More motivation - Drawing

I am currently taking a drawing class where we are required to have a sketchbook. By the end of the semester we have to have 50+ sketches!! This Tuesday we have to have 25 done + a few other random sketches. I currently have 3 hahaha. Procrastination to say the least but I'm hoping to get going on it! Unfortunately, I get a little too into/perfectionist on my drawings so they take a long time. I'm too much of a person who values quality over quantity to just sketch out 25 sketches like that. Thankfully there aren't any restrictions on what exactly we can draw or what tools to use. The class is exclusively pencil and charcoal, which I love both, but I love using colored pencils and oil/chalk pastels :) So far I've only used colored pencils and pencils for my drawings but we'll see if I commit to a pastel drawing ;)

Another hard thing about sketchbook assignments like this, which is almost exactly the same thing as having a creative writing journal, is the motivation to sit down and just do it. Most of the time, creative activities like drawing or writing are meant for when you are overcome with such creativity that you have to sit down and let it out or else you might explode. This, however, requires you to sit down and force the creativity out. Sometimes it works out and other times it makes me uninspired. I can usually get into it eventually, but being so behind on my drawings makes me cringe a little. So today is saved for working on my sketchbook, or maybe all weekend. Now I only have to decide what to draw - I don't want my professor thinking that all I even get inspired to draw is Disney characters ;) Here's a pic of one of my sketchbook drawings that I'm pretty proud of actually! :D It's Ariel from The Little Mermaid that I did in pencil first with value and then decided to add colored pencils on top. I didn't know it would turn out but I actually really like the sort of darker-side of the colors. I did this exact drawing I think last year but with bright colors and it's pretty cool to compare ;) I'll post that one too! :)

Thought I'd post some pictures from my trip to Estes Park, Colorado!! :) My family was here about 10 years earlier when they were going through a drought so this time through was 10x as beautiful!


There was extreme flooding!! They said they had 3x as much snow as usual this past winter so when it began to melt - boy did it melt!! They had to sandbag a lot of this area and on the sidewalks you were only a few feet away from this usually gentle river! The power of nature was so evident through this trip!!



We also saw A LOT of wildlife right in the yard!! This was along the ride on the way to the cabin we were staying at!!









This is definitely my favorite pic of the entire trip!! :D This was one of the longest, but definitely the best, hike we had just to see this view!! Afterward we ran into some storms which wasn't very fun but worth it for this picture!! :)

Motivation!

I’m really in the mood to write creatively but unfortunately I’m never really in the mood. I know that I’m writing right now and that I could just spend this time right now writing, but I have to have the perfect environment. It seems almost pathetic how I have to do that, but I just can’t help it! I need to have the perfect, soft spot like on my bed, or comfortably at my desk. I need the right kind of music: mystical, chorus types that move with emotion and little influence with words. That’s one thing about me – music plays a huge part in my creativity. If I’m writing an action scene, I listen to music with loud drums that crack your soul and make you feel like you’re sitting in the middle of a battle scene or a raging river. Let’s say I’m writing a scene with my main character peacefully relaxing in a forest, then the music better be meditative with soft flutes, violins, and faeries dancing along the orchestra.

I’m currently working on a longer piece that is about 20 pages as of now. I want to work on the beginning a lot but I also want to keep adding on pages! I’m just a little stuck with my main character. I can’t decide if I want her to be very emotional (like I can be) with anger, sadness, and happiness, or if she should be cool and collected most of the time but with close friends or personal moments is emotional. This will also determine what the lead male character will be like; I’m not sure if they should be opposite or very similar – which both could draw out some interesting conflict!

I don’t want to give too much away about my story online, but as I go I’ll give little tidbits about it :) I can’t wait for National Novel Writing Month to really motivate me to write!! One of my roommates will also be doing it so we can push each other on! :D

A Reflection

During July, I went on vacation with my family to Estes Park, Colorado and I have to say, God sure did an incredible job when designing this area!! The mountains are insanely hard to get sick of – who wouldn’t be able to resist an area surrounded by pine and a bit of snow-capped giants of rock and soil? From the living room window that I would look outside of, there were an assortment of pines and bushes fighting for a breath of dirt between boulders and the pine needles that completely cover the ground. In the distance is the perfect example of atmospheric perspective; as the four peaks ahead of me go farther and farther away, they become more blue and white because of air blurring the view. The clouds are sometimes close enough to mingle with the top; the areas without trees and only with rocks and snow.

Snow! Can you believe it? Snow in July of all times!! I mean I had already gone hiking a few times and we literally had to hike through and over snow. Some places made it especially difficult because of the constant people walking over it that instead of climbing you would slide. Still, even after hiking through it for a couple days, whenever I would look out the window and see snow I couldn’t help but shake my head with a smile.

That area was one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen! On one of our first hikes my brother and his fiancé decided to climb up on a higher rock and my parents chit-chatted with other hikers, so I decided to take a moment of silence while watching just above the trees. From where I stood, I could look slightly down on the trees and just listen. Besides the slight murmur of voices, the majority of my ear cavity was busy listening to the wind whispering through the trees; each branch fighting for a spot in the conversation. It was magical.

I was never meant to be a doormat

Look there!

That

thing

Close to the

ground

That insignificant object on the floor is a doormat

me

Scraped on the edge of the world’s sneaker,

Forgotten

Torn

Threaded by the hands of a master, a crafter, a heart

Hand-chosen for qualities

Capabilities

Life

Look there!

That

Masterpiece

Rain

Dark

spots

upon the

pave –

ment

Their brothers and sisters

are joining, faster

and faster

Infinite numbers of dark

spots upon

the

pavement

They

are leaving

Now

arrives

the sunshine