January Sketch-A-Day Week One

I didn't learn about the Sketch-A-Day group until after midnight on January 1st, so I'm one sketch short. I'll catch it up on the first of February.

I am not being critical of my work.

I know that there is much room for improvement just as I know I will improve with practice. All I am doing right now is getting myself in the habit of drawing again. I am relearning how to let myself go and create.

But I have noticed already that posting my sketches for others to see allows me to look at them more closely. I become more aware of specific areas that I can focus on improving.

Each sketch becomes a little more confident, a little more brave.

This, my first sketch, is an attempt at my dream barn.

(Crayon on construction paper.)

The little boy I babysit was the inspiration and model for this one.

(Pencil with a teeny bit of crayon on regular paper.)

Aravis, before an eager toddler tackled her.

(Pencil on regular paper.)

Returning to horses. Horses used to be the only thing I drew.

(Pencil on regular paper.)

Drawing humans scares me, so this sketch was a huge step for me.

(Pencil on regular paper.)

2013: Week One

I've joined a couple more photo challenges. These are both once a week for the year.

Taking a picture each day during December was fun, but it was really hard to pull it off. Two pictures a week should give me some breathing room while still challenging me to exercise my photography and really see the world I live in.

Both challenges are in Facebook photography groups, so the pictures I take for them have a different watermark on them. At least for the time being. I'm still trying to decide what I'm wanting to do. It feels weird to use this blog's watermark in photography groups when it's just a personal blog. But it also feels weird to use two different watermarks.

Kim says I'm just too paranoid. Come to think of it, he's probably right.

Moving on.

The first of these challenges is a simple 52 Week Challenge. This week's theme was Light. I re-used a picture you have seen already, because I am in love with it.

The second challenge is Light up Your Life | Project 52. It has an underlying theme throughout the year (Find the Light) as well as an inspiration word/phrase for each week. This week's inspiration was Break the Rule of Thirds.

I chose this picture because the light caught her unshed tear quite nicely. Also, the picture just cracks me up every time I see it. She was completely heartbroken when I wiped the snot off her face.

Of course there were some runners-up.

 The first one was originally going to be my photo of the week. It was discarded because it isn't focused properly, and it accidentally follows the Rule of Thirds. Oops.

The other two just didn't quite have the spark I was looking for.

I'm also part of a Sketch-A-Day group for January. Last month's successful photo project has really inspired me to keep moving forward artistically. As intimidating as photography can be for me, sketches are worse.

There is a very discouraging disconnect between what my mind sees and what my fingers do. I let it psych me out. It's been at least 6 years since I last picked up a pencil to draw anything. So when I heard about the group starting up, I knew what I needed to do.

I'll share the sketches I've made so far tomorrow. This post is long enough as it is.

a new ending begins

Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.

Carl Bard

Somewhere along the course of my life, my passion began dimming, and, before I even noticed, had disappeared completely.  I had been passionate about life, but not anymore.  In fact, I can't think of anything that I am truly passionate about now.  I don't know what's more depressing to me: the fact that the brilliant hues I once knew are now a dull black-and-white monotone, or the fact that I didn't even notice the change . . . wouldn't have noticed without God's intervention.  How sad.

The good news is that He did intervene.  He showed me what happened, and even helped me to see why.  My passion was choked out by a rather desperate need for somebody, anybody, to like me.  It's a very humbling realization that I, who was raised to know better, trampled blindly after the lie that my worth relies solely on what other people think of me.  Nevertheless, it happened, and I was trapped for years in the relentless pursuit of being liked.  It was a cycle of failure: the harder I tried to be liked, the more people resisted.  As people resisted, my confidence faded, requiring me to try harder to be liked.  Thanks to God's grace I've recovered from that lie and its effects, though my feet still prefer the familiar path I've trodden for so many years.

But it's been such a long time that I've forgotten how to have real passion for anything.  And that's where this blog comes in.  Last night I heard very clearly that God wants me to be filled once more with the passion that He had given me.  Then He challenged me to start a blog, and update it daily for a minimum of 6 months.  He was very clear that I must discipline myself back into passionate living in this way; also, that in order to regain what was lost I must share the journey with others.  I think it's slightly ironic that due to the very nature of a blog, I'll have to constantly fight against that old need to be liked.  I think God kind of planned it that way . . . 

So, this is the deal:  I am committing to at least one post every day, until April 20th (or longer), about something that catches my fancy.  I invite you to join with me on this journey.