Day Three – Sarah Joyce Bryant

For day three of the #DailyArtDevotions 40-day #artjournal journey with Elizabeth Foley, I used day two’s quote for inspiration. I had planned on creating a self-portrait as a way to symbolize showing up to do the work. However, my first attempt was…well…terrible is putting it nicely. So, I pulled the watercolor paper off the page with the intention of gluing another sheet onto the page, but then I saw the rough surface, and I wondered what it would be like to create on the remnants of a torn off sheet of paper. I thought it would add some really cool texture to the drawing, and it did.

My intention was to try a self-portrait again, but it didn’t really work out that way. I used a photo of myself and then traced over it and transferred it onto the page with transfer paper, but when I did, the features did not show up on the rough surface. So, I just added features myself. I then used Ecoline markers, Bombay inks, and Posca pens to create the page below.

The quote from Julia Cameron does not have “love & approve” in it, only “approve,” but I accidentally put “love” so I added the “&” and kept on going. I made a lot of “mistakes” with this page, but I am proud of myself for staying with it. It is helping me to build confidence and proving that I can come up with solutions to unexpected issues both in my art and in my life.

For this 40-day journey, I am willing to give up my need to be perfect and create perfectly. Instead, I am just going to create, create, create, and hope that the perfectionist, critical voice will be silenced or at least will be a very gentle whisper by the end of the 40 days.

Though I was very hesitant to repurpose an old book, it is now one of my favorite things about this journey. I never would have thought to make an art journal out of an old cookbook!

Well…since starting the #FindYourFlow thirty day program, my house has never been so clean! I spent a couple of hours this morning cleaning (something I never do) so that I could avoid the anxiety I feel when I sit down to draw. I need to have things planned out in advance, need to know exactly what I’m doing, and this daily practice is testing me more than I thought it would. It is one thing to say that I will do something, and quite another to actually sit down and do it. For example, I like to buy art supplies but have a much harder time sitting down to use them. Of course, this is different if I know exactly what I’m going to do with them. For this program, though, instead of planning out every day, I’ve decided to go with my intuition. It’s bringing up all kinds of issues for me because I always need to feel in control of everything. Even though I know I control very little, it is really about feeling in control for me. Because of my lack of skills, this practice is way out of my comfort zone of imaginary control.

Today I decided to start Nina Rycroft‘s face shapes class on Skillshare. I thought I would just plow right through the whole class – ha! ha! – but changed my mind, slowed down, and stuck only to the first video of the course – kite-shaped faces. I am fascinated that no matter what I think I’m going to draw, the result is fairies or other mythical creatures. I sense a theme emerging. We shall see.

I find myself struggling with not creating something pretty or eye-pleasing to look at. It feels like it’s not art if it’s rough sketches or dare I say it again…not perfect. But this is all about showing up and putting something down on the page – not perfection, not pretty, just something.

So, with that being said, here are today’s sketches:

Tag: Day Three

Daily Art Devotions: Day Three

Day Three: Find Your Flow