Playing at my art table! Squee!
#mixedmedia #workinprogress #originalart #abstractart #cracklepaste #pastel #spectrafix #goldenpaint #watercolorground #zillerglossyblack #zillerink #archespaper #layers #wip

Here’s how I like to start the day: a little black and white abstract doodling while sitting up in bed.

After meditating. After journaling. Though it could come before those things. Whatever order works for you.

Why do I doodle in bed? Because the thing you do first is the thing that gets done.

If I don’t do it first thing (whatever “it” happens to be), it’s liable not to happen at all… Does that ever happen to you? It sure happens to me!

So I’ve figured out that WHATEVER I really want to MAKE SURE I get done during the day, that thing should happen FIRST THING.

If I want to make sure I get some creative time in, even just a little bit, then I’d better make sure I make it happen first thing in my day!

And first thing for me is when I’m still in my bed!

Hence doodling in bed!

It works for me. And in my world, whatever works is right. ?

So what works in your world? How do you ensure that you get your Creative Sandbox playtime into your day?
#creativesandboxway #originalart #dailydoodle2017 #doodleart #dailydoodle #doodlesofinstagram #artistsoninstagram #abstractart #pigmamicron #creativesandbox #playtime #firstthing #firstthingsfirst

The doodle grows, while listening to Profit, Power, Pursuit, with @taragentile.

Listening to podcasts while playing in the #CreativeSandbox is one of my favorite parts of my #morningritual!

What distinguishes playing in the Creative Sandbox from other ways of creating?
The ten Creative Sandbox Way Guideposts, of course!
1. There is no wrong.
2. Think process, not product.
3. Think quantity, not quality.
4. Think tiny and daily.
5. Just start. Anywhere.
6. Ask, “What if..?”
7. Take the riskier path.
8. Dismiss all gremlins.
9. Spring the Comparison Trap.
10. Treat yourself with compassion.

I walk you through all of them in my book, The Creative Sandbox Way, which has already changed the lives of so many readers. You could be next! ?

It all starts with letting yourself play.
What will you create today?

#creativesandboxway #originalart #doodle #doodleart #dailydoodle2017 #dailydoodle #artistsoninstagram #abstractart #doodlesofinstagram #pigmamicron #blackandwhite

Another unplanned, improvisational, abstract doodle, drawn while listening to Another Round podcast with Heben and Tracy.
Unplanned, improvisational, and abstract are my favorite. They are not crowd pleasers — people are much more impressed by realism, and oh, COLOR — but the #CreativeSandbox is not about impressing people. That isn’t the point.
The purpose is JOY.

And you know what? All those years I knocked myself out trying to impress people? It didn’t make me happy.
Oh, it might stroke my ego for a fleeting moment. But then that moment is gone, and the ego is whining to be fed again. A bottomless pit of need.

When I feed my JOY, on the other hand, it sustains me for much longer. My ego may not get the satisfaction of a huge follower count, or thousands of “likes” on a single post, but it’s a more satisfying practice in the long run.

Follow your joy. That’s the Creative Sandbox Way.

#creativesandboxway #originalart #doodleart #dailydoodle2017 #doodlewithdinwiddie #artistsoninstagram #doodlesofinstagram #abstractart #blackandwhite #pigmamicron

A teeny-tiny doodle that went in a completely unexpected direction. Not that I had an expected direction — I didn’t, I had no plans going in.
That’s my favorite! Then it becomes (ideally) a game of pure discovery. Then it’s all “What would happen if?” That is #CreativeSandbox play at its best. It’s a place of pure exploration, where you get to be a three-year-old again.
It’s where you make some big, ugly messes, but it’s also where you make your most delightful discoveries, the ones that will lead you to treasures you’d never find elsewhere.

The catch is, you have to let yourself make those messes first. You have to let yourself PLAY in the space of the Creative Sandbox, where there is no wrong (Guidepost #1), where it’s all about the process, not the product (Guidepost #2). If you can follow the 10 Guideposts of the Creative Sandbox Way, though, it will transform your life.
http://bit.ly/2dnWyeJ

#latenightdoodle #originalart #dailydoodle2017 #artistsoninstagram #abstractart #doodleart #doodlesofinstagram #blackandwhite #pigmamicron #creativity #creativesandboxway