Artwork in Progress

Today’s doodle turned into an exploration of what 8 repeating (almost) parallel lines will do. .
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#exploring #line #doodle #dailydoodle #dailycreative #dailyart #imperfectionism #letitbecrappy #artistsofinstagram #artistsoninstagram #doodlesofinstagram #tinyart #abstractart #doodleart #creativesandboxway #creativeplay #blackandwhite #pigmamicron

A teeny-tiny doodle to start the day. A caterpillar and a tiny upside-down critter showed up in this one.
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You never know what will appear in an improvisational morning doodle! 😊
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#doodle #dailydoodle #dailycreative #dailyart #imperfectionism #letitbecrappy #artistsofinstagram #artistsoninstagram #doodlesofinstagram #tinyart #abstractart #doodleart #creativesandboxway #creativeplay #blackandwhite #pigmamicron #critterdoodle

Have you listened to Work Life by @adamgrant? I am LOVING this podcast! It’s fantastic! A great listen while doodling. 😊
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#doodle #dailydoodle #dailycreative #dailyart #imperfectionism #letitbecrappy #artistsofinstagram #artistsoninstagram #doodlesofinstagram #tinyart #abstractart #doodleart #creativesandboxway #creativeplay #blackandwhite #pigmamicron

Often I hate a doodle at first. My gremlins are convinced that not only does the doodle suck, but I am a terrible excuse for an artist! If I just keep at it, though, usually I find myself warming to it over time, and even quite liking it by the time I finish. We just have to keep going! Don’t let the gremlins win! 🖍
You can watch me draw this entire doodle as I share my entire thought process in a live Doodlecam in my IGTV channel! Check it out and let me know your thoughts. .
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#doodle #dailydoodle #dailycreative #dailyart #imperfectionism #letitbecrappy #artistsofinstagram #artistsoninstagram #doodlesofinstagram #tinyart #abstractart #doodleart #creativesandboxway #creativeplay #doodlecam #blackandwhite #pigmamicron

My favorite part of doodling is when something happens that surprises me, like the broom/brush shapes here. Totally unexpected and surprising! I get bored when I do the same thing over and over—I want to be delighted by something new, but that requires leaping into the unknown, which is scary. It’s just a piece of paper, just a doodle, but still… 🖍
And this is EXACTLY why a daily doodle practice is so valuable! The regular practice of leaping into the unknown, leaning into uncertainty, is great practice for the rest of life! Yes, it’s just a piece of paper HERE, but the muscles we flex in a daily doodle practice are the same muscles that come into play ANYTIME you have to lean into uncertainty or leap into the unknown! So if you get used to doing it in tiny ways, with a doodle, it gets easier to do it in bigger ways, where the stakes are higher.
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Doodling is like a little micro-improv class you do on your own, without leaving your house (or in my case, my bed! 😉) I highly recommend you take a good improv class, AND doodle, too. But until you can get yourself to improv, pick up a pen, let your inner 4-year-old inhabit the tip, and give her free rein to PLAY! No holds barred. Let yourself be surprised and delighted. You never know what you will discover—on the page and inside yourself.
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#doodle #dailydoodle #dailycreative #dailyart #imperfectionism #letitbecrappy #artistsofinstagram #artistsoninstagram #doodlesofinstagram #tinyart #abstractart #doodleart #creativesandboxway #creativeplay #doodlingasaspiritualpractice #blackandwhite #pigmamicron

This is what my face feels like right now, in the middle of an eczema flare. I made this yummy, eczema-friendly, gluten-free bread recipe last night, which was so yummy, and made me so happy, but one of the ingredients was psyllium husks, and apparently I’m allergic to them!! Itching is a rare but documented side effect of psyllium, and since I’ve been eating a VERY restricted diet for the past month, I know exactly what’s been going in my mouth. The only variable is the psyllium, so by process of elimination, that has to be what’s making me want to scratch my face off right now. 😖
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I seem to be a proverbial canary in a coal mine when it comes to food sensitivities these days. Who knew? It’s enough to make me feel like never straying from the what feels like 3 ½ items I fee safe eating right now. Because I NEVER WANT TO FEEL LIKE THIS AGAIN! Like poison needles poking at my face and neck with itchy-itch, nonstop, all the time. GAAAAAHHHH!!!! Make it stop!
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#doodle #dailydoodle #dailycreative #dailyart #imperfectionism #letitbecrappy #artistsofinstagram #artistsoninstagram #doodlesofinstagram #tinyart #abstractart #doodleart #creativesandboxway #creativeplay

