Today, I began with the self criticism again. I had started to draw a bird and a wing, and the self doubt creeped in again. I wasn’t satisfied with my results. That’s when I wrote “Am I flying now, or am I simply losing feathers?” I knew when I was writing the words that I wasn’t supposed to be thinking that way, yet I was. I read a book about mindfulness once, Calming Your Anxious Mind: How Mindfulness & Compassion Can Free You from Anxiety, Fear, & Panic by Jeffrey Brantley and Jon Kabat-Zinn. One of the mindfulness exercises involved allowing yourself to have thoughts and not judge those thoughts. You simply allow them to be, and you acknowledge them as you are meditating. So I had the thought, acknowledged it in the drawing and moved on with more drawing. I came to the realization that whenever I feel doubt about the work, I need to just keep drawing, and things may resolve themselves (or not), but there’s always a new day and a new drawing to move on to next.
Love it and very useful advise!!
This is awesome tim
Thanks! It’s great to hear positive feedback.
Tim
Hi Dana, Thanks so much for letting me know. I’m gaining confidence. I think I will continue with these sketches every day for a while.
Tim
I think children have the right idea–they just draw what is on their minds. I do volunteer art projects in an elementary school and I tell they children that there are no mistakes in art. That is why I love to create things–there is nothing that is “wrong” .
Hi Dale, Yes, I agree that kids have it right. It’s about tapping into what’s inside, and kids have a direct line to what’s inside. There are no mistakes in creating art – it’s about creating.
Tim
I love your drawings. Keep them coming. I look forward each morning to your post to see if there is a drawing and a thought you wrote to it.
Hi Loretta, Thanks so much for letting me know. I’ve been drawing these doodles and writing these posts first thing before work, and knowing there’s someone waiting for them is a great motivator to continue with that habit!
Tim
This is nice! I too, have been practing my sketching. You gave me some inspiration with the playful Elephant. My Favorite character when I was growing up. TFS>
Thanks for letting me know these posts are inspiring you. It’s exactly what I was hoping for when I started this blog.
Tim
I love your drawings, please keep doing them. :> As i always say, “There’s no rules in Scrapbooking” OR ART. I am very much an artist that creates by my mood. So, when I make each project, I just let things flow. That process, lets me tap into my creative side where anything is possible!! :> Thanks Tim!!
Hi Carlene, I will definitely keep doing more doodles. Thanks for the encouragement and your inspiring thoughts!
Tim
I LOVE this Tim!! Thank you for sharing.
You’re very welcome – and thank you for letting me know – I appreciate it.
Tim
We have to learn to be our own best friends because we fall too easily into the trap of being our own worst enemies. ~Roderick Thorp
You are so brave on this journey…It is so easy to be critical at oneself… and it is so much more difficult to praise. I admire your courage!
Hi Caroline, Thank you for the Roderick Thorp quote – that’s a great one – so true. I’m learning to be kind to my artwork. I majored in art in college, and usually during every class where creating artwork was involved, there would be at least one critique per session, sometimes multiple critiques. I think that’s where the major self criticism about my work started for me. Now I need to unlearn that philosophy.
Tim
thanks for sharing, I CAN’T doodle, because I don’t practice, I don’t practice because I can’t. I want to stop my cycle, so everyday…thanks for your inspiration.
Hi happyDiane, Thanks for sharing that with me. I’m finding creativity is as easy as making a 5 or 10 minute commitment every day, picking up a sharpie (or whatever) and a scrap piece of paper, and just make marks for 5 to 10 minutes or however long you desire. It’s a few minutes of complete freedom. A breath of fresh air for your soul.
Tim
Interesting post. Thank you!