Day One/Drawing One-Buddha

Wow, I almost missed day one. I'm pretty lame. Maybe I can't pull this off. I did get it in though. So, here's drawing number 1: buddha. It's not an original representation. Rather than coming up with my own idea of what I think the great buddha should look like, I searched the Internet for ideas. I won't always use other people's work to mimic.

Unfortunately, I had to start, stop, start, stop, continue, finish while doing this one. I usually prefer to start-finish. There's something very Zen about drawing. I find it to be very meditative.

This isn't really an exercise in becoming a better artist (although I do hope that it does make me into one), it's really an exercise in establishing good habits of using the brain.

I'm not sure if I'm happy with buddha. I mean, I like buddha, but I'm not sure if I am happy with this drawing. The scanner didn't do the shading justice and I didn't have the right tools. I used a #2 pencil rather than my drawing pencils, my finger for shading and a piece of printer paper rather than my sketchbook. It'll be interesting to see if drawings do come out better with better tools. Somehow, I really doubt it. Great artists can make masterpieces with crappy crayons. I've seen it done.

Getting Ready

OK...technically it's day one for me, but since I am at 1:45am and at the end of my September 30th work shift, I will hold off on drawing number 1 until the sun rises over the Atlantic.

I've never done anything like this before. I have to keep regimented about it and am looking forward to both the challenge and to the output.

How Time Changes Everything

I've been thinking of the different one-a-day projects I want to take on (and some of them simultaneously), but I don't know how I seriously am going to be able to pull off any of them when I can't seem to do the small things at home on a regular basis. Having my days off and working nights was supposed to lead to me practicing piano every day, but in the last week I've only practiced 3 times. I guess I should keep in mind that's 3 more times than prior, right?

I have to say, it is quite strange to wake up at 9:30 or 10 o'clock in the morning every day when I've been used to getting up at 4 or 5:45 for over 9 years. Last night I worked until 3am and naturally woke up at 10 today. I think my body only requires 7 hours of sleep. It's been pretty consistent since I've taken on these new hours.

Over the next few days, I am going to be putting together a list of "projects" that I can take on. If you have any suggestions, please throw them my way. I think it is coffee time now.

Early Thoughts

The other day I was thinking about things I could do to learn more about specific topics. My friend, Ron, is trying to learn a new song on his guitar each day of this month. I am not sure if he's been able to keep that up. I remember reading about somebody who tried to write a song every day for a year while he traveled around the U.S. That is quite an arduous task.

There are so many things that I want to learn about and so many things that I want to get better at so I started to think about Ron's idea and latch on to it in some form. What I am intending on doing (and I have no idea how this is going to go) is to pick a different thing each month that I will do every day. For example, for my first month (October) I am going to attempt to draw a new picture every day of the month. I will scan it for your pleasure or critique. I'm hoping in the end that it will force me into becoming a slightly better drawer. In November, I am actually considering writing a new song each day. I would record it and upload it as well.

Along the way, I might include other tasks that are less time consuming like: a word, a Bible verse, or some other interesting fact about fish, sports or whatnot. We'll see how this goes.