It is near impossible not to be constantly distracted at the public market on a beautiful sunny day and my sketchcrawl drawings (unedited and below) show that I had some trouble concentrating. I had some good friends join and draw and I think the next time a sketchcrawl comes around, I will advertise it a bit more to see if we can gather some new people. But, regardless, it rocked to draw in public with a couple of others and celebrate International Sketchcrawl day...













And then everyone who was sitting with me left, I finished my coffee, sat alone and took a short break. Picked up my pen and did my favorite drawings with more confidence, calm and concentration.

take care,
Rachael

I wish I were in Washington on a Tuesday to enjoy this at the Luce center.
I keep getting lots of questions about the scetchcrawl and the truth is that I don't know much more than what I've found here and here but I really like the idea. Drawing alone would be fine but I do hope some folks join me.

I'm reading Self Help slowly so I can make it last longer. Here how to become a writer (failure and drive, awkward drive to create, real life!) by Lorrie Moore is read outloud. Enjoy it outloud or squirrel away in a corner and read it. Either way, be inspired. I was. I am.

goodnight
Rachael

Well, Mark told me about this comic about venice and that had me looking up Enrico Casarosa's blog and then I realized that this Saturday is a sketchcrawl. Anyone in Rochester want to meet at Java's in the public market to sketchcrawl on Saturday? 8:30 to noonish (or later) I'm thinking. Let me know!
Rachael

I know nothing about golf but had a chance to spend the day with two of my favorite people at a golf tournament. Beautiful sunny day, not too hot, and all around me were people standing and waiting, watching and walking. Page after page of over-par drawings (too many strokes, too little captured) I finally got a birdie.


take care,
Rachael

If I were asked what my spiritual practice is, I would have to say it was, is and probably always will be drawing. I’ve been practicing, practically zen-ing out, seeking and finding a really satisfying experience through the act of making marks on paper. This isn’t really new for me, but something is different about drawing lately. Maybe it’s that I’m hungrier to see or that I’m more willing to/more able to concentrate, or that I’m not hiding my process as much.


Oh and also I found these paintastic brush pens (refillable with liquid watercolors, I've found) which are pretty fabulous to draw with. These are recent sketchbook drawings and two short short stories about specific moments at which I felt myself have a drawing-growth-spurt...
Part 1
Last week I substitute taught for the last class of a short Beginning Drawing class. I was the stranger amid a nice group of about 15 students who had worked hard for five weeks learning how to start a drawing, how to measure scale and size, how to work with values, how to use perspective, how to keep at it and why someone might want to. Essentially, I gave them a free card to play, to relax, to try things they hadn’t tried, to know that drawing is a skill we will all be building, to draw outside, to turn a drawing over and start again upside down. While I hoped to inspire this small group of beginners, I forgot how inspiring the enthusiasm, the structure, the format of a beginning drawing class can be. I began again.

Part 2
There is a wonderful drawing show at the Rochester Contemporary and because of it they had a drawing club informal drawing session.Two hours of drawing with others in the middle of this gallery reminded me that I'm not the only kid who needs to draw to think, reminded me that there are always a zillion creative solutions to any problem, that drawing is both a personal thing and a very social connector. And I left with so much excitement, so many snippets of ideas, and some nice connections to strangers.


So then, thank you for looking and listening and drawing.
goodnight,
Rachael