How do you deal with fear of the blank page? Simple: Make it un-blank! In other words, just make a mark! Do ANYTHING! ✏️
Creative Sandbox Way™ guidepost number 5: “Just start. Anywhere.”
✏️
Once you’ve made a mark, you can no longer have fear of the blank page, because it isn’t blank anymore! 😊 Now your job is simple to respond to what’s there. And keep sending your gremlins off to get pedicures, of course! ✏️
Creative Sandbox Way™ guidepost number 8: “Dismiss all gremlins.”
✏️
I like to imagine that my inner 4-year-old is inhabiting the tip of my pen, and I give her free rein to do whatever she wants. 4-year-olds don’t care what anyone else thinks. They’re not trying to impress, or win awards, or make money—they’re following their curiosity! Period. Pure play.
✏️
The gremlins will continue to pop in and tell me how ugly and awful what I’m making is, and I just thank them for their concern (they’re just trying to protect me, after all), and send them away again.
✏️
Respond to what’s there. Accept the reality of what’s in front of you and build on it. Let your inner 4-year-old inhabit the tip of your pen. Dismiss the gremlins.
✏️
It’s all part of doodling as a spiritual practice. 😊
.
.
.
#doodlingasaspiritualpractice #doodle #dailydoodle #dailycreative #dailyart #imperfectionism #letitbecrappy #artistsofinstagram #artistsoninstagram #doodlesofinstagram #tinyart #abstractart #doodleart #creativesandboxway #creativeplay #pigmamicron

Another morning doodle to start the day.
.
.
.

#doodle #dailydoodle #dailycreative #dailyart #imperfectionism #letitbecrappy #artistsofinstagram #artistsoninstagram #doodlesofinstagram #tinyart #abstractart #doodleart #creativesandboxway #creativeplay #pigmamicron

Morning doodle. As with all my doodles, this one started out with a random mark. I had no idea it would evolve into what feels like a landscape—like looking out from inside the mouth of a cave on a barren landscape. Like what you might find on a planet like Ilus, perhaps? (For fans of The Escape, which my husband and I are addicted to! 😊)
🖊
This is the fun and joy of spontaneous doodling. I start from zero, and let my inner 4-year-old inhabit the tip of the pen. Then I give her free rein and see where she goes!
🖊
At some point, a pattern starts to emerge. Often it’s completely abstract. Sometimes, as with this doodle, it’s evocative of the natural world. Whatever the pattern is, I lean into it.
🖊
So I’m this case, I decided to play with cross hatching. Not something I’ve done a lot of in the past, but I wanted to give a feeling of depth.
🖊
The doodle started out as some squiggly lines running along the long edges of the card. Then I added narrow stripes (I guess you’d call them?) in the space between the edge of the card and the squiggles. Or maybe those stripes qualify as cross hatching?
🖊
Then I started adding additional squiggles, and it was at that point when I thought, “Hey, this looks a bit like a landscape! Let’s lean into this!”
🖊
At this point I was in flow. IN the process, immersed. That’s the goal, folks. It’s not about creating Great Art. It’s not about making something Like-worthy or Pin-worthy, it’s about THAT MOMENT, when you lose track of time, and everything becomes about you, your pen, your paper, and your hand moving through space. IT’S SO DELICIOUS! 🔥🌟❤️
🖊
I set a timer today. It went off after 15 minutes and I spent another minute or two completing the cross hatching at the top. (I’m other words, getting into a state of flow doesn’t take as long as you might think!)
🖊
I was just reading an article yesterday about the health benefits of making art. Which I was already aware of (hey, I TEACH this stuff!), but still needed a reminder (we live in a society that does NOT reinforce that creative expression for its own sake is valuable!) 🖊
So let this be your reminder to get creating! #doodle #dailydoodle #dailycreative #dailyart

#tuesdaytutorial How to draw a light bulb. 💡 🖊
A classic for expressing:
.
💥Ideas
💥Breakthroughs
💥Innovation
💥Creativity
🖊
Think you can’t draw?
🖊
If you can WRITE, you can draw! 🖊
Notice that the first step is an “O”! And the second step is a “U”! Add some lines and loops, and voilá! 😄

Stop at step 4 or 5, or go all the way to step 6 and add shading—it’s up to you.
Drawing is easy when you break it down into steps! 😄
.
.
.

#visualfacilitation #graphicfacilitation #visualnotes #graphicrecording #sketchnotes #sketchnote #sketchnoting #sketchnotearmy #graphicrecorder #visualthinking #neulandmarkers #doodle #imperfectionism #tutorial #howtodraw #creativesandboxway

#tuesdaytutorial Just in time for New Year’s: How to draw a popping champagne bottle.🍾 Of course, a popping champagne bottle brings to mind New Year’s Eve.

But this simple graphic can represent ANY celebration. 💥Use it to spiff up a report of unexpectedly high quarterly earnings. 💥Or a note to your team to let them know the big proposal came through. 💥Or jot it on a sticky note or card for someone’s birthday or anniversary.

You may be surprised how impressed people will be when you include hand-drawn visuals.

People are so jaded by digital these days.

And most people think they can’t draw.

But drawing is actually easy when you break it down into steps! 😄 (Tip: notice that all of my bottles are DIFFERENT, and that my lines are wonky! You do not have to be able to draw a straight line in order to draw! You get to be imperfect!) —

Your turn: Do your plans for New Year’s Eve include champagne? Answer in the comments! —

Want to learn to draw to communicate ideas? I’m putting together a Beginner’s Drawing Guide! Get on the interest list and I’ll let you know when it’s done: http://bit.ly/CSSdraw

#creativity
#communication
#visualthinking
#design
#play
#visualfacilitation #graphicfacilitation #visualnotes #graphicrecording #sketchnotes #sketchnote #sketchnoting #sketchnotearmy #graphicrecorder #visualthinking #neulandmarkers #champagne #newyearseve #drawingtutorial #howtodraw

Morning doodle. .
.
.

#doodle #dailydoodle #dailycreative #dailyart #imperfectionism #letitbecrappy #artistsofinstagram #artistsoninstagram #doodlesofinstagram #tinyart #abstractart #doodleart #creativesandboxway #creativeplay #pigmamicron

#tuesdaytutorial How to draw a Christmas caroler!
Last week I showed you how to draw #learning or reading.

Someone commented that the same drawing could also represent singing…

But I knew a circle for an open mouth, plus a couple of musical notes 🎶 would make that distinction even more clear.

Two upside-down U’s for eyes make our singer look focused and happy.

Add a Santa hat, and our simple reader has transformed into a Christmas caroler. 😊
.
.
.

#visualfacilitation #graphicfacilitation #visualnotes #graphicrecording #sketchnotes #sketchnote #sketchnoting #sketchnotearmy #graphicrecorder #visualthinking #neulandmarkers