Artwork in Progress

Practicing icons. Or as @loosetoothcom calls them in her fabulous book, The Idea Shapers, “postage stamps.” A small image that communicates a big idea. This can be super challenging with abstract concepts! Quick: how would you draw “commitment”? Or “engagement”? Or “unity”?
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These are the types of things I’m working on coming up with my own visual vocabulary for, so I actually have an icon in my metaphorical pocket, at the ready, should the need arise. When I’m at a loss for how to start, Google image search is a great jumping off point! From there I can develop my own icon/postage stamp. And the real key, as @evalottchen says, is to draw it over and over and over—at least 50 times before you really “own” it. (Plus you have to *keep* drawing it, or trust me, you’ll forget how! 😂)
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#visualfacilitation #graphicfacilitation #visualnotes #graphicrecording #sketchnotes #sketchnote #sketchnoting #sketchnotearmy #graphicrecorder #visualshownotes #visualthinking #neulandmarkers

Adding a few more knot doodles to this page to start the week with some creative sandbox playtime! Science shows that play is good for your brain—doing something that engages your interest is actually the BEST way to power up your willpower, so you have more FOCUS, more PATIENCE, and more ability to resist temptations and distractions! 🖍
That’s some powerful stuff. The opposite of “frivolous and self-indulgent,” wouldn’t you say?
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Know all of this, what are you doing to add a little play to your day?
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#creativesandboxcommunity #creativesandboxchallenge #doodle #dailydoodle #dailycreative #dailyart #imperfectionism #letitbecrappy #artistsofinstagram #artistsoninstagram #doodlesofinstagram #tinyart #abstractart #doodleart #creativesandboxway #creativeplay

Saturday morning knot doodles. Tiny and daily. .
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Finished square of knot doodles. Isn’t it satisfying to finish something? It’s easy to fill up your space with unfinished objects, but your space was not meant to be a UFO warehouse! Maybe there are UFOs you might want to let go of (like the sweaters I’ve been meaning to post to Ravelry, because I have no intention of ever finishing them, and I’m absolutely fine with that—I got what I needed out of the experience of partially completing them). But the projects you know you want to finish but you’re just scared of, because maybe you’re afraid they can’t possibly be good enough? What if you just let them be crappy? What’s the worst that would happen?
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Practicing icons for “empathy.” Drawing abstract concepts is challenging. I’m working on creating a visual vocabulary of some of the concepts I use frequently in my work, so I can whip them out on demand. 🖍
Obviously, some of these profiles are more… successful… than others, but they all read as people, which is all that matters here. As a visual practitioner, I’m drawing for ideas and communication, not for “art!” 😊
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#visualfacilitation #graphicfacilitation #visualnotes #graphicrecording #sketchnotes #sketchnote #sketchnoting #sketchnotearmy #graphicrecorder #visualthinking #visualpractitioner #empathy

Adding more knot doodles to this page in my sketchbook. 🖍
It’s easy to get overwhelmed and feel like I’m never going to achieve my big goals, but the way ANY big goal gets done is one teeny-tiny step at a time. If I were to add ONE knot doodle to this book every day, eventually the first page would be filled, and eventually the entire book would be filled. The key is CONSISTENCY.
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A year ago I started physical therapy for my shoulder. It was so stiff and painful, I couldn’t touch my lower back or raise my arm above my head. My PT started me on teeny-tiny daily stretches. Weeks later she added teeny-tiny, very low-resistance exercises. A year later, I’m now doing 14 push-ups in a row, and reverse namaste!!! AND assisted pull-ups—something I thought I would NEVER do again! 🖍
Consistency. Tiny and daily. (That’s Creative Sandbox Way™ Guidepost #4, btw.) It’s magic. You’ll turn around one day and think, “Wow! Look what I did!”
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#creativesandboxcommunity #creativesandboxchallenge #doodle #dailydoodle #dailycreative #dailyart #imperfectionism #letitbecrappy #artistsofinstagram #artistsoninstagram #doodlesofinstagram #tinyart #abstractart #doodleart #creativesandboxway #creativeplay

A few knot doodles to start the day. I am SO sleepy today! I took an improv class last night, for the first time in way too long, which was great, except that evening improv classes go til 10pm (or in this case, 10:15–it ran over), which meant I didn’t get to bed til after 11:00… and it was close to midnight by the time I got to sleep. Sigh… my circadian rhythms just don’t sync that way anymore. 😜
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So today is going to be a sleepy, draggy day. BUT, I can still give myself a little boost by exercising (check! ✔️), meditating (check! ✔️), and doodling (check! ✔️). 🖍
Here’s the deal: scientific studies show that doing something that engages your interest is one of the best ways to restore willpower 💡 to your brain. 🧠 We’ve been programmed to believe that creative play is frivolous and self-indulgent, but actually it makes you more patient and able to focus better! 🖍
So the next time you’re underslept, try some creative play. It might just help.
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#creativesandboxcommunity #creativesandboxchallenge #doodle #dailydoodle #dailycreative #dailyart #imperfectionism #letitbecrappy #artistsofinstagram #artistsoninstagram #doodlesofinstagram #tinyart #abstractart #doodleart #creativesandboxway #creativeplay #willpower

Monday morning knot doodles. This is one way I play—by picking up a pen and letting my inner 4-year-old inhabit the tip and have free rein. How about you? What are your doing to play today? .
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#creativesandboxcommunity #creativesandboxchallenge #doodle #dailydoodle #dailycreative #dailyart #imperfectionism #letitbecrappy #artistsofinstagram #artistsoninstagram #doodlesofinstagram #tinyart #abstractart #doodleart #creativesandboxway #creativeplay

I am so enamored with knot doodles! I don’t know why they delight me so, but what I do know is this: when something delights you, do it. Follow it. Give it to yourself as much as you can, because you only have one precious life to live, so why deny yourself delight? Delight is fuel. It will power you up to deal with the slings and arrows that will inevitably come your way throughout the day. You need all the fuel you can get. Give yourself delight wherever you can find it. .
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#creativesandboxcommunity #creativesandboxchallenge #doodle #dailydoodle #dailycreative #dailyart #imperfectionism #letitbecrappy #artistsofinstagram #artistsoninstagram #doodlesofinstagram #tinyart #abstractart #doodleart #creativesandboxway #creativeplay #knotdoodle #delight

Thanks to my Creative Sandbox Community Leaders Lab members, who just joined me for a virtual playday, where we made art together, side by side, virtually. I practiced lettering on a flip chart for most of the hour, and then made a few tiny knot doodles right at the very end. 🖍
Making art in community is so much better than doing it in isolation all the time. 😊 .
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New Year knot doodles! 😊
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#creativesandboxcommunity #creativesandboxchallenge #doodle #dailydoodle #dailycreative #dailyart #imperfectionism #letitbecrappy #artistsofinstagram #artistsoninstagram #doodlesofinstagram #tinyart #abstractart #doodleart #creativesandboxway #creativeplay

Happy New Year, everyone! .
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#calligraphy #lettering #neulandmarkers #handlettering #happynewyear #happynewyear2019 #creativesandboxsolutions #playingwithpens