Super-quick doodle today. I didn’t sleep well last night, and the temptation is to just skip my creative sandbox time today, because “who has time?” Right?
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That’s the gremlins talking!!! You can take TWO MINUTES to doodle! It will make you feel better, and it will make the whole rest of your day go better!
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Seriously. Studies have shown that when you do something that engages your interest, it recharges your willpower better than just about anything!
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In other words, doing something FUN, creative, and playful, actually restores your patience, your ability to FOCUS, and resist distractions! So while it might *feel* “frivolous” and “self-indulgent,” you’re actually strengthening your willpower muscles!! 💪 🖍
Take THAT, gremlins!
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Go play! .
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#willpower #doodle #dailydoodle #dailycreative #dailyart #imperfectionism #letitbecrappy #artistsofinstagram #artistsoninstagram #doodlesofinstagram #tinyart #abstractart #doodleart #creativesandboxway #creativeplay #blackandwhite #pigmamicron

Today’s Doodlecam was a total surprise. I ended up going in a completely different direction from what I expected. I never have a plan going into these doodles—they are always fully improvisational — but I do have themes I tend to return to over and over, and this one went in an entirely different direction, which I narrated as I was doing. That was fun!
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Not surprisingly, my gremlins told me it SUCKED the whole way through! Though now I kind of like it. As I said in the Doodlecam, though, it doesn’t matter if you like it or hate it when you’re playing in the creative sandbox—all@that matters is that you’re having fun! It’s all about PROCESS in the sandbox! You’re not going to like everything you create, and that’s okay! Your gremlins will try to convince you that everything you create is terrible (because they’re trying to keep you safely inside your comfort zone), and your job is to provide a buffer for your inner 4-year-old, so she can keep playing and never have to hear those harsh gremlin voices. It’s like you’re the guardian at the door to the playroom. Your inner 4-year-old is playing inside while the gremlins are trying to get in and harass her. Your job is to thank them for their concern and send them off to get pedicures, over and over and over, keeping your inner 4-year-old in blissful ignorance, so she can keep playing! 😊
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Obviously, you are all three: the guardian, the inner 4-year-old, and the gremlins, but it’s fun to imagine them as different entities. I find it helpful, and perhaps you will, too! Let me know if it makes a difference for you!
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#doodle #dailydoodle #dailycreative #dailyart #imperfectionism #letitbecrappy #artistsofinstagram #artistsoninstagram #doodlesofinstagram #tinyart #abstractart #doodleart #creativesandboxway #creativeplay #gremlins #doodlecam #blackandwhite #pigmamicron #inner4yearold #innerfouryearold

Last day of the Friends of Calligraphy retreat. Last sheet of roll paper. I visually captured episode 370 of @freakonomicsradio, How to Fail Like a Pro. Integrating a bit of sign writer’s script and casual script from @corpgraffitiart’s How to Letter Like a Sign Painter ecourse. (So much easier to do s-l-o-w-l-y than at speed!! 😜 But taking the topic of the podcast episode as inspiration, I’m failing forward! 😊)
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#visualfacilitation #graphicfacilitation #visualnotes #graphicrecording #sketchnotes #sketchnote #sketchnoting #sketchnotearmy #graphicrecorder #visualshownotes #visualthinking #neulandmarker

Abstract doodling at the Friends of Calligraphy retreat! .
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#pigmamicron #blackandwhite #doodle #dailydoodle #dailycreative #dailyart #imperfectionism #letitbecrappy #artistsofinstagram #artistsoninstagram #doodlesofinstagram #tinyart #abstractart #doodleart #creativesandboxway #creativeplay

I’ve been enjoying making visual notes of this series on creativity on @freakonomicsradio. This chart is from episode 369, A Good Idea Is Not Enough. My favorite takeaway: David Galinson’s (sp?) two life cycles of creativity. Conceptualists have new ideas, and have their greatest ideas YOUNG (think Picasso, who made 400 preparatory drawings before doing his famous Nude Descending a Staircase, underneath which you would be able to find layer upon layer of preparatory sketches and paintings). Experimentalists, on the other hand, never reach their goal, build up to great ideas, and have their greatest ideas when they’re older (think Cezanne, who made hundreds of paintings of the same subject, each of which was totally spontaneous. 🖍
Where Conceptualists know exactly what they want to create, Experimentalists want to discover the creation in the process of creating it.
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If you know me AT ALL, it doesn’t take much of a guess to figure out which type I am! 😅
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We live in a culture that celebrates Conceptualists. Youth. Product. Aiming for said product and hitting the bullseye. All of these are highly valued. But some of us thrive when we get to nurture our spontaneity and hang out in process, not product. Not to mention the fact that youth is fleeting for all of us! 🖍
Thank you, David Galinson, for holding up these two ways of being as equally valid. .
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#visualfacilitation #graphicfacilitation #visualnotes #graphicrecording #sketchnotes #sketchnote #sketchnoting #sketchnotearmy #graphicrecorder #visualshownotes #visualthinking #neulandmarkers #pigmamicron #moleskine

Morning doodle at the Friends of Calligraphy retreat. .
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#doodle #dailydoodle #dailycreative #dailyart #imperfectionism #letitbecrappy #artistsofinstagram #artistsoninstagram #doodlesofinstagram #tinyart #abstractart #doodleart #creativesandboxway #creativeplay #pigmamicron