Winter, Spring, Summer or Fall

 All I have to do is call.

Every time I pick up my phone, the home screen lights up with one of my recent drawings—providing an automatic feedback loop that pierces my awareness.

The images, small and cropped to fit the screen's dimensions, remind me of thumbnail compositions. I notice new things. Some I like, others not so much. Sometimes, one contains the germ of an idea that later matures. Each of them gets me thinking about what I'm making.

At the drawing table, my daily mantra is "Focus on the process. Success isn't measured by outcome." Trust that the work will add up to something over time.

Refreshing my phone's home screen with new work is a vote for this same "focus on the process." Post it, and trust the feedback loop will make a difference.

Winter

From the drawing table to the home screen.

The first images—value studies, observational drawings, and media explorations (charcoal, ink, pastels)—are all cropped to fit onto this oddly dimensioned piece of visual real estate.

Color makes its first (real) appearance in March.

Spring

The crow series begins. The idea was to create one hundred crows, each in different media. It starts with Sumi and FW ink, pan pastels, and brayer with water-soluble oil paint.

A quick sketch from London snuck in there, too.

April 7 at 8:50 am: Sumi ink. 

I felt so free. 

Summer

Only a smattering of drawings made it onto my phone during July, August, and September: a grieving crow, a bumpy facial expression, different finishes with monotype, and the lady in red.

September 12 at 12:39 pm: 

Look at those eyebrows —

like birds in flight.  

Her essence nailed to the page.

Fall

Morning drawings.

I'm surprised at how the picture came together this morning. A magenta bird walks out of the forest.

A closer look 

Bringing any picture to a finish can be as simple as cropping it for the home screen. In the moment, it's a win.

The lessons come later, from looking at my phone's home screen:

∎ The feel of a forest is made by rolling the inked brayer over a twig and then printing its ghost. Next time, use a larger brayer and wipe its edges so the individual brayer strokes blend.

∎  Try different levels of transparency for the crow: Lighten its back feathers and make them more opaque, with less background showing through. Try another with his front lightened. Which part of him is light on dark or dark on light should affect how he sits in space.