Let me start by saying that as someone who identifies as an illustrator, sketching for “fun” isn’t usually on my list of pleasurable pastimes. I’d never really enjoyed drawing-by-observation outside of my college drawing classes, and never made it a consistent practice for myself.

Let me also say that the writer half of me loves good stationery, which led me to impulsively buying a cute, little, yellow sketchbook in support of my beloved Artist and Craftsman supply store (Friendly public service announcement to shop small and local).

I generally want everything I bring into my life to have both functionality and value, so I told myself that even if this tablet was only $3, I didn’t want it to become a $3 dust collector. 

So with that mantra in the back of my mind, I recently started sketching whatever was around me whenever I found myself with a free half hour or so. The lines are loose, the proportions askew and the perspective warped, and that’s really been okay with me.  I’m also experimenting with lines and dots to show some depth—and honestly I just think the patterned quality of it looks visually exciting. 

I’m noticing by these three pages that I apparently enjoy drawing power lines and wires, which is what these sketches have in common. For some reason I like how their tangled intersections blend almost unnoticed into the backgrounds of our daily lives. (You can interpret that as a narrative for our technologically-dependent society, if you so wish).

I’m not looking to create perfect representations  of anything (if I did, I’d sooner just take a picture), but really I want to just give myself 30 minutes of a creative flow state to escape the daily pressures of life. I’m viewing sketching less as an “assignment” and more as a meditative act of remaining present and drawing awareness—quite literally—to my surroundings.

Feature photo by Rachael Gorjestani on unspash.com.