I'm about to head off on vacation and I am sharing one of the prompts that I created for myself and that I'll be working on while away.
A while back (in July) I posted on Instagram about how I had flown back to DC from the West Coast, and how I had forgotten to download a movie to watch on the flight. I decided to put on my headphones, turn on an audio book, and I then doodled happily in my sketchbook for hours.
I had taken with me on the trip a sketchbook and (for some reason) only a pen, a pencil, and two china markers to draw with. What I ended up making feels to me like “coloring book pages” — monochrome doodles that feel very "me" and that I can now add color to (or not). It really made the flight go quickly, and now I have pages to play around with while on vacation.
Here above you see the black-and-white pages that I doodled on that flight: And are two that I've started adding color to.
If you've been following me recently, you know that I love doodling. I like the physical act of slowing down and letting my pen or brush follow whatever line or pattern that comes to mind. It's also a way for me to play around with patterns, shapes, and composition that I see and like, and also a way to play around with color later. Each of these pages now will act as a creative prompt -- open to any kind of materials or mood, and since they're in a sketchbook, there is no expectation that these become "finished" pieces.
The materials that I have on hand to use for coloring these in are: paint pens, watercolor, acrylic paint, watercolor pencils, markers, regular colored pencils, and ink. Anything goes. I'm not using especially heavy paper, but my Moleskine "Art Sketchbook" has heavy enough paper to take paint (although it's not great for watercolor, I admit). Still, it works!
You may already enjoy working in a sketchbook. And maybe you already enjoy doodling. But if you find yourself struggling with WHAT to put on a page one day, consider just doodling some patterns and/or shapes and see where it takes you.
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