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Living A Creative Life with Melissa Dinwiddie
Happiness, Self-fulfillment, Creativity, Productivity, Practical Inspiration, Mentoring, Life Design for Creatives and Multi-Passionate People
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I create just about every day, and share my works-in-progress here, and on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. You can find finished paintings from 2011 through 2015 in my Daily Paintings feed.
Like something you see? Visit my Art Shop to see if it's still available.
A little abstract doodle on an index card to start the day.
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#doodle #dailydoodle #dailycreative #dailyart #imperfectionism #letitbecrappy #artistsofinstagram #artistsoninstagram #doodlesofinstagram #tinyart #abstractart #doodleart #creativesandboxway #creativeplay #pigmamicron
Illustration to accompany today’s LinkedIn post about how just 10 minutes of meditation has been proven to boost creativity. 🖍
LinkedIn doesn’t actually “like” images. My posts there would likely perform better without them. But I’m a graphic facilitator (among other things 😉). It makes sense for me to include drawings with my posts. Occasionally I don’t, mostly to see what will happen with my stats. But I almost always include an image, because it’s who I am. I draw. It would be weird for my feed to be image-less.
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Not everything is about stats. The choices we make have to make sense for US, not just for algorithms.
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#visualfacilitation #graphicfacilitation #visualnotes #graphicrecording #sketchnotes #sketchnote #sketchnoting #sketchnotearmy #graphicrecorder #visualthinking #pigmamicron
Drawer – #decemberdrawingchallenge
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After a lifetime of lamenting my inability to draw a straight line, I am finally embracing this perceived weakness as a strength. I LIKE the way my wonky lines give my objects character. My wonky lines are what make my drawings ME, instead of human photocopies (how boring would THAT be?)
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Embrace your wonkiness! It’s what makes you, you! ❤️
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#visualfacilitation #graphicfacilitation #visualnotes #graphicrecording #sketchnotes #sketchnote #sketchnoting #sketchnotearmy #graphicrecorder #visualthinking #imperfectionism #pigmamicron
Morning doodle. Letting my inner 4-year-old inhabit the tip of my pen. I love this form of #meditation — #doodlemeditation 😁 Pure exploration and #play in the #creativesandbox .
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#doodle #dailydoodle #dailycreative #dailyart #imperfectionism #letitbecrappy #artistsofinstagram #artistsoninstagram #doodlesofinstagram #tinyart #abstractart #doodleart #creativesandboxway #creativeplay #pigmamicron
How to draw a candle in 3 steps. Plus a row of flickering candles below. 😊
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I used to lament the fact that I have a hard time drawing things really symmetrically, and duplicating things perfectly. (Okay, sometimes I still do. 😂) But here it’s a bonus! I slightly exaggerate my flames’ difference from one another and they look like they’re flickering. 😊
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If my drawings were more “perfect,” it would also make them more intimidating to new learners. My goal is to get everyone to pick up a pen, so for that, my “weakness” is actually a strength. 💪😊
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Our perceived weaknesses are often strengths when put in the right context. 🖍
What’s something in your life you’ve always seen as a weakness? Is there a context in which it might be a strength?
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#imperfectionism #drawingtutorial #howtodraw
#visualfacilitation #graphicfacilitation #visualnotes #graphicrecording #sketchnotes #sketchnote #sketchnoting #sketchnotearmy #graphicrecorder #visualthinking #neulandmarkers
“Catch” .
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#novemberdrawingchallenge #visualfacilitation #graphicfacilitation #visualnotes #graphicrecording #sketchnotes #sketchnote #sketchnoting #sketchnotearmy #graphicrecorder #visualthinking #ballpointpendrawing
Happy Thanksgiving! 🦃🍁 Here’s a 6-step tutorial for how to draw a roast turkey. Enjoy! 😊
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#howtodraw #drawingtutorial #doodle #dailydoodle #dailycreative #dailyart #imperfectionism #letitbecrappy #artistsofinstagram #artistsoninstagram #doodlesofinstagram #doodleart #creativesandboxway #creativeplay #turkey #thanksgiving
Playing in the creative sandbox. 😊
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Here in the creative sandbox it’s not about impressing anyone, or making money, or winning awards, or getting “likes.” It’s about exploring and playing. It’s about letting my inner 4-year-old inhabit the tip of my pen and giving her free rein to do whatever the &$@# she wants! It doesn’t even matter if I LIKE it! All that matters is that I’m having fun! 🖍
I used to look at these weird things that would come out of my own and think, “What the #*^>$??? That’s so *ugly*!” Sometimes I still think that. But even on those days I remind myself of my visits to MoMA, when I’ve looked at artworks I’ve found hideous! 😂 Some curator found them beautiful/worthy enough to pay 💰 💰 💰!!! 🖍
It’s all in the eye of the beholder. Someone else might look at my work, which I think is ugly/crap, and find it beautiful (and indeed, that’s happened many times!) This has helped me to see my work through more neutral lenses. 😊
Now I enjoy my weird marks! I find such delight in them! I cheer my inner 4-year-old on! We have a lot more fun together, which is how it should be.
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Do you cheer your inner 4-year-old on when she does her thing?
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#doodle #dailydoodle #dailycreative #dailyart #imperfectionism #letitbecrappy #artistsofinstagram #artistsoninstagram #doodlesofinstagram #tinyart #abstractart #doodleart #creativesandboxway #creativeplay #pigmamicron
“Tall” .
#novemberdrawingchallenge #doodle #visualfacilitation #graphicfacilitation #visualnotes #graphicrecording #sketchnotes #sketchnote #sketchnoting #sketchnotearmy #graphicrecorder #visualthinking #pigmamicron
It’s been awhile since I’ve done an abstract doodle. It felt SO GOOD to play in the #creativesandbox this morning! 😊 Happy weekend!
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#doodle #imperfectionism #letitbecrappy #artistsofinstagram #artistsoninstagram #doodlesofinstagram #tinyart #abstractart #doodleart #creativesandboxway #creativeplay #pigmamicron
Super-simple stick-figure deer! 😊 🦌
Sometimes it’s fun to challenge yourself to copy something in real life as naturalistically as possible. And sometimes it’s fun to challenge yourself to draw something as *simply* as possible. How few lines can you use to communicate the idea of “deer”? If you were trying to communicate with someone who spoke a different language, and you only had 20 seconds, how would you get your point across with a paper and pen? 🖍
That’s the kind of drawing I’m practicing most these days: #visualcommunication It’s a different way of thinking about drawing. Super-fun and creative, but way less fraught with the kinds of perfectionist traps I used to find myself caught in as a “fine artist.” 🖍
#novemberdrawingchallenge #visualfacilitation #graphicfacilitation #visualnotes #graphicrecording #sketchnotes #sketchnote #sketchnoting #sketchnotearmy #graphicrecorder #visualthinking #pigmamicron