Create consistently

Hello!

Back in December, I think it was, my friend Helen and I, set challenges for ourselves - mine was to draw daily. Now anyone who follows me on Instagram, will know that my mum sadly lost her fight with cancer earlier this year...so there were a number of days where there was no drawing. Having said that, there were other days that were entirely spent drawing...it is very much my therapy, solace and sanctuary - a place where I can be entirely in the moment.

To sum up, after that waffly preamble, I have been endeavouring to draw daily, and to create consistently.

This has been challenging some days, but also incredibly rewarding - I find that when I'm on top of the challenge, a few wonderful things happen together:

• ideas flow more freely, making it easier to think of something to draw and waking up my creativity
• I'm becoming more and more confident with my tools, through regular use and practice
• I'm getting the chance to play with more mediums - watercolour, ink, gouache, mixed media
• my personal creative style is becoming more and more apparent
• I'm quickly finding out which ideas work and which don't - you know that gut feeling you get, about whether a certain style / design or medium 'fits'? I'm finding it much easier to spot what is and isn't me...Sarah and Ditsy Bird
• I'm getting quicker - much quicker - at knocking a quick sketch out - much less pondering and worrying, and a lot more of the 'just going with it'. This is a very good thing. Trusting my intuition.
• I'm happy when I draw, and as I'm drawing a lot at the moment, I am feeling generally happy most days - even bearing in mind recent events, this is still true. And I'm very grateful for it.
• I'm managing to maintain a creative momentum that I haven't achieved in the past. Because I am drawing daily, I'm already in the creative mindset, which is making it easier for me to stay on track with current projects, and actually complete some! Boom!
• my Instagram feed is looking good too, thanks to regular process shots and finished doodle photos...always a good thing, as I have a terrible habit of simply retreating from social media (and social life) when life gets tough

All in all, I'm mighty glad to have taken up the challenge, and aim to stick with it for the rest of the year, and hopefully catch up with the days I've missed so that I have the full 366 posts by the end of it!

Have you set yourself any personal challenges this year, and how have you benefitted from them?

Sarah
♡

PS if you fancy a looksee at all the drawings, head to my Instagram feed, or in Instagram search for the following three hashtags #dbd2016dailydrawing #draweveryday2016 #2016creativechallenge xxx