Embarking on a new year

I really want to create a habit of drawing and painting this year. I say this every year, but this year I did something about it: I signed up for "Beginnings," the first course of Sketchbook Skool, created by Danny Gregory and Koosje Koene.

It's a six-week course, with a new lesson (and a new teacher) beginning every Friday, starting with today! Since I'm home sick from work, and can't do much that involves more than sitting still (two weeks and counting of a flu/cold that has been unbelievably persistent and debilitating!), I decided to jump in and start the lesson today.

Danny shared images from his own sketchbook, and then did a demo painting in which he selected something that was meaningful to him (his son's shoes, spattered with paint, because he is an artist/painter) and drew, painted, and captioned. Then he encouraged us to go and do likewise, and to share our results. Here is my first sketch journal entry:



My mom died in 2010. She was a collector of beautiful things. What I liked, though, was that she didn't just put them in glass cases to look at, she used them. Now I have some of her things at home, including this group of salt and pepper shakers.

She would have a dinner party for 12, and use her best dishes, most beautiful glassware, linen, etc., but then she would accent the table with little random unmatching things like these shakers, orphan saucers as relish dishes, beautiful odds and ends that she loved, and it transformed the table into something special.

I liked painting these--the shapes and angles and curves were fun to draw, and I enjoy using a lot of color. I kind of wish I hadn't put the pink wash over the type, but when it was just plain black and white, sitting under the shelf, it didn't seem connected to the rest of the piece. I'll have to figure a better way of incorporating text into my drawings.

It was good to be forced to think about something that had meaning, figure out what that meaning was, and then share it visually and verbally in a way that might connect with others.

Our next assignment is to document our week in our sketchbook, from the cat asleep on the windowsill to the leftover half-eaten sandwich, so I'm hopeful of having more to share soon!