When in doubt, just keep going

I have no doubt that I've been in a funk for most of the autumn. There are lots of reasons, but no excuses. Do you know what I mean? I can blame outer circumstances, and I can blame myself, but what use is any of that? Blame is wasted energy. Right now, it's more important to me to keep going. I know that I must keep doing something, anything creative.

I bought a package of three small Moleskine journals. Nothing fancy, just simple cardboard covers and blank pages. They are light and thin -- perfect to carry in my purse. I put 4 pens in there as well, thinking a small selection would tempt me to use them all, but most of the time I've been using only one.

As a mother, I spend time waiting for my child. Most days, it's just a few minutes. The perfect moment to take out the Moleskine and do something. This was a rough 5-minute sketch:



Nothing great. But it's something.

Occasionally I get 15 or 20 minutes of waiting time. If I'm not sleep deprived, I'm usually eager to scan my surroundings for a subject to sketch. And if I like the sketch enough, I may go back and add color later. The next two sketches have colored pencil.





There's something very satisfying about playing with colored pencils, trying out colors, seeing what I can mix together to approximate what I saw. It's an appealing way to end my day.