Today’s prompt: Draw a stack of books!
Go to your bookshelves or wherever you keep your books. You decide how tall your book stack will be.
Maybe you will make it uniform with all the same type of books lined up perfectly. Or, maybe you will choose a variety of sizes and shapes and create a varied stack.
If you want, could even play with the lighting and create a strong cast shadow.
Who knows, maybe you will rediscover an old book that must be read again!
Today’s Prompt: Draw a mysterious doorway or staircase.
One thing of many that I found striking when traveling abroad is how differently doors, doorways, entryways appear.
When my husband and I traveled to Malta, we were immediately enamored by the narrow, brightly covered front doors of the dwellings that only had about a foot clearance to the main road.
Each door was incredibly inviting and stood out among the stone walls. They were beautiful and were works of art in and of themselves.
This care taken with front entries suggested that behind this door there lies more than meets the eye. That you must enter because if you don’t, you will miss out on an adventure, on new insights, on a sprinkle of magic. And, you have a choice! Will it be the red door with the narrow slots at the top? Or, maybe the weathered blue door with raised wooden panels and touches of black filigrees?
I loved this about Malta, and many other places I visited. It’s welcoming and enchanting.
So today, draw a mysterious or ornate doorway. You can always use a door in your own dwelling and add to it! Or maybe you will search online for ‘mysterious doorways’ and work from an image. If you want, you can work from the image in this post!
And, if you feel so inclined, add a little caption or story that hints at what is behind the door or up the staircase.
-Autumn
Scroll through your photographs from your phone or device of your choice. Keep scrolling until you find one that sparks you. Use that photo as inspiration for today’s page.
Try not to feel overwhelmed by the entire photograph. If it helps, pick one object or aspect from the photo to focus on in your sketch.
It might help to pick something with high contrast – something with clearly defined highlights, mid-tones and shadows. But it’s not a deal breaker.
If you don’t see anything you like, scroll Instagram or Facebook and borrow an inspiration image from someone else!
Happy Sketching!
-Autumn
Here’s to new beginnings and creative challenges!
I’m excited and nervous about this sketchbook challenge. How about you?
I’m excited because I love creative challenges, and I know that if I commit to a sketch a day for the next 31 days, growth will happen.
I’m nervous because, well, I must commit to it. I need the discipline to make sure I carve out time in my day to make a sketch. I don’t want this to be something I’m excited about in the beginning – and start off with a bang – to only fizzle out once I hit the middle of the month. So, let’s help each other to not let that happen. Shall we?
So, for the challenge…
You can sketch anything you like or take my suggestions. I won’t be giving a lot of instruction on technique or anything else, but I will give you some ideas of what to sketch. And, I will definitely give you encouragement and tips along the way. Feel free to reach out with questions as you work. I’m here.
Here we go!
Day One: Pick a word for the year. My husband and I do this every new year. It’s a word to inspire, to work toward, to invite more of its examples and evidence in our lives throughout the year.
My word: Discipline.
I need to be more disciplined in order for my art business to grow. And, I most definitely want it to grow. Once my teaching year resumes, I get incredibly busy. My days are
long and it becomes easy to neglect my creative side and my little sprouting art business. So, this year, I’m making it a priority. And, it will take discipline!
Now back to you:
Step one: Pick your word.
Step two: Doodle it onto the first page of your sketchbook.
You can make it a fancy script. Or, big and bold. Maybe add flowers sprouting from it. Duplicate the word several times. Write it in different scripts. Fill the page or make it stand it out with a lot of white space around it. But Do Have Fun!
If you would like, please share your word. Or, share the page. I would love to see your wonderful new year words!
Your friend in creative adventures,
Autumn