Where I explore ideas

"An artist's job is not to be perfect but to be creating." ~Jeff Goins
This is a place for me to practice imperfect creativity every day.

May 8, 2026

Making a Plan

I was going to try writing some beautiful post all about my plan for this creative practice. But, I'm not a writer - nor do I want to be. I'm an artist. I want to spend my time making art. And typing too much hurts my hands. However, I do want to post a plan here that I can look back on and remind myself what I'm doing here. So I rambled to ChatGPT all my thoughts and asked it to organize my brain for me. Cuz, I have trouble doing that. 😆

Also, this is LONG. Very long, because I kept the list format that I like.

My organized thoughts, a la ChatGPT:

Inspiration / Influences

Artists and resources influencing this new approach:

  • Tom Froese (Drawing is Important), Dylan Mierzwinski (Sketchbook Fillers Club), Nicole Cicak, On Mar Win, Artist Is a Verb

Themes you’re pulling from:

  • sustainable creativity
  • daily practice without perfectionism
  • prolific output
  • process over polish
  • consistency without rigidity

Main Goal of the Daily Practice

The purpose is not just “drawing every day.”

The purpose is to:

  • create work more prolifically
  • build a large body of usable illustration assets
  • stop over-editing and over-perfecting
  • generate material that can later become portfolio work
  • slowly build a personal asset vault/library

You want the practice to produce:

  • small graphic assets that can later be combined into finished illustrations, greeting cards, collections, etc.

Core idea:

Every sketch or painting is potentially adding to the asset library.

Problems You’ve Had With Past Daily Challenges

1. Inconsistency

  • You naturally fluctuate in energy and motivation.
  • Missing days used to trigger guilt and abandonment of the whole practice.

New approach:

  • expect inconsistency
  • missing a day is inevitable
  • avoid missing multiple days in a row if possible
  • simply resume without guilt

2. Boredom With Strict Themes

You dislike:

  • rigid prompts
  • one-theme-only challenges
  • repetitive structures

New approach:

  • maintain a broad category list
  • choose based on mood/energy
  • allow flexibility and spontaneity

3. Creating “Random” Work That Isn’t Useful

Past frustration:

  • spending limited energy creating art that never gets used

New approach:

  • focus on highly reusable visual assets
  • create motifs you regularly use in illustration work
  • think in terms of building blocks/components

4. Perfectionism

You do not want:

  • polished consistency
  • matching aesthetics every day
  • pressure to make finished art
  • pressure to create Instagram-worthy content

You specifically want:

  • low pressure
  • momentum
  • experimentation
  • volume over perfection

Structure of the Practice

Frequency

Goal:

  • daily, because it’s simpler mentally

Reality:

  • some days will be skipped
  • that is acceptable

Minimum requirement:

  • 5 minutes

On low-energy days:

  • quick pencil sketch
  • pen-to-paper only
  • timer-based session

Success is defined by:

  • continuing the practice
  • not perfection

Paper / Sketchbook Philosophy

You dislike:

  • committing to a single sketchbook
  • intimidation from pristine sketchbooks
  • wasting paper

Instead:

  • use loose paper
  • use scraps
  • use partially-used sketchbooks
  • use whatever is available

Goal:

  • reduce friction
  • reduce preciousness

Themes

·         Flowers

·         Butterflies / bees

·         Lettering

·         Vases / containers / mugs / envelopes / teacup/ wine bottles/vintage coffee carafe

·         Cake / cake slice / cupcake

·         Ribbons / bows

·         Blender pattern

·         Plaids, check etc

·         Hands / arms

·         Dots / stars / hearts etc.

·         Frames / borders (look up folk borders on Hoopla)

·         Balloons / confetti / candles

·         Birds

·         Cats / dogs

·         Houseplants

·         Fruit

 

Why These Themes Work

These subjects are: reusable, recolorable, adaptable, versatile, useful across multiple illustration collections.

Examples:

  • florals can work in many color palettes
  • monochrome blender patterns can be recolored later
  • lettering can combine with motifs for greeting cards

Posting / Documentation Plan

You do NOT want to use Instagram.

Reasons:

Anxiety, pressure, perfectionism, performance feeling

Alternative:

  • personal blog on Blogger

Why the blog feels better: still public, lower pressure, more personal, less performative, easier to share process work.

Workflow

  1. Create piece
  2. Photograph/resize on phone/post quickly
  3. Upload to blog
  4. Stack physical artwork
  5. Batch scan later
  6. Add to digital asset library

Important:

  • do not obsess over lighting or presentation
  • quick documentation is enough

Rules / Philosophy Statements

Possible “guiding rules” for the practice:

  • Five minutes counts. It doesn’t have to be finished today. Just post the progress.
  • Pen to paper counts.
  • Imperfect work counts.
  • Missing one day is normal.
  • Resume immediately without guilt.
  • The goal is volume, not perfection.
  • The practice exists to build usable creative assets.
  • Flexibility keeps the practice alive.
  • The system should reduce friction, not add pressure.
  • Documentation does not need to be polished.
  • Finished portfolio pieces can emerge later from accumulated assets.
Labels: