And so this begins what I intend will be a monthly ritual: take a few days at the end of each month to stop at the trail marker and look back at my art practice for a moment. What I made and what I learned. Rehydrate—and then keep going.

What I Made

Everything Sketch Journal

I filled 26 pages in my journal this month—it is filled with writing, notes, ideas and lots of marks, lettering and collage bit as I play and develop my visual vocabulary. See this instagram post that describes my new journaling practice.

Online class - Whimsical Illustration with James Luke Burke

I went through all 25 video lessons and completed the exercises in my sketchbook, a few finished pieces in my art journal and collaged some into my Everything Journal. A meaty, excellent class that might have been meant for beginners (who would get a lot out of it for sure), but with some experience under my belt I really felt that I could absorb the greater lessons of simplifying and creative rendering. I am interested in drawing more from my imagination and this class definitely put wind in my sails!

Art Journal

I completed five art journal pages and finally finished another character in my Seeded Notebook (see this instagram post for the pic and a description of the Seeded Notebook art journal project.).

(Images of most of the work discussed here can be found on my Instagram account.

What I learned

First, I continued to develop my drawing skills—for sure—and I have more confidence in drawing from imagination after taking the Whimsical Illustration class.

Next, this is maybe remembering more than learning, but one topic that kept coming up in my journal is a familiar one: what am I doing as an artist? It’s an easy hole that most artists fall into, I think, at one time time or another—but I think I came to some peace as I worked through this question—at least for the next leg of the journey until I forget again! Here’s an excerpt from my journal this month that I think says it all:

Sometimes I wish I had a solid art career that answered that question (sometimes it’s so much easier to have a job description), but art making is not my career—but it’s not ‘just’ a hobby, either. We all have that thing that makes us feel most alive, and working with pen, paintbrush and a little glue puts me in the zone of creative wonder.

…All I know to be true is that we create—and live—in the UNKNOWN. We can’t know the impact of what we create or what we do from day to day. What person might be moved by something we said or something we made? What idea might lead to another idea? What thing will lead to what event?

What is art for? What are our lives for? We live, here, briefly, then we are gone. Life, the Great Mystery.

I believe that the evidence of the universe—its complexity, order, patterns and beauty—points to the fact that everything does matter. That we—our lives and what we do—are part of a much greater and more beautiful cosmos of meaning than we will ever know.

And so here I am, checking in with my gut, and this is what I know to be true:

It is not for me to know how this thing I create will exist in the material world. How it will be interacted with. What impact it might have on another life or how any other human might create a new thing within themselves or out in the physical world or what combined change we might be moving toward, collectively.

All I can know is the experience of the making. To dive into the unknown with mind and heart and hand (because even with a plan, we never know what will come)—and create something new to exist in the world.

All I can know is that this thing now exists in the world because I made it. And the experience of making impacts me—at least. I am changed with every interaction of making. The feelings that rise and the gifts I receive in the making are so powerful, move me in so many different ways (which I suspect add up to some kind of learning and transformation in my Soul Self), that I feel a great need to share that with others.

‘Here, feel it too.’

I guess that’s as good a month as I could hope for! With this foundation, I’m moving into the month of December with the goals of making more drawings from my imagination in my art journals, adding pictures and words in my everything sketch journal, and and giving renewed effort to share more of the experience of making with others here on the blog.

Yes, I’ve neglected this blog for most of the year, but who knows who might find this useful to their own art—and life—journey. I cannot know, but I write with open heart and hope.