Monday Series: Inktober Roundup Edition

It's finished! I almost can't believe it. Not only did I complete 31 drawings, but I actually managed to do them on their own days. That's pretty cool. I'm proud of myself for that; it was not easy. Especially since I also completed a commission, an anniversary gift for Josh, and an SVS contest submission this month.

Here are some things I learned in no particular order and with zero curation:

• I am capable of producing high quality work last minute but I feel so much better about it if I don't have to.
• Posting work to Instagram between the hours of 12pm and 7pm tends to yield the strongest engagement.
• Drawing every day really, truly helps me improve—like a lot.
• Big, scary, habit-type goals feel more attainable when there is an end date.
• I enjoy watercolor.
• Backgrounds are hard.
• Inking smooth lines improves with practice but is pretty heavily affected by caffeine level, the tightness of my shoulders, and many other physiological factors.
• I haven't reached my limit when it comes to creating Halloween themed art. This is still highly entertaining.
• I'm tired of drawing based on prompt lists. Between prompts and commissions, I've given myself no time or freedom to explore my own curiosities.
• This has given me many more potential portfolio pieces than I was expecting it to.

I'm curious about what it might look like to free myself from the burden of having to create a finished artwork every day (because that was very stressful) while maintaining enough of a daily-ish drawing cadence to continue producing high quality work relatively quickly.

Ideas:

• Drawing every weekday and some Saturday mornings (before Josh and I meet up for the weekend).
• Giving myself Sundays completely off—no drawing or business work.
• Choosing a few projects each week or month to treat like Inktober projects; thereby challenging myself to take them from idea to completion in one sitting/day. This exercises my quick decision-making and anti-perfectionism muscles.

Here is the dangerous part, right? I completed this big, awesome goal and saw tons of success but it's over now—so the motivation to continue (in the midst of an insane political landscape and a pandemic-afflicted holiday season) has to come from inside. Sigh.