Wednesday 23 September 2009

A Week of Moments

Want to hear a story? I know you do!

Back in September of '08, my watch alarm would go off every day at 1:59 pm, and I didn't know how to turn it off.

So I decided to draw myself in the position I was in when my alarm went off, along with whatever I was thinking or hearing at that moment.

It was okay, but I wanted the drawings to be really high-quality, so (like an idiot), I made daily sketches that I intended to finish later. As you might assume, the pile of sketches stacked up, and I never finished them, and after a week or two, I got overwhelmed by all the drawing I had to do, and I called the project off.

I soon forgot about that project, and in January '09, started a new daily journal: Numbered Days. It was a 3-panel strip that I drew in a Moleskin daily planner that had really conveniently-sized spaces for each day.

It was pretty good, but I wanted the drawings to be really professional, so (like an idiot), I made daily sketches, and the rest writes itself. Needless to say, Numbered days (despite having several really nice strips), has gone the way of the Dodo, the Model T and the... previous daily journal I just wrote about.

But then, a few weeks ago, I was cleaning out my hard drive when I discovered the sketches for the first project, and realized I really liked reading them only a year later because they sparked my memory for what life was like last year.

So I have officially given Numbered Days the boot, and Re-instated the Original Journal, with one crucial twist- the drawings are crap!

By allowing myself to do quick, loose, occasionally sloppy drawings, I can ensure that I at least get something out every day, and it also raises the odds that eventually my ability to draw quickly and well will improve.

ON WITH THE NEW JOURNAL!

1 comment:

  1. I don't know if you've heard of dailybooth, but it's kind of like twitter, but the updates are always of the jpg variety plus a caption, if you so chose. You can also tell it to remind you when you haven't posted anything in 24 hours. I'm using it as a way of forcing myself to create an interesting image every day. It might be a useful tool for you to try to get at least a frame out per day. Let me know if you go through with it. I'll follow you, fo sho.

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