Lovely Scribblings

Self-portraits, regular ol' pencil in my sketchbook, circa 2000

I have found that I have neglected a basic of my artistic practice. The doodling, scribbling and quick sketches of my surroundings. Everyday drawing with the purpose of practice and lacking the pressure of perfection.

My personality tends to want to do things "right" the first time and sketching something over and over becomes tedious to me. I like to fiddle around with a few drawings until they are to my satisfaction. As a result, instead of having numerous sketches of a subject I end up with a small handful of detailed ones. Both a blessing and a curse. I am efficient in my comfort zone and yet stifled by the lack of experimentation.

I look back on the sketches and artwork I produced in college and I am left with the glaring realization that I need to put my pencils on display and draw draw draw. Cast perfection aside and make marks on paper. Over and over again. Goodness knows, I have four willing models in my home who would love to eventually have a portrait hanging on the wall or at the very least a sketchbook filled with lovely scribblings that might end up looking just like them.