Art Journal Page, "Ideas"

What You Can Learn From What I Learned From the Sketchbook Project

 What I learned about drawing from doing The Sketchbook Project is this.

1. When you draw something, you really see it.

2. Drawing takes a long time. Every drawing in the book took about an hour.

3. I am nuts for Prismacolor pencils.

4. I can draw more than stick people and rainbows.

5. If I look at the lines of a thing and how they work together, it comes out better than if I look at the thing as a whole.

6. Drawing is fun.

7. I still like to cut things up and glue them down.

I love that it's 2012. I think it's exciting. I do not think that the whole world is going to come to a fiery end, but I do think that we're in a time of accelerating change and growth. Call me stubbornly optimistic, but I think we--that is, humankind--will change, have even changed already. Take a look at the Occupy movement, for example. Ordinary people are standing up for ordinary rights and asking for change in a non-violent and creative way. I hope to see lots more of that kind of thing this year.

As for me, I plan to serve as many folks as I can with my massage and healing work, and to enjoy my friends and my family, and to make lots and lots of art. If we do go up in a ball of fire, I'd like to have a paintbrush in my hand.

Resolutions and other comedies

Let me be clear: I don't believe in making resolutions. I think it's a farce. You charge into the new year, all aflame with the good intentions, armed only with the turn of a calendar page. Before you know it, you have not lost 10 pounds, finished your novel or earned an extra $80,000. Surprise!

However, I am a huge fan of writing down my goals. There's a difference. Resolutions rely on the battery power of will and the construct of man-made time. Resolutions are sexy. They involve round numbers (10 pounds), far-flung hopes (New York Times best-seller list) and thrilling fantasies (eighty large). Oh, I do love a resolution, but I refuse to take one seriously.

Then there are goals. When I write down a goal, I've noticed it tends to happen. Goals aren't as sexy as resolutions, because like white cotton underwear, they hold up to hard use. But I'll forgive them their pedestrian usefulness, because goals happen. And hey, there's really no better time to review goals than with the new calendar. If nothing else, you have to move all those phone numbers between day planners, anyway.

So with the advent of the new year (a particularly celebrated year, at that), I'm taking the time to write down the stuff I'd like to see happen. Then I'm writing down how I plan to make it happen. Then I'm writing down when I'm going to get these different pieces of my goals taken care of. And that, my friends, is the secret to my magnificent success.

But just in case, I'll throw in one little resolution: to have a spectacular year. Because that's sexy.

Thanksgiving Art Journal Page, "Grateful"