Complete at least three exercises from the book "Art Escapes"

Kalibaba suggested that I do a one-minute sketch of Sadie the Dog. Thanks, Kalibaba, for that suggestion. I would not have been bold enough to try such a thing on my own. Anyway, I did it, and I scanned it at work this morning. I think it turned out ok! Here it is!

I’ve moved from doing one minute sketches in gel pen to using mechanical drawing pencil. The drawing pencil is also very pleasing. And I haven’t missed a day of sketching. It’s a nice way to start the day.

I am going to make a quick sketch of my dinner before I eat it.

I am really looking forward to doing this. And I will have to draw quickly so my dinner won’t get cold!

from Hopena, who has a lot of very admirable goals.

I purchased my copy of the book online for under $7, including shipping, and so far it has been a great addition to my life. I like it so much, I decided I want to have this place to write about my experiences with the exercises.

So far, I’ve ordered the recommended art supplies and am eagerly awaiting their arrival. The supplies that the author suggested were not expensive, and I learned about some things I’d never heard of before, such as using salt, a toothbrush, and a spray bottle to create special effects with water colors.

I’ve also been working with the first exercise, called One Minute Drawings, using what’s called the small frame format. To do this, I drew a series of quick, open squares on a page in my sketchbook. These are the frames. Each day, I spend one to three minutes doing quick drawings of one object per frame. I’ve been using a black gel pen and have been drawing things like a dragonfly-shaped hairclip, a tube of Retin-A, a book of matches, a bathtub toy froggy. Somehow, the structure of this exercise takes all the pressure away and allows the drawing to just be fun. I can’t explain it, but so it is. And I have been enjoying this one exercise so much that I’ve not yet felt like moving to the next one.