Art practice lately

Like most people I know, I’ve read Atomic Habits by James Clear. I can’t recall most of the hacks he shared, but one idea stuck with me—habit stacking. The concept is simple: attach a new habit to something you already do regularly.

I wanted to sketch in my sketchbook more often, so I paired it with my daily morning walk with our dog, Milo. These days, I tuck a small sketchbook and either my Neocolor II crayons or a tiny gouache set into my fanny pack before we head out. After Milo’s had his fill of sniffing and wandering, I find a bench in the neighborhood, sit for a few minutes, and sketch the turning autumn leaves before heading home.

I usually spend no more than ten minutes sketching, but those brief moments give me the same calm and clarity as a short guided meditation. I walk back home feeling grounded, ready to join the day’s Zoom meetings with ease and into daily life which has been life’ing lately.

A few pages in my sketchbook:

I’ve really enjoyed the no pressure feel of this practice, just playfulness and quick sketches driven more by instincts than academic drawing.

Meanwhile in the studio, I am very close to finishing the painting of mom with her planted corn.

I’m quite happy with where it landed. It feels like her which is more important to me than physical likeness.

I also started on another painting which is my first serious self portrait. I’m standing in mom’s kitchen in Ghana drinking a coconut from her backyard. A bit of a riff of her outside harvesting corn and me inside enjoying the fruits of her labor.

I’m in the messy middle with it at the moment.

After these two pieces are complete, I’m going to return to my moody, women in solitude paintings. I am finding I much prefer painting strangers and I love a dark, moody paint palette.