Mindful Mark Making


Today was a day of mindful mark making in the journal. Using my Faber Castell Pitt Pens, I explored a variety of shapes, designs, and patterns. Art making has always been a way for me to stay present and practice mindfulness, and the act of drawing simple shapes and patterns is a great way to focus on the act of making marks.


I've been thinking about ways to share my ideas and strategies with others. The techniques that I used in these doodles are nothing earth shaking, and they are straight forward and accessible to anyone. Perhaps an online workshop is in order.




Snowed In


The blizzard dropped nearly 30 inches of snow on Northern Virginia, and after much shoveling, I was able to spend some time working in the journal. I worked primarily with Derwent Inktense pencils and watercolor paint adding to a variety of pages, but I spent the most time on a monochromatic two-page spread.

I began by layering Ink Black Inktense pencil gradually darkening the value with each layer (see the detail above). I built up an overlapping structure similar to work I shared in this post. 


I then spent a lot of time refining the lines, shapes, and values with Derwent Black Coloursoft pencil (see the image above). The colored pencil allowed me to fine tunes edges and shadows. I'll share more when I finish the spread.

It was great to limit myself to a single color. I am a firm believer that creativity can be enhanced by setting limitations on ourselves.


I'll be certain to have more time to make art as the huge amount of snow has lead to the cancellation of school through at least Wednesday. It'll take a while for the county and schools to dig out. Luckily, I got most of my digging done yesterday, with just a little today.


I love snow days!

Blizzard - Day 2


The blizzard has completely buried us in Northern Virginia with around 30 inches, and between bouts of shoveling, I've found time to work in the journal. I've been bouncing around in the journal adding to a variety of pages and starting a few new ones.


The above page is an experiment with watercolor just trying to play around with texture and brushstrokes.


This spread was started using an Ink Black Derwent Inktense pencil to build up some layers. I have no idea where these pages will go, but that's all part of the fun.

Intrigue and Inquiry


Another face! This time using Faber Castell Pitt Pens of varying sizes. I'm still not certain what's behind these faces, but there is something there that intrigues me. They're very mask like, and I enjoy playing with the shapes and the textures. Thoughts of the "wise man" or the "sage" come to mind, and many of the faces have a sense of calm and a slight smile. I'll keep exploring these faces until I can discover their meaning for me. I am a firm believer that we need to pay attention to the things that keep popping up in our work. These make perfect subjects for our lines of inquiry.

I've only done some small pieces, and this one is merely an experiment on cheap drawing paper to try out the pens. But, I definitely think larger works need to happen.

Watercolor Layers


Using a lot of watercolor techniques from the Cultivating Creativity workshop, I layered the paint onto these 5x7 papers. I simply immersed myself in playing with the techniques and playing with the paint.


I really like the richness created in the layers and textures. They seem to have a certain glow to them.They have been sitting around the studio for a while now, and I'm not certain what I'll do with them. Perhaps I'll add one of my faces or monsters.


Myths About Creativity


For a while now, I've had a lot of ideas about creativity bumping around in my mind. I've even written about some of them here and here. Over the years I have read quite a few books on the subject such as Ken Robinson's Out of Our Minds, and I am currently reading Elizabeth Gilbert's Big Magic.

I am a firm believer that everyone has the innate capacity for creativity, but so many people buy into common myths about it. If we can see past these stories, we can see just how straight forward creativity can be. I am looking forward to exploring my ideas on creativity and how I can help people reconnect with theirs.