Hello November! I am so glad to see you. Not because I love the shorter days (I don’t) or because you are the season of breakfast pie (pecan > pumpkin), but because it means I made it through another year of daily “drawing” in October. This year my daily drawings were mostly small, figurative gouache paintings on cotton rag paper. I responded to a list of prompts I generated with help from others. You can see the full list of prompts here.
This biannual tradition of daily drawing started for me almost 8 years ago as #Inktober. I found it to be an incredibly helpful practice, especially as I navigated parenting, full-time work, and remaining active in the studio. The gift of showing up daily, just for a little bit, has been one I return to again and again. Over the years I’ve drawn different themes (e.g. plants, bodies) and with differing media ranging from ballpoint pens to gouache (my current love). This year’s focus on figurative work helped me sort out some ideas I plan to explore further on my sabbatical next semester.
The practice of daily drawing affirms to me: what you water, grows. Too often I am critical of my own work before I’ve been “showing up.” Every year when the month of daily drawing wraps up I feel both sad to see it go and relieved to get back the hours of the day that I spend on the work.
Below are some of my favorites from this year. Almost all of them are for sale in my store.
