I woke up in the middle of the night on New Years Eve, unable to sleep. I was feeling reflective at the start of the new year. I thought about how I’d gotten out of the habit of sketch-booking, and how much I missed it. My end of 2020 was jam packed with client graphic design work. Actually, all of 2020 was for that matter. It was the busiest year of freelance work I’ve ever had. We’d also gotten a puppy in October, so that only added to the chaos. That’s when my sketchbook habit really began to slip.

I started thinking about all the ways I could get back into sketch-booking daily. Usually a series is the best way to do this, but all my ideas sounded pretty restricting. Should I paint animals? Flowers? Patterns? I’d already done a portrait series in 2020, so that was out. Suddenly, I had the idea of just doing a mini 5x7 painting series in my sketchbook - no rules attached. My sketchbooks are 5x8.5”, so that’s how I landed on the size. This idea sounded doable and like it would be lots of fun.

So starting Friday, January 1st, I embarked on a 31 day adventure. I shared my pledge on Instagram, so I wouldn’t flake out. I’m still terrified I won’t be able to see this through, but I’m taking it one day at a time.

Below are my last five days of paintings. I still have yet to do today’s painting. I have a zoom date scheduled with an artist friend Julia tonight, and we are going to paint together. I’m excited to have some company!

The next question was what to do with my paintings. I could sell the originals, but unfortunately they’re attached to my sketchbook. I already sell Giclée prints of my other works, so that made the most sense. I had the idea of selling only 5 signed/numbered prints of each painting - limited edition style. I’ve never created numbered prints before, so this is a first for me. BTW, if you’re interested in purchasing, you can check out the paintings in my Etsy shop.

I think this series will be a big challenge, but I can’t imagine how much better I’ll be after 31 days. It’s also an exercise in ideation, and how quickly I’m able to come up with fresh subjects. I think it will make me a lot tougher as an artist too. I already almost flaked out on Monday, but rearranged my schedule just in time to squeeze a painting in. I need to do this more, and commit to showing up.

So wish me luck in my January journey! If you want to follow along with my 31 day series on Instagram, I’ll be trying to documenting the whole thing with timelapse videos on my stories. I took an Instagram break like I always do over the holidays, so it’s been great to be back on social. I’m feeling a renewed energy!