Falling Back

The glow of our trip to Vegas is slowly fading, though re-reading my previous posts describing the trip keeps those embers burning.  On the upside of our return, a strange moment occurred when my friend Mike, for whatever reason, challenged me to draw my hand.  He wanted us to have a good spirited competition that would get us both drawing again since neither of us had been doing much in that department for the last few years.  That small challenge grew into something more, mostly due in thanks to Mike's wife Mandy; she created Call to Artists: Daily Art Challenge group on Facebook.  

Every day, a challenge is posted on the site and those who wish to participate can do so and post the results for others to see and comment upon.  I've been doing these challenges fairly faithfully since they began and it has been a wonderful thing for me to see that I haven't lost my hand to drawing or my enjoyment of it.  I am still shaky on the idea of just sitting and doodling on my own, but I feel this is a good start for me.  Having 'assignments' gives me some focus which I know I have been sorely lacking in the art department of my life.

First Challenge: A foreshortened hand

Challenge: A self portrait

On November 1st, another friend, Sako, invited me to join the 30 Day Sketch Post-It Challenge.  There are a set list of challenges for each day of the month of November, but the work is confined to a Post-It, which presents its own pluses and minuses in art.

Day 1: Draw yourself

Day 2: Draw a body part

As you may or may not know, I am looking to return to school to do video game concept art.  I'm closer to figuring out what I am doing in that arena and things like the Daily Art Challenge and the 30 Day Sketch Post-it Challenge have been great in getting me more involved in art and hitting that touchstone in my heart and soul once more.

Day-Light Savings takes place today and we fall back an hour - which, as most grown ups know, doesn't mean that 'hour more of sleep' that you always hope for.  Its just the year resetting itself for the coming months and I feel like these drawing challenges are doing that for me to - resetting me for the months to come when things will be decided and change.  Falling back sounds like a bad thing many times, as if you aren't stepping forward, but I am thinking of it differently.  I am falling back into my art and that, to me, is a very good thing.