Creating When You Just Don’t Feel Like It

I woke up last Wednesday absolutely dreading my planned urban sketch. It was a day that I would’ve preferred to do literally anything else. But I knew that I had to push myself to keep going. It is so easy to lose momentum and just stagnate. It’s also easy to forget that this is an activity that I enjoy and get to do for school and work.

This burnout was a mix of a midweek/midsemester slump and fear of uncertainty. I really don’t sketch architecture often. Perspective isn’t super exciting to me, so I just avoid it. I had to ask myself, “How do I make this exciting?”

Pulling up to the library, there were so many families with kids laughing and birds chirping. It’s hard to still feel bad with the sun shining on you, but that’s when you know you’re really burnt out. After exploring several different areas I could’ve sat, I ultimately found that the best view was from the parking lot. I sat in my car, put on some uplifting music, and got started.

I made sure to choose a selection of really bright colored pencils for this sketch. Usually, staring at bright colors cures me of the blues. After getting my initial sketch down in pencil, I considered how I could make my sketch more fun. I tried to choose some brighter colors than I actually saw in the scene.

While there really weren’t any colorful blooms or buds on the trees, I decided to add them anyway for a pop of pinks/purples. Also, I saw some gardeners bringing tulips to another part of the library, so I also decided to add those to the front for more pops of color.

Final Sketch

I tried to keep one tree more rendered and detailed than the others, and to allow the rest of the drawing to fade in complexity toward the edges.

Ultimately, I was just okay with the drawing. It took me longer than the 1.5-hour