In recent years I stopped liking drawing and painting. One reason was work got too busy and didn’t have the energy. I was tired every day. After dinner, I just fell asleep on the sofa. I didn’t want to get creative because that took energy. And after some time I got scared of painting something because I somehow got precious since I knew that I don’t have the energy to draw every day so I should make it count. But this was a very bad mindset because I got scared that I would waste the time and didn’t even get started.
So I started the new year by doing some reflection to identify these problems and to figure out a way to fix it. How? Easy! I will start drawing every day for a week and see how it goes.
Monday – I’ve forgotten everything đ
I’ve heard that creating a ritual strengthens a habit. I decided that making and preparing tea for my drawing time will be that perfect ritual. It will also keep me warm while sitting still in this cold winter time.
I wanted to work on the manga (comic) project that I had procrastinated for a few years. To my
I was supposed to get ready for bed after 1 hour. But it was so much fun that I kept going. To entirely getting up to speed with the hair took 2 hours. After that, I continued with re-learning to draw the face to get a head start for Tuesday. It was gratifying but also a big mistake. My neck was really sore when I was done, and I was late for bed. I really regretted in the morning after. Lesson 1, know when to stop. Overworking my body is not going to help me remember that drawing is really a pleasant activity that I actually like to do. If all I remember afterwards are the pains in my body, I’ll just associate drawing with pain in the future. For Tuesday I have to try to respect my timer when it goes off. Letting the body rest is also very important.
Re-learning to draw the main character’s hair 
Tea of the Day – Tie Guan Yin. 
Tie Guan Yin – a very fragrant Chinese tea. It’s steeped in 80 degree celsius warm water. 
Post-its I put in my apartment to remind myself to draw something every day no matter the quality of the piece.
