The Messy Middle Summer of 2022 // Part 2

Episode 416 Aired Wednesday, Sept 14, 2022

Last week I shared what led me to having to step back from so many things this past summer. I shared what I said no to and what doing that did to me. 

I made it a point to reconnect with making art and become accepting of the process which includes making a lot of messes. This was something I had not done outside my sketchbook in years, maybe decades. Meaning I was making something that was purposeless, or just for me. I call this the messy middle and honestly it is part of every single project. 

I have been a professional designer for over 25 years. When I am learning something new I have high high expectations of myself (yes I meant two highs there). 

I don’t think it should be ugly. I don’t want my first attempt or 50th attempt to look so bad but it does. I had to come to grips with that. I also have to accept that everything doesn’t get finished in one sitting. Sometimes I have to sit with it for a while.

I worked with two people this summer that helped me to see different things in myself. Working with them helped me to be able to adapt and acknowledge things in myself. Sometimes it was where I needed more work or reflection, sometimes it was to see growth that I could not see. 

The two people were Anat Rodan (she spoke at Camp 2021 and was on the podcast last summer) who helped me with the art process and figuring out my markers of fear and how to recognize them for what they were. And Mario Quezada (been at both camps and a regular guest on the podcast) who helped me with remember who God says I am, helping me to simplify and uncover my foundational identity to reveal who God called me to be and what He wants me to do. 

Both of these are amazing coaches and currently have open spots in their coaching. If you are struggling like me, maybe they can help you too. Their names are links above.

I hope you can learn from my messy middle. I learned a lot about myself this summer and what has been holding me back. I began the journey of conquering or at least attacking some of these limiting mindsets, for sure stage one was recognizing them. 

Come a little early and introduce yourself in the chat, tell us where you are located in the world and say hey! 

To get the link each week, sign up here.

Links shared in the episode:

Mindset Reboot Conference: https://madexmaker.com/mindset-reboot-conference
Kwik Stix Tempera Paint: https://amzn.to/3sjL8jN
Creative Market Art Prints: https://crmrkt.com/RgMEdv
Strathmore Mixed Media Toned Tan Paper: https://amzn.to/3DlZJ4u
Aim 7 and Dr. Erik Korem: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erik-korem-phd-19991734
Illo Sketchbook: https://amzn.to/3CYgMrO
Blob a Day Challenge Sheets: https://creativesignite.com/imaginember/

Part 1 can be found: https://creativesignite.com/burnout22/
Part 3 can be found: https://creativesignite.com/the-new-normal-summer2022/

Transcript

[00:00:00] Hey everybody. Welcome to episode 400, I think, and 15. And this is the messy Middle. This is me recapping the summer. So if you missed last week, you might wanna go and watch the last one, which I’ll, I think it’s gonna be linked up, up there. I think I can do a little card in YouTube so you can watch it if you missed it.

[00:00:22] Or there’ll be a link underneath. So today I’m pretty much not showing you anything that I think is good, and I’m gonna talk to you [00:00:30] about some of the struggles that I went, went through after just the burnout, or almost on the verge of burnout, just kind of saying, um, I can’t meet till the middle of September.

[00:00:41] That’s what I felt like I kept saying, which I thought was so rude to so many people, but it was just like all I could do. So I had web stuff, I was just overwhelmed, overwhelmed, overwhelmed. And then, um, uh, Mario’s been one of my coaches for, I don’t know, Two or 3, [00:01:00] 4, 4 years. I don’t know. I’m terrible with math.

[00:01:03] Um, and then Anat I worked with specifically, of course, my husband’s texted me now. I worked with Anat like from May to August. And it was really focusing on these big problems that I was having with art or with doing something for myself. And that’s kind of what we’re gonna talk about. So it started, and, and I’m sharing some of the slides I shared with Mindset Reboot, which is, uh, Mario does a mindset [00:01:30] conference, which is online, which is great.

[00:01:32] I always get a ton out of it. Um, and it, the piece that I talked about was just like getting through things. And what I realized when I was going through and making a stack this weekend and last night, I realized that there were so many things that I was hinting at in that talk or things that I needed to do and that I did do starting in May.

[00:01:54] And, and so that was one of those things. This is the image that I think Anat would be like, [00:02:00] This was the thing. And my friend, uh, Chris Martin, he was like, I like that. And Paul was like, I like that one. And I’m like, This is not even a piece. This was me taking this little piece of black paper and using those, Remember those things I showed y’all last week?

[00:02:15] Those little kid things that have comic sands on them. Right. But they’re like, I know you probably can’t see it good, but they’re, they look like Chapstick, but they’re paint, they’re temporal paint in these things. And I love them and [00:02:30] I definitely talk about them today. So I will hold some things up and show you, and I can show you them.

[00:02:36] I can flip out, I guess, if, uh, if we need to. But I was just wanting to see if these quick sticks would like, how they would layer. And if I could, there was, there’s a white quick stick and there’s some metallic, and I wanted to see if they would. You know, be like squash and you would be able to see ’em on black paper or if they would just, you know, like be like a marker that you can’t really see.

[00:02:59] [00:03:00] And I was just, I literally was just making a mess. And that’s what this black thing is. But that’s why this is called the messy middle because maybe you’re like, like me, where I always think everything I do should come out perfect and the first time, and this is not a good idea. It doesn’t help me with my perfectionism or anything like that.

[00:03:21] Right. So just to kind of recap, last week I was drowning. I mean, not really last week, but like at the beginning, um, [00:03:30] March, April, May, I was just overwhelming. Overwhelming. And I felt like I was just kind of drowning, just felt like I was really heavy. And I used that analogy a lot with anot. Like I just feel like I can’t breathe, like I’m in the ocean and I’m.

[00:03:45] I see a buoy. I’m pretty close to a buoy, but it’s real choppy. And I, I’m, so, I’m not that far away from land, you know? But anyway, I just felt like I was drawing, just kind of a recap. So some of these slides are from my mindset reboot, just so you know. [00:04:00] It’s a great conference. Maybe Mario can put the link in the chat.

[00:04:05] Making a mess is hard for me. There were three things that I think I really discovered, and those were some of the things that I really worked on, uh, with Anat. And then there’s some things that I worked on with Mario, so I was working on them simultaneously. Um, I felt like the art stuff, um, it, it was, it was a window to really what was going on inside, but I didn’t see it like that.

[00:04:28] I think a knot probably saw [00:04:30] that, and Mario probably saw that, and I was making a lot of things. But making a mess is really hard for me. And I mean, you may see behind me it’s not super clean, but I think as a kid I was very, very clean, very tidy. And I have certain things, you’ll see, some of my spaces are really tidy.

[00:04:47] So this is not my space, but this is what it feels like. Making a mess feels like this. And I don’t want to look like this. This isn’t how I want to be, um, seen. Or I don’t want people to think of me like this, but this is kind of how I feel in my [00:05:00] head. I think this is kind of the adhd. Um, it’s that there’s a lot of things going on there, maybe some things that are potential, but there’s also looks like there’s some water damage and, you know, can I really, um, get, can I really get this to be.

[00:05:17] What I want it to be, or is there any salvaging this, Like at this point I’m like, Nope. Going to another room, going to another house. Like I don’t look at this and think, you know what? I think we can make [00:05:30] something else. My husband would be like, We could fix that. We could get this for cheap and we could fix this.

[00:05:35] It’s not, usually this mess is really take, turns me off. But what if we saw a mess like this as a kid? Or even now I might go and make a mess, do something outside and get messy and dirty. Like when I pressure wash, like that’s really fun because I’m, you know, cleaning something, I guess. Or when I’m mowing, I’m getting dirty, but I’m, but it’s fun to make a mess.

[00:05:59] It’s more [00:06:00] of a, of a experience that I’m looking forward to. So I saw these as two different things. One was like a kid, and then one was something that I, I don’t, I actually avoid or I, I don’t, um, spend time doing. Because of that making a mess is requirement of the desired outcome. Meaning that I don’t make bread.

[00:06:22] I know Mario makes bread. Some of y’all make bread probably, but um, You have to get your hands dirty and goy, like [00:06:30] when I cook, like I’m gonna have to get my hands yucky. And it’s, that is the messy part. I don’t wear gloves, so I’m gonna have to get messy. And I know that it’s part of the process for cooking.

[00:06:41] I know it’s part of the process for pressure washing. So. I don’t know why I really resist. And maybe it’s because in our industry we’re so like precise and we have to have it perfect and it needs to look good. And it’s all about kind of like how it looks that the messy part really, if I’m starting out messy, I’m not sure if I’ll be able [00:07:00] to rectify it.

[00:07:01] And then I was looking at stuff like this, this is not mine. It’s good auburn color. Sort of more like, uh, Florida colors, right Amy. But this looked effortless and organic and it was just something, Oh, hey Janet. Um, it was just something that I, I wanted it to, I wanted to be able to make art like this. And I had not spent time making art in a long time.

[00:07:23] Probably. I mean, I’ve spent time in my sketchbook, but actually getting outta my sketchbook was really difficult and [00:07:30] that was one of the challenges that I set for me. So, It felt like it was a dead end. If you have this mess, you throw it away. Right? And I also have a problem throwing things away, like, maybe I could use that.

[00:07:46] Or, um, you know, I’m, this, this is worth nothing. I, I have trouble seeing worth in value. That’s definitely stuff that Mario helps me with. So I had, so if you see this [00:08:00] little thing, I’d bought this, these little things from Creative Market on the right, the little thing in white. I mean, this looks effortless.

[00:08:06] Like it’s what, it’s like charcoal, Like that’s it. And I was like, this is the stuff I wanna see. This is the stuff I wanna make. And so I got out a big sheet of like this craft paper, like a oatmeal color or something. It, I think it was, anyway, it doesn’t matter. Strathmore or something. And it was like drawing paper.

[00:08:27] And then I got this, what I thought [00:08:30] was ink, you know, like, Like dip pin ink. I thought it would be dark, really dark black and it wasn’t. And I was really upset about it. And Mario was like, Well, can’t you just go over it again? I mean, this is like in March. So I was starting to do certain things, but this was like, fail, fail.

[00:08:48] I can’t even get this fun black to be right. And now my friend Jody told me to get this other kind of black, but it’s still, it’s not just the perfect thing in the fir [00:09:00] perfect stroke. There’s so many times that this person tiberian clips or something was making these marks. And then finally, that’s the one.

[00:09:10] But it’s after all these other marks and that darkness that I wanted the, from just the richness of the black I wanted and it was just felt like fail after fail after fail. And I was trying like these, I wanted these big marks. I didn’t have a big enough brush probably. Um, I didn’t have the right kind of ink, [00:09:30] so.

[00:09:31] I just, I ended up just making other marks on it and then I ended up using the other side. So that was something that, um, instead of throwing it away, I just turned it over and was like, Well, maybe I can make something with the other side. And that ended up being one of those things that I figured out that made it not so precious.

[00:09:50] Like, I could, I could mess this up. The other side’s already messed up. You know, maybe I can make something that it took the pressure off. I don’t know if that’s how y’all feel at all. Um, but [00:10:00] um, I use this one a little bit different in mindset reboot, but with this, with artist stuff, you know, I actually didn’t share a lot because I was like, I don’t want somebody to be thinking that I know what I’m doing or I think I know what I’m doing.

[00:10:13] Right? Like, um, Jessie, she got a degree in painting. Like I know she knows she’s gonna be like, You’re not an artist. I know she’s not really gonna say that, but that’s what I think. Like, they know what they’re doing and I don’t, and I’m just trying and I’m just not getting. [00:10:30] Where I wanted to. So there was just a ton of kind of like going from last week of drowning by being in my own, uh, putting myself in situations where I just felt like I was just struggling, struggling, struggling, and over promising and under delivering.

[00:10:45] Right. Thank you, Jessie. I, I see that she said she struggles with the same stuff. Um, And I have a thing about being enough, like, well, that I need to be enough. I need to be good enough, right? And we’ll give [00:11:00] that to a little bit, like, you can’t do this. This is the stuff inside my head. You’re not an artist, you’re a designer, Diane.

[00:11:05] You know, you’re gonna be laughed at. Or maybe ped. Like, that’s what, And still in the back of my head I’m thinking, Oh, these people are gonna be like, it’s not so bad, but I’m glad you have it as a job, as a designer, a teacher, But you might not wanna leave this on YouTube, Diane or something. I don’t know.

[00:11:21] You know, whatever. I always think of these, these people as this, um, like these nights that are coming after me in my head. I [00:11:30] don’t know why they’re nights, but I like, there’s like short person back there too. Um, but really I realized I just have really unreasonable expectations and, and, and not use these three terms of, and I can’t honestly not remember.

[00:11:44] I didn’t bring my, that notebook. Um, but it was pretty much like a. A really mean, um, Mother Teresa. And it was like these, there was this good, but then it was terrible, right? Like there were these two parts of these, [00:12:00] these evil things inside my head, right? Um, or, and maybe it’s not evil, but it, it’s not positive and it’s not what God says about me.

[00:12:09] So it’s definitely not, that is not what I should be seeing of myself and. This was these unreasonable expectations. And what I’m, and this is stuff Mario’s worked with me for forever on, Hey, d um, is some of this, this self talk. So, all right. So I had [00:12:30] huge high frustration because I’m alone. I’m not doing this.

[00:12:35] Um, I was sharing it with a few people, safe people, right? But I, I just thought I should be better. I was actually ashamed of some of the things and this thing, this yucky, um, thing. Like I remember when I, I just was showing how the quick sticks worked and because I had no expectations and I remember showing that Paul, and he’s like, I loved it.

[00:12:57] And I’m like, this, [00:13:00] you know, it was like, it was that somebody else saw value other than just how the quick sticks worked and laid. I don’t know. You know, maybe he was just happy that I was making Ms uh, a not saw something, you know, like, but there was a lot. This is more of shame or retreating and feeling like making yourself small because I don’t really know what I’m doing.

[00:13:23] And it’s really hard to share stuff that you think people think you should know where you are. You should be further. [00:13:30] Like if you say you teach art at a college, I should be able to do things better than this, right? You say you’ve been a designer for 20 years, 25 years, 13 years, 10 years, whatever. It feels like you should be able to do better than this, right?

[00:13:45] So there were all these mean things running through my head, and I just felt defeated. I thought this was a perfect image. It’s like, can you imagine the Christmas tree? Right? It’s like nobody’s even rushing out there to try to get it. It’s [00:14:00] like, uh, it’s good enough, you know? Like that tree wasn’t good.

[00:14:03] Anyway, so these were regular occurrences. And I was battling with this. This was really a part of the battle. Again, we’re talking about messy middle this week. So there will be, I think, some things that I’m proud of that I’ll show you next week. But really I’m not sharing almost anything that I like this week.

[00:14:20] I wanna show you the yucky so that you realize you’re not alone. Hopefully, Lord Jesus, nope. Let me be alone in this. So I really struggled with a couple things. [00:14:30] Wasting time is really difficult to me, so making a mess is difficult and hard wasting time. Anybody else? Hey Rachel. Happy late birthday. I think her birthday was Monday.

[00:14:41] Um, Yes. I need to more says I need to drop the designers’ mindset and let it go. Absolutely. Uh, Paul says, I think this is a great one. Um, it was a chan I think it was a chance to see you unfiltered by perfectionism. There was no creative brief, no problem to solve. It was [00:15:00] just having genuine childlike fun and we could all use more than that.

[00:15:02] Absolutely. Paul. I think that I didn’t have it was that purposeless making and that was something else. I also, I probably should have made a slide that said purposeless making is hard because that was really hard for me too. Wasting resources is hard, but I just feel like, um, I could be doing something else.

[00:15:21] I’ve dealt with this like a lot and maybe you guys have two, I know my students do. Is, um, is that you try to just stay up later [00:15:30] and get the thing done when actually Eric Quorum, Dr. Eric Quorum talks about with sleep is just going to bed. You’re actually, your brain can. Um, like close some of the synapses and actually you can have the problem solved.

[00:15:43] So I’ve really used that this summer and it really worked and it’s been really good. I don’t always, um, not stay up, but it’s been, uh, effective. So I also just needed regular practice, which, [00:16:00] you know, if you are trying to get better at blank, better at being a mom, better at being a husband, better at being an illustrator, better at being a photographer, better at being a manager, better at talking to your, uh, clients, communication, whatever it is.

[00:16:16] How much time are you spending working and practicing at it? Well, if I wanted to ride my bike in a race, I would need to be practicing. I am not riding my bike in a race, but I also need grace in that. Just like, [00:16:30] Hey, this isn’t for anything right now. You’re doing, you’re making progress today from yesterday.

[00:16:35] So during mindset reboot, I talked about what’s worked in the past in my business. So I’m just really quickly and I made up these numbers, but, um, I think making products that you, I probably over the years, have made 35 or more products. I mean, I’ve made soap and I’ve made lip balm and I’ve, and packaging for all this cards I’ve done probably way [00:17:00] more than 35.

[00:17:01] And even just things like the podcast. So doing this and it, I’ve learned a lot about social media and marketing and connecting and all kinds of things that I didn’t really expect, but I’ve been able to use in my, um, in my job. Well, I think that I’ve probably had 753 or more design or marketing experiments for clients because, you know, you’re trying something new, you’re presenting a new concept or you’re presenting [00:17:30] and I usually present more than one concept.

[00:17:32] So it’s like I’m always trying these things, but because I’ve done them on my own, it gives me the, I know that I could do ’em for somebody else. Right. And I think you’re probably the same way. Sorry about the where the mouse is. I kind of forget where it is sometimes. So I think exploring can be scary. I am huge adventure when we’re going out in the woods and hiking.

[00:17:55] I love doing that. I love. Thrifting or going, um, [00:18:00] junking or anything like that. Um, but I really love being out in nature and hiking. That’s not super scary for me. But making a mess is really exploring where I’m not comfortable. So you need to expect to fall, just like if you are climbing through a rope climb or something.

[00:18:22] Right? I needed to expect to make messes. Like what is this piece? This is like washy tape and a piece [00:18:30] of like a book from, um, Italy and then this tiny little watercolor thing that looked like a bird, but it was also like, um, stain glass, like, and all these number fours. Like, I don’t know what, what, what was I doing?

[00:18:46] Like these don’t really go together. Um, and I didn’t ever think this was a finished piece. It was just me making a mess and I was okay with that. But it didn’t, again, it was purposeless. Right? But [00:19:00] I’m flawed, I’m not flawless. Um, and oh goodness. And I forgot to change the bottom. Oh, let’s go past this one quick.

[00:19:08] So why do I struggle when I’m creating something? So this is like red tape, like masking tape, and I just put it together and then I drew in it. And it’s not great, but I like some parts of it. I like how I cut that little kid off, you know? And then I love that stamp. I love stamps and you know, there’s some watercolor at the bottom, [00:19:30] but it’s like, why can’t I experiment with these things instead of feeling like it had to be beautiful?

[00:19:36] So this is what my, if you wanna know what I’m looking at when I’m at home, if you’re talking to me, then this is what I look at. I have a bunch of, um, uh, Jane’s Birds, which I absolutely love, and I have some other paintings of hers. And then I have Amina Ely, um, the little thing that says New corset, but my desk is pretty clean and uh, there’s, everything kind of has a place.

[00:19:59] But [00:20:00] then my art table, yikes. Oh, it’s pretty messy. This was in March. I did clean it. And it is continuously clean pretty much now, um, because I have a system, but I had to go through the whole summer trying different things that were helping me to have a system. But I have a, had a bad relationship with my art table.

[00:20:25] It had too many expectations for me. And I don’t know if you have a place like that, [00:20:30] um, or not, uh, or something that is like, well if you clear off the kitchen table, then you’ve gotta make something good, right? Because all the time that it takes or how much space you’re taking up from other things, especially if you don’t have place for that.

[00:20:46] So this, I mean this is pretty organized and this is how it stays. Like my resources are a plenty and they’re very organized. This is how I like to think. I of myself and [00:21:00] lots of things that I am the only one in control of are like this. And this is kind of what it was like growing up. For me, this is what I did.

[00:21:08] Not my mom didn’t make me do this, but this is how, I guess it was just the adhd, it helped me and I like things in order. Granted, clearly not that much because if you look behind me, but these are things that I bought, uh, at the beginning of the, I don’t know, beginning of the year, and then I put ’em together and then I got another one big one to put my art in.

[00:21:29] So [00:21:30] Mario talked about this in 2020, um, at camp. It was the very, no, 2021 at camp, and he always does the first talk. And it was about prep procrastination. Well, I think me putting all these things together and me organizing all my paints and all my whatevers or me buying new materials when I don’t really need materials, that’s prep procrastination, right?

[00:21:51] It’s just making me, it makes me feel like I’m doing something towards the more art, less art supplies. [00:22:00] Yes, absolutely, Mario. But that’s what. That’s what I needed. I needed somebody to say, You’re just procrastinating. You’re just you. You’re just procrastinating on this thing. You need to just get busy making.

[00:22:13] But the making was really hard because I didn’t wanna make something ugly, right? I didn’t wanna waste materials, I didn’t wanna waste time. But if I’m not trying, aren’t I wasting my talents and skills that God’s blessed me with? That’s what I think, right? So then there’s this other kind of heavier [00:22:30] thing in the back of my mind, this is me taking a whole bunch of sketchbooks and looking and seeing, you know, cuz I’m comfortable in sketchbooks, but I wasn’t always comfortable in sketchbooks.

[00:22:40] So these are my sketchbooks. The ones on the left side. Are filled, and then the ones that are in plastic, clearly I haven’t done those, but the ILO Sketchbook, my absolute favorite. That is they have good thick paper. It takes water. Just so you know, it’s my favorite. The plum chesters are okay, but clearly the ILOs, that’s what I asked for for Christmas [00:23:00] for my parents, and they’re like $16 and it’s a eight by eight.

[00:23:03] Anyway, they’re my favorite. The other ones are things that I write in. They’re from Walmart. So one thing that works for me is distraction. Go figure. The ADHD kid does well in distraction. I actually am less in my head when I am watching TV and I’m making something, or I’m listening to something and I’m just making right.

[00:23:24] I’m not even, when I’m just thinking about a website I’m trying to design and I’m over there doing [00:23:30] something, like I need that some sort of distraction because the internal voices are pretty loud. So I draw a lot at church. Um, I’m sure that the pastor was not talking about hammer radio, but I drew a hammer radio and I use watercolor pencils cuz they’re easy.

[00:23:47] And then just a water brush. I think it’s funny, but nobody’s saying anything in the chat. Okay, thanks Brian. Appreciate it. Um, and then I iterate, I iterate a lot. I draw the same thing over and over in different ways. So [00:24:00] obviously the little tape girl is the exact same thing, but I draw faces a lot. I, this was like one page that I was kind of drawing the same sort of person’s nose or like tiny dots for eyes or, you know, it was just going, um, I’m just iterating on the same thing and I’ll do tons of noses, tons of things.

[00:24:19] So this was like, I liked this dog. I was trying to draw my cat. There’s a couple, three, three cats in there and then maybe more, but then I found that little, or I [00:24:30] drew that dog and then I was like, okay, I’m gonna iterate on it. I’m gonna make it a little bit better. And I liked that. So this is in 2018, right?

[00:24:38] The other thing is I always have a sketchbook close by, and this summer I had four sketchbooks close by four at all times. I was carrying four sketchbooks. One was really small, I’ll show you. Um, one was, uh, half. Anyway, I’ll show you in a minute. This is another at church, so I have to listen to the sermon twice.

[00:24:58] I don’t have to, I guess, but [00:25:00] I am doing the, like the projector things and so I’m listening to the twice and so I will. I’ll take notes during the first one, and then I don’t during the next right. I, I do my part, but usually the guy has a clicker, so we’re, or girl, whoever’s preaching. Um, and then my animation, um, professor, friend, um, has, Thank you John.

[00:25:22] Um, ha told me to, All my faces were kind of just face forward and so he’s like, Why don’t you do paper? [00:25:30] But he told me to do these cones and then put faces in different ways. So this was another iteration, and you’ll just see random, Do you see this nose? It’s like random nose. I have a whole bunch of, I will almost always have lips because I don’t want anybody to think that I’m drawing a pee pee.

[00:25:46] I don’t know why I’m really scared about that, but I don’t even think I’ve ever drawn a peepee. But whatever this, um, this was me iterating during a faculty meeting, like a whole university faculty meeting. I just drew a whole bunch of [00:26:00] yarn, um, yarn balls. These are just in my sketchbook. Again, this is probably me watching tv.

[00:26:06] So I’m not really thinking about things and I’m able to just kind of make and then iterate cuz I think, so for me, iteration is taking something. Okay. I, I think this works. Let me use a different tool. Let me try a different technique. Like I really like this little guy would know. Mouth. I draw a cat like this too.

[00:26:23] I don’t know if I saw it somewhere and then I’ve just taken it. But like this guy is from those big loopy [00:26:30] things from church that I drew. So there’s certain things I’m going back and then I’m iterating and I’m making them into something else. Those are some creepy hands, just so you know. And then sometimes this, I would never do this look like this if I wasn’t distracted because it’s really messy to me.

[00:26:47] Um, so using multiple, so it was probably during fall, there’s Alabama, there’s Auburn, and there’s uh, Georgia. So I’m watching football, right? And um, and [00:27:00] I’m trying to just do things with different pins and work on my lettering. And then sometimes I have these tiny little drawings on certain things that I like and I just cut out.

[00:27:11] And I, I mean, this is tiny. This is really small, probably. Like three quarters of an inch, that little bird that’s taped in. And then sometimes, um, so I write down something that maybe the pastor had said or something, and then I have, you know, the brackets, like the [00:27:30] curly brackets. Um, I draw people with curly brackets.

[00:27:34] I always think this is Doc re sort of that reminds me of, Hey Brian, Brian Bundy, I see you in Cleveland. Um, so this guy is a bracket guy. Oh, I don’t know where my mouse is now. Let’s see, this guy is a bracket, see the bracket? Um, and then there’s two people up here that are brackets. So, so this is where reflecting, going back to your sketchbooks and then looking for things that maybe you didn’t think were [00:28:00] good at the time, I actually think there’s really important part about having time away and then coming back and look at it.

[00:28:05] Because sometimes the things that we are seeing aren’t so great in the beginning. Right. Um, so. I, Um, so mining the gold is about reflecting, going back, looking and seeing what really was good. So to me, I really liked these people. These are bracket people, right? So again, I’m trying not to draw people just from the front, right?

[00:28:27] And I don’t really know why I made their, [00:28:30] the whole, their nostrils. So like a different color. It looks like he has a mustache and maybe she does too. Anyway, so I wanted to share some of my go to exercises. These are some of the ones that I go to that I can do at night. You could do ’em in the beginning.

[00:28:47] You can do ’em, um, anytime really when you’re starting your art. So to me, again, Not, um, these aren’t for anything. Maybe you can cut ’em up and use ’em later, but [00:29:00] I start with easy and to me, just making marks. So getting out some brushes, Look, these are like old, these are pieces of paper. Some kid has ruined, um, they didn’t print it the right size or they had too many or they printed on the wrong paper.

[00:29:14] So I just have stacks and stacks of paper that’s already been used on one side. And then again, I’m not gonna use this for a final piece, right? But I can scan it in. But these are just brushes and I turn like dip ment ink and then I just dip it [00:29:30] down. Or just making marks with different brushes. The circle ones, which I really love, are just, uh, me turning the brush like a regular flat brush in a circle.

[00:29:40] I think that’s just fun. Again, maybe there’s something you can use that with. You might see something, but if you don’t keep it, then you’re ne definitely not gonna see it. I also make marks. Not on white paper. I don’t know why I have two of my footers there, but I like this one. Just the texture. Again, not super dark, [00:30:00] but maybe it’s just that texture.

[00:30:01] It always reminds me of Vaughn has a book that is like, uh, texture and putting that in and it reminds me of something like Retro Supply would do, or I know Vaughn has that whole book, um, a book series if you don’t know. I have it at home. Um, and then I make blobs. Sometimes I make blobs at night. So if you don’t know, I just make sheets of watercolors, of just blobs and I try not to do anything and then I let them dry and then I start the next day with blobs.

[00:30:27] I have some blobs. If you want some blobs there. I’ll [00:30:30] be a link, uh, down below. So this is, these are some things that I’ve made with the blob sheets and sometimes we’ve done these together. So I know Amy Lynn did this with me. Paul did this with me, and it was funny. It’s funny because we don’t all see the same thing.

[00:30:45] This is what I love about doing this in community, is that God made us all in a way that we see different things. Normally we’re like always comparing and is bad. Like I’m not as good as Amy Lions. Right. And [00:31:00] then, but when we do this, it’s like, oh wow. Me and Paul both with this little red lady, we both got like a little ishka woman with a scarf, or we got somebody with a scarf, both of us.

[00:31:11] Right? Paul, do you remember? Um, but these are things where it’s like we are, we’re similar, but then we also are so different. Like nobody got a little snow pee man. Right? Except me. And I don’t know what this monster is, but I think he’s cute, right? So, [00:31:30] That’s one thing I do blobs. So I’ve recently made a new little, um, calendar and so I put space in my calendar on the right hand side, on some pages on the left hand side.

[00:31:42] And like this guy who doesn’t have ears, he has legs. Again, maybe it’s just my weirdness. I’ve never done any drugs, but I think this is fun that we can just take something and go. And this was kind of at the beginning, this green and blue was at the [00:32:00] beginning of the summer and I just really like this little character and I think this little guy’s so sad, but I like him and I like how the tale, I don’t normally combine two things together, but because I did this as a group thing, um, earlier in the year, at some point Amy Lynn had actually drawn something that was like that, where it was she used.

[00:32:24] One blob for an arm and another blob for the hat and the other blob for the body. And I was like, I hadn’t [00:32:30] thought about that. So again, I love doing things together with other people, and I don’t always finish every page. Sometimes it gives me something to go back to, but this is actually a good warmup.

[00:32:40] It doesn’t take very long, and I don’t feel wrong about it. I actually always usually feel like. I’m good. Like I found something. So, and now all I can see here is this looks like a body with like really pointy boobs, but whatever. Okay. And then here’s some more. This is like one of my favorite ones. This elephant man really like him.

[00:32:59] I like [00:33:00] him. You can see the things that I like because I have hearts next to him. I kind like him. I have him as a sticker, so he’s like the little, I guess he was my fave. It says, um, he was like, muskrat man. Cause he sort of looks like a rat, but he’s got like a hunting jacket on like plaid. And then sometimes I’m like, I can’t make anything but a blah, blah, you know, blah out of this, this guy, he’s like, he looks like somebody on TV that has like, maybe it’s um, [00:33:30] who was that guy on the radio?

[00:33:31] And he always had long, curly hair, black hair. He was in New York. I don’t know, whatever the end, we’re gonna keep going. Yes. Howard Stern. Thank you. Collage and rocks. I do think collage rocks, woohoo. Go collage. But I tend to go back to things, so if I’m feeling uncomfortable, at least I can draw rock, you know, is really what I think.

[00:33:53] And so these were some that I did at the beginning of the summer. Um, these are inside of envelopes, the blue and [00:34:00] white one. So I just drew on them and then I, you know, I had drawn ink, I think on the other thing. And then kind of do it a negative, you know, And I’m just playing and. I just had to for force myself to be uncomfortable.

[00:34:15] One of my challenges this summer was not working in my sketchbook was, which I did work in my sketchbook, but I really needed to practice working on paper. And I went to an art retreat or whatever, art conference and I had to work bigger. And it was the ugliest thing I’ve [00:34:30] made. I will, I will show that next week cuz I didn’t have a picture that I could show cuz I loved it.

[00:34:35] Anyway, this is the sketchbook, so this tiny little sketchbook. Right. Um, and I had unfortunately ruined, um, because I had painted this blue on this side, the paper in the sketchbook. I think it’s like travel journal or something, but I had, ooh, there we go. I had, see this is really pretty small. That’s why I show my finger to show.

[00:34:59] I’m working really [00:35:00] small lots of times. And then I was like, okay, I’m going to use paper. That’s small. I’m not gonna make huge things, but I made a sketch, This works well for me. When I make a sketch, I said, Okay, I’m gonna use one or two colors. And then I, This, this one right here was the pack, You know, the communication arts that you get, you know, your magazine and it comes with like a piece of paper that has your address on it.

[00:35:22] Well, I just use the other side of that. So I was like, well, we’ll see what this like is like. And then I just used a really small piece [00:35:30] of, um, so I did the same thing kind of twice in two different ways. And it was based on a Bible verse, you know, uh, I think it says Trust the God of the breakthrough.

[00:35:39] Maybe it was the song, but based on a Bible verse, Trust the God of the breakthroughs, the one who rolled the stone away. So it must have been near Easter, or I don’t know, maybe it was just listening to Easter e songs. And then just changing it a little and using more hyper colors. Like this one pin that I have, again, I’m just trying out some new things with things that I’m [00:36:00] comfortable.

[00:36:00] I’m drawing rocks. You can’t be like, that’s not a rock. Right? And then collaging broken pieces, um, is something that, you know, you’re just gonna throw it away, so who cares? Right? So this was like a tent from something and then in a magazine. And then I just thought this maybe could be his mouth, the red stuff.

[00:36:20] And then this was just cut out from something else, so it was kind of like left over. So I was like, Well, I’m gonna try to make, cuz these were rocks, I think [00:36:30] these white circles. So I just made ’em into eyes. And then I cut little, um, shoes up. But the shoes were really over here from this piece of cutout.

[00:36:40] So then from that I made a penguin. Again, cutouts after cutouts, right? Not that anything is great, but I’m just playing and I’m doing something with the discards. So this is just an opportunity for laughter, just in case you weren’t having enough fun. Sometimes I see people, [00:37:00] like this guy was at a conference, this piece was behind him, and I was sitting in such a spot that I was like, Oh my God, I gotta take a picture of this.

[00:37:09] I don’t know who this man is, but I took this picture in a hotel lobby. And then this one is a friend of mine in the UK who was not greatly positioned in front of a p a painting or a photo. Um, it was in a webinar. I didn’t know this lady, but I knew the lady given the webinar. Anyway, I, [00:37:30] I just think this is funny.

[00:37:31] So I take screenshots or. Pictures of people. Watch out. If you’re near me. That was the comedic part of the show. Um, I’m glad you guys laughed. Um, wasting resources is really, really difficult. It’s not as difficult if they’re not expensive and they’re for kids cuz there’s not the value of them. Oh, I can’t use my really nice watercolors.

[00:37:58] I need to make, you know, I [00:38:00] can use the crappy things while I’m learning or whatever. But really you need to practice with the good stuff, to be honest, so that you can, I know now you can really see the comic sand. Oh, we’ll get off this one. So then here’s the messy piece that Paul was like, I like it. And Anat was like, I like this and I’m still, I told Anat I would send it to you.

[00:38:20] So I’m, I still, I’m absolutely happy to send this to you. Um, but this was this messy, I was just seeing how the [00:38:30] tools worked. The end, that was all it was. I wasn’t trying to make anything. I just wanted to see how the tools worked, what kind of things I could get and see if I could layer them. That was it.

[00:38:40] But maybe it was just this being okay with just making a mess. Okay, so this is another, these are the UGLi, right? The messy middles. I’m like, I’m just gonna, The little red things are tape. I don’t know what the, I think the blue. Green blue kind of [00:39:00] things are um, just pieces of paper that I glued on. And then this of course looks like the inside of an envelope.

[00:39:05] So I made some, you know, collage clouds or whatever. And then I just, I guess I was using one of those quick sticks and I was just making a mess, seeing if it would go over it. So who cares? And then this one’s like Dodo Brown, I’m for sure starting out making a mess cuz I picked Brown, a dodo brown color as my color.

[00:39:27] I don’t like this piece. I did bring this, I, I [00:39:30] have these I can show you and it’s really kind of more, I don’t know if you can see it or not, but it’s like florescent a little bit. It is ugly do to brown works. Yes. And maybe. Then I loved this. I didn’t expect anything out of this, but this was just me putting the quick sticks down and see.

[00:39:50] So I had a fluorescent and then I did the red, and then I realized, I really like this because I got a different tool. I left those pink and red blobs on the sheet of paper that [00:40:00] wasn’t white. I really believe in not using just white paper. And this is like a brown paper. And then I just started playing.

[00:40:07] And I did a ton of these iterations of these flowers, but I really, really liked those. Um, so I guess I should, One thing I liked, so, but what if it sucks like this? Right? But I wasn’t expecting anything here. Well, I’m gonna show you some stuff that sucks. Um, and I used the other side. So this is one example of, I ended up cutting this up into little pieces.

[00:40:29] And I think I [00:40:30] used it for, I don’t remember, but I was just playing, I was using this new like ink that I had. It wasn’t new, I just hadn’t used it in a while. So it was new to me, I guess. And. Just doing a whole bunch of stuff. It was way too much, it was way too overworked, and I ended up putting yellow on it.

[00:40:49] I, it, I just started making a mess and I over it was terrible. So I was like, Okay, well I’m gonna see if I can really layer and put like, um, so I just taped it down to my [00:41:00] helix mat on my art table and I just started, um, painting on top of it, watercolor and some of the quick sticks. And I drew a girl from the lands in catalog.

[00:41:11] I mean, I wasn’t going for anything great here. And then I realized she’s not proportional, so I abandoned it. At this point, I’m like, I can’t make this work. And this normally would really, like, I don’t think her arm is correct, like. It’s not so bad, but it’s bad, [00:41:30] right? I was like, I’m cutting it up. And I did.

[00:41:32] I cut it up. So, okay, so I have wasted materials, but maybe I learned something. I learned that I need to work better about proportions or I learned other things. So literally materials spilled and I have this pulled up, pulled up like it’s a, Anyway, so this is the materials or this is what it was. It was this brown and it was next to this blue and it made this awesome brown, and I made corn [00:42:00] again.

[00:42:00] I am drawing in the dark, not total dark, but we only have like one lamp in our family room. So when we’re watching tv, that lamp is not even near me. So I’m not like, I can’t be too precious with it, but I really like some of these. So this is this brown plus this blue made this kind of gray. Yeah, it is.

[00:42:20] It’s corn, right? Or Mays, I guess it could be either one. Um, but I just started making, and I don’t think it really looks like corn. Like [00:42:30] this part doesn’t, but this part looks okay. I mean, I don’t think it’s that color. But then what if I’m, Another thing I have issues with, that I have problems with is that I’m wasting my talent or skills or superpowers that God’s gifted me with.

[00:42:46] This should be the hardest thing, but really this was something I was struggling with just as a Christian, that this wasn’t what I struggled with the most. This that was hard to kind realize and live under, I guess [00:43:00] in four minutes. Let’s see, something I can do balance with something that I’m learning because I need something that I feel good about, like I can move forward.

[00:43:08] I don’t need it all to just be learning, learning, learning. You suck, you suck, you suck, kind of thing. So I was trying to learn gush. I still am, I haven’t practiced with it as much as I need to, but I was just doing some main ba basic exercises that, like they were talking on Skillshare, so they just listed out and then you put some marks on top [00:43:30] of, um, uh, on, and you could do with brushes.

[00:43:35] Uh, or I use was using like a white pen and uh, black pen and uh, you know, silver, I think I was just trying to see what my colors looked like and um, and then what, you know, again, just making a mess. And then I did this, my friend Sandy Hester, who I can’t wait for you guys to, she’s gonna be on in October.

[00:43:58] I don’t know which week yet, but, [00:44:00] um, she does blind contours and I was like, Okay, I’m gonna do these. I just am watching her. I pause it or I’m just watching her and I just try to draw it quickly. So these are, these don’t really look like Sandi Hester, right? But. Without, I don’t know if I was not pulling my hand up, but I wasn’t looking down at the, at the drawing.

[00:44:20] Maybe you do new tool Tuesday and every Tuesday you start, you say, I’m gonna start the day with a new tool and just do something. I think something like that could be [00:44:30] fun too. So my quick sticks, I really like these little girls I shouldn’t probably have showed you today. Um, because I really like her and I said I was gonna do all messy metals, but I did make a lot and Mario did tell me that this one looks better in person than it does on the screen.

[00:44:46] But here it, I have black paper in one of these sketchbooks and I just put these colored pencils that I had gotten on it and I, I was just making a happy boat, right? And I made other happy things. And then this is [00:45:00] gush on an old drawing of rocks. Cause I was just trying to mix the, you know, see what works and what doesn’t.

[00:45:06] So this is some more gush again, this is. Hi. This is not what a palm tree looked like. I know, I know. It’s terrible, but I’m playing with weird colors and just trying, These are like first attempts at Gush, so I thought I would take you all the way through one tree. Now I’m not really good at waiting right till it dries.

[00:45:26] Ooh, I really stuck at that. But look at, [00:45:30] so there’s, it goes from this beauty of washes that you can, um, it stylized That’s right, Amy. It’s a stylized palm tree. These are stylized trees also. Um, and then I’m using blue, very limited color palette. Blue, brown, green, green. And then I’m, I don’t know. And then that red color, and then I, I think I put some purple, I think there in anyway.

[00:45:57] I think the last one. Yeah, that the one [00:46:00] on the right is the last one, which again, not great, but I’m like not good at figuring out shadows or, you know. So it’s like I was just coming back to it in the day and it’s just, I’m learning and these are small. You can see how big my thumb is. So I’m not expecting these, but I ended up not liking these spots on the trunk, so I just covered ’em over.

[00:46:21] Right. Why can’t we cover it over? I don’t know why I have such trouble with this. Then I started using things that were huge because [00:46:30] I was like, I am not comfortable with this. So these chairs are made with that big brush, and it’s like, it was forcing me to just make a few marks, but I really, really loved these.

[00:46:44] Right. So I limited my pallet starting at the, Well, I don’t know how long I’d be limiting my pallet, but I haven’t done enough work because I’m still working on my taxes and anyway. In school and everything, but um, I’m limiting my pallet for [00:47:00] a number. It’s not super limited. I’m gonna show you the pallet, that’s why there’s the asterisk.

[00:47:04] So people are gonna be like, That’s limited. I don’t think that’s limited. Anyway, I made this mess. This, this guy’s here somewhere as well. I brought everything so I could show you what I could. But this little bird, and again, I’m just playing seeing how the tools worked in the palette because what I ended up doing was this was the palette and I know it’s sideways.

[00:47:22] The reason I wanted to show you sideways, cuz I just wanted to show you what, um, the colors I was using, I had just four colors in the [00:47:30] beginning, which are the four colors on the far right. Okay, so they’re, you’re whatever. You’re right. This is the top, Well, these two. Right. These two colors make this, these two colors, make this, these two colors make this.

[00:47:46] And then I added this like pink beige and then this other beige. And then I realized that all these colors down here are made by mixing these in some way. Not even the beiges, but I [00:48:00] got a green, so I was like, I’m gonna add a green color because I thought I needed something. So this next page, which is the next page on this, is I just decided to take all the tools that I have.

[00:48:13] I have ’em separated by what they are, like colored pencils or whatever. And I just went through and I picked ones that were in that same color palette. So now I have multiple mixed media and I’m only carrying around that, those things in these little bags, these colors, [00:48:30] nothing that’s outside of my color palette.

[00:48:32] Right. The color palette that was on the other sheet. On the other page is there, I did do this one too. This is just again, me playing, uh, it doesn’t have a, I don’t think it has a up or down yet, but again, these are the colors that I’m working with. You’ll see that I hopefully will do more of these. This is a tiny little thing.

[00:48:53] I’m, I’m really not so great at contrast. So again, I’m trying to work on those things. So I did a little bit of [00:49:00] collage and I had this really dark things really hard for me. So having the two pieces of contrast, this is way too busy. But anyway, and then this one, contrast in shape, but also color, right? And this is member, last week I showed you that blue and that a terracotta color, and then it made that kind of green.

[00:49:18] This is the green. I just freaking loved that green and so I just went crazy. Again, mixed media. I’m just, these aren’t for anything. These aren’t expected to be [00:49:30] end pieces, but I’m just trying one to work on paper so that it has crisp edges, not just in my sketchbook. I’m trying to see what it’s like just to play on paper.

[00:49:40] Um, I also know that I probably do better if I sketch first, but I also sometimes just don’t wanna sketch. So another way, if you are like me and you are just hitting a blank page and you don’t wanna do that, you can swatch out your tools. So this is something else. So very similar to that other Swatch page with the Qua.

[00:49:58] Um, another [00:50:00] teacher online, I think her name’s Kate. I don’t remember what her last name is. Um, I can get it for you. I’ll put it in the chat or in. Thing underneath, um, description. Um, but this I all the marks that your philbert brush can make. And so then I just went crazy with it. And then I ended up doing all the brushes that I had.

[00:50:22] I, and I put holes in ’em, and then I put ’em on a little shower ring. So I have it hanging in my, uh, studio so that I can go back [00:50:30] and look and see if I need to make a mark. Uh, and what, what, Mark? So then this is Debbie Clappers. Um, if you want awesome art. That’s, um, a great one. Great artists. And then this is ink.

[00:50:43] These are gelatos, these are lira acore crayons. These are those quick sticks. This is watercolor, this is a certain kind of watercolor. This is another quick stick dirt went drawing pencils, another watercolor, other mebo art crayons and king art, art [00:51:00] crayons. This is more, um, another kind of watercolor. And so.

[00:51:05] These things, just doing this, knowing what my colors were, I can just go to this and just pull what I need. Right? This makes it much easier. The reason I have the blue, the black line, is because I wanna see if it’s transparent or if it’s opaque. And lots of things like with the quick sticks, pretty, pretty transparent.

[00:51:25] But there’s some things that are more opaque than I would’ve thought. Like this [00:51:30] terra cotta is more opaque than I thought. Um, but a lot of ’em are pretty transparent. But I do that usually with almost everything. There’s a black line or I paint over the, uh, text or something, especially with the inks because they, I tend to not know and you kind of need to know if it’s opaque or not.

[00:51:49] I also make things with the leftovers. I’ll show you one thing. So I really like this little guy. Um, but this was like from something else. This was a cutout leftover, so I ended up. [00:52:00] Making . I made three things. So this is how tiny he is? Yep. It’s a rooster. And then there was a bathing suit. It was really just this.

[00:52:10] And then I added the this, and then I made this scary guy. I know it’s really small. Sorry. Can’t really see. Um, but I didn’t put pictures of all those things because I don’t know why. So make some messy middles. I mean, it’s a lot of mess. A lot of mess. A lot [00:52:30] of mess. But then having fun with some things. I mean, things don’t work.

[00:52:35] Um, I tried to pull, I mean, I make a lot of messes, a lot of things. Like this is creepy that I made the lips now into this weird, creepy character, a bathtub and a whole bunch of eyes. What, Okay. Um, there’s. Noses. I, again, there’s one [00:53:00] really big nose. I’ll show you that one. And this is the quick sticks, right?

[00:53:05] And lips and rocks or, I don’t know what that is. Scribble, but I don’t know. Just, I mean, that’s really big. That’s a, that nose and mouth is as big as my head anyway. You gotta make some messes. I gotta make some messes. Everything isn’t good or perfect, I’m just making marks. Um, some things are scary and.

[00:53:28] Are ugly. [00:53:30] And then, um, I did something with Mora and Amy, um, Ger and John Engels. And I had taken this pretty picture I thought of, of my magnolia tree. And it was just, the colors were amazing, so I sent it to them and then I was like, I’m gonna do something with this. And then Amy ended up doing, we all ended up doing something with it.

[00:53:49] We all made a drawing, but Amy ended up then making a painting and it was amazing. But this was my attempt, so with the quick sticks and maybe some gelatos, which are water [00:54:00] soluble, but for me I was like, It’s ugly and I like it. I’m okay with it. Um, there’s lots of ugly, ugly, ugly things. Um, but I think that, anyway, I don’t, I think I had a few more things marked over here and then I’ll let you go.

[00:54:20] Of course you can go whenever you want. It’s your time. Um, I already showed you that my things that spilled. And then I did, [00:54:30] um, this is working backwards a little bit, but I just wanted to show you ugly, ugly things. Like, I, I don’t mind this, but what the heck? Uh, okay. And then this guy, Creepy, Creepy. Um, there are some good things.

[00:54:53] Um, she, I thought this was not so great. Right? I guess I was watching [00:55:00] something with Gordon Ramsey. I like this page. Okay. Not really this one, but not showing that today. But like, I just don’t even like the Gs, This flower looks weird, like something’s wrong with it. Um, I made a lot of backgrounds. I mean, but look like there’s lots of things in my sketchbook.

[00:55:19] I don’t like, I tend to do this sometimes, like put these black lines around, say, I don’t know. I just see it as something that I do regularly and maybe, [00:55:30] um, I mean, and everything doesn’t make sense, you know, like, I don’t know, what the heck was I doing this? This guy was probably not a guy in the beginning, but I gave him, I don’t even know what it was.

[00:55:43] It was a shirt, I think. And then, but I liked that little guy. He’s cute. Um, so there’s gonna be some things that you like. I really like this guy, but he’s, he would probably be in my things I liked, but, um, mark’s I tend to make [00:56:00] to add abstracts, uh, to put on Adele auditioning sheets. So I was just making a whole bunch.

[00:56:05] Here’s the. She kinda looks weird, but I really like her. I shouldn’t have shown your hair today. But then these are just outta my head. Didn’t she look like the eighties? Kinda like my hair today. And then these people, the, the two ladies are quick sticks. The others are, um, something I hated these, ugh, hate these girls.

[00:56:25] These are gelatos. Ugh, hate them. Oh, and then this [00:56:30] was in the beginning and it’s really, I don’t like the way it feels, but it has some envelopes and it has some other like, paper things. It’s kind of hard to see. I’m sorry. Um, but it’s just a whole bunch of mess and I really don’t like it, but it’s a messy middle next week.

[00:56:48] Um, I like the red and blue too. Um, but there are just lots of things I didn’t, but I was going through. So here was that piece, right? Ugly. That’s okay. [00:57:00] Um, you’ll see some more next week. Oh, here’s this guy. It kinda looks like that could be his tail feather. I don’t know. Um, lots of messy middles. I really, I didn’t think I was gonna like this white, black graph and craft, but I ended up making, Oh, here’s those people.

[00:57:20] A little guy and maybe the other guy’s on the next page. Nope, that page. I thought [00:57:30] he was cute. Um, but I like the craft paper. I didn’t know was gonna like the black paper. I just used the, the graph paper for taking notes for clients. I still haven’t finished. Oh, here’s a ugly look at that. The thing is creepy.

[00:57:45] It’s like John ate grits or something. Or oatmeal. That’s creepy, huh? Oh well, um, I just made a lot of mess. Made a lot of mess. Quick sticks. Did they [00:58:00] work neon? Pens. But see, I kind of liked that one anyway. Watch things out, swatch things out on black. Um, everything doesn’t work. I mean, some of these are terrible.

[00:58:12] I have a man, woman, um, that I wish she, I w I wish I hadn’t messed it up. I put her lips. It’s terrible. I don’t, I mean, ooh, but I’m just trying plain. Anyway, this, this one [00:58:30] is called u uli o o l y.com, this one. But I did really enjoy, it’s not probably good enough for watercolor. These are pasted in or taped in or something, but it kind of buckled a good bit in the blobs.

[00:58:47] So that one wasn’t, wasn’t so great, but it was good for ink or the quick sticks, not ink, Um, just like marker. There were those things which [00:59:00] kind of liked those. Oh, I really, I ended up making this one. Oh, I’m not supposed to be good. Well, I look how cute he is and then I kind of made like a, I don’t know, But this was one of those things.

[00:59:11] But then I put like, what if I put two eyes again? This happens when you iterate because we just need to iterate. We need to make, I haven’t finished this one, this one. Then I always feel like, see, I can draw, There’s a chair, cuz I have that worry. But there are some, [00:59:30] there are some things that I don’t really like next week, but there are some things that I am proud of and I can’t wait to show you.

[00:59:38] But this week, messy middle, it’s kind of abandoned. Kind of like my hair today. Like if I took my thing out, it would still be in the same shape, exact same shape. I’ll show you one other thing to get you to maybe come back next week. So this is, I did this yesterday. Just been trying to. [01:00:00] Clean up. So trying to make a tree something’s wrong with the, the sticky.

[01:00:07] Anyway, but this, I made a few again in the dark playing with whatever. And this one I like. There’s something neat over here, but there’s something nice about this and it has some silver in it. Oh, you can’t really see the end bite flat graft. Craft sketchbook is by uli.com. Yeah. Yeah. Awesome. [01:00:30] Okay. Thank you guys.

[01:00:31] Thank you. Thank you for coming and um, man, Brian Yon, I’d like to see what you’ve made in your Uli. Um, okay. Ooh, I just spit all over my keyboard. Okay. I will see you next week and I’m gonna do a blob challenge that you can do with me every day. For a month, probably starting near the end of September, cuz I don’t need to start right October 1st.

[01:00:58] But it’s just one little, [01:01:00] one little blob a day. And then you could, you’ll can download the sheet for the week. So hopefully that’ll be fun and we can do that together. And I’ll see you next week. I definitely need some water be in.