A couple weeks ago, I was knocked down by a bad cold and spent a few days on the couch. While recovering, I started playing with the drawing apps on my iPad using the Apple Pencil I’d bought as a note-taking tool at the beginning of December…and suddenly I found myself making visual art for the first time since eight grade. I mentioned it in my last post, and now it has become a daily practice.

In the course of watching a bunch of YouTube tutorials about how to use the drawing app of choice (Procreate), I discovered a drawing challenge called Making Art Everyday (MAE). I happened to discover it on the first day of January, the first day of the new 2020 MAE challenge year—and so far, I’ve kept up with the challenges daily.

It’s becoming my new favorite hobby. I love experimenting with the different digital brush settings and the infinite colors at my fingertips. The best part—and the part that really captures my imagination more than “real-life” art making—is that, because it’s digital, everything is reversible. I can easily erase or resize or recolor something I want to change.

On the one hand, it helps me overcome my fear of starting something that I might get “wrong.” on the other, it does not help me overcome my perfectionism. Whatever I’m working on is endlessly “perfectable.”

I think that’s why I’ve come to like the MAE challenge: tomorrow, there will be a new thing to draw, and I’ll have to put down today’s piece. Each day is a new opportunity to try another style and another skill, and I’m building a catalogue of my progress.

I’m also thinking about ways to incorporate this new hobby into my other work and interests:

I intend keep up with the MAE challenge as much as I can, and I’ll be sharing artwork from time to time. Thanks, as always, for following this blog and for all the support!