If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve probably noticed that I’ve been posting multiple drawings at a time lately. That’s because I’m fifteen days behind the 100 Day Project and I’m trying to catch up! I knew I’d get delayed from time to time but I wasn’t expecting I’d get so busy. This post is actually two weeks late (or is it three?)!
ANYWAY…enough feeling sorry for myself. Let me just celebrate the fact that I am halfway through (and a little over) this project! Hooray!
I have stayed on playing along because this project has done and is doing me good in many surprising ways. If on my first post, after reaching day 25, I talked about rediscovering my knack for drawing freehand, this time I want to share about how my 100 days of drawing has became a community and relationship-building thing. It has proven to be a good opportunity to inspire and be inspired.
To begin with, it has allowed me to discover so many talented people on Instagram. There are hundreds of inspiring entries and projects but let me name a few of my favorites, who I suggest you follow if you’re on the lookout for creative inspiration or simply anything, well, pretty…
There’s @hollandloop who does these cute abstract paintings in vibrant colors they instantly lift your mood! @nattymutrux does mini collages which seem so simple but the way she mixes and puts together patterns and images has a very calming way about it, you are easily drawn. You’d be surprised how these seemingly random scraps of paper and photographs are able to tell a story and convey emotion. Surfer and life-lover @camillepilar‘s 100 Days of Writing True is worth following because of how inspiring her musings are and how melodic she puts those into words. The photographs that accompany them are amazing too! @melinda_keough plays with shadow patterns using only a sheet of paper a day, cut and folded many astounding ways!
These are but a few! But following all these creative people and watching them progress in their own projects push me to keep drawing and creating. (Simply follow the hashtag #the100dayproject to see all the daily entries and go hunt for your favorites!) However it’s not only in this virtual community am I influenced and encouraged. Even at home, drawing has become a real bonding activity.
Summer, my firstborn daughter (Turning four in August) has become more interested in drawing lately and has discovered how to express her thoughts and bring her imaginations to life by illustration. So at home, we draw a lot together. Of course, Emma, my two year old, will always want to be part of whatever is going on, so we all end up sitting together at the dining table, drawing and coloring. Sometimes I draw for them, sometimes they draw for me but most times we each work on our own thing, asking about each others artwork from time to time. It’s definitely a good thing that has been happening at home and I love that my kids enjoy drawing and enjoy doing it with me!
Kayo and I have been making art on a regular basis too! Except, instead of drawing on paper, we have been practicing painting on a concrete wall. Yes, every Sunday afternoon, we play with sprays and paint on a wall in his Mom’s garage. We don’t get to go on dates so often anymore but I find this weekly painting sessions together lots of fun and beneficial to our relationship. I actually joined the 100 Day Project because Kayo wanted us to get better at sketching and come up with designs we can eventually translate into murals. We are not yet DabsMyla (far from it!) but we are definitely learning so much together and I’m quite proud of the stuff we’ve created so far!
Thankfully, as you see, this online project has had positive effects on me. Of course there are days I don’t even want to hold a pen anymore or even begin to tackle how far behind I am in this project. I still dread fridays when I have to draw portraits and every once in a while I come up with something I, later on, realize I hate. But I stick to it because I like the challenge and I really enjoy that in the middle of baby duties and household chores or at the end of a busy week, I can just pick up a pen, de-stress and put down on paper whatever picture is on my head. Halfway there…let’s do this!
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