUT theme here is: “Huzzah” and “It’s okay.” We get to celebrate our effort and give ourselves some grace. And even more, I get to celebrate you. Because WOW. The thousands of drawings and cheering comments y’all are sharing in the chats make me laugh and cry. And it’s kept me looking forward to drawing every darn morning, too. I am in awe. Almost as in awe as I am of your incredible blind contour drawings.

Blind Contour self-portraits by Marsha, Hermoine and Krista Lee Weller

Can we talk about these for a minute? Because I know you all have some BIG feelings. I read all the comments I could and there were definitely some themes. I’m going to address these below. I’m also going to give us a variation on this week’s assignment and prep for next week, so be sure to read to the bottom.

First off: Read the comments.

As Jeanne said today, “I get so inspired by the comments [in the chat] - almost as good as the assignment!” I’d say the comments are better. Not only are they helpful and hopeful, they show our unique approaches and experiences with drawing. Some of you HATE this assignment and share why. Some of you LOVE it and talk about that. We are all as different as our art. The way you share your own observations, tips and encouragement is deeply helpful to me and everyone at the GUT. <3

So fun. By Gunhild Hjermundrud, Kate McCarthy, Kyle Ranson-Walsh

“5 minutes of blind contour drawing feels like foreverrrrrr.”

I AGREE. Lololol. It is a very long time to focus on lines and edges in one particular place. It can feel frustrating. Like you’ve finished and want to move on. I GET IT. I often feel the same, too. And when I do, I think to myself, “Why am I in such a hurry to finish?” And then, “What have I missed?” Then I do this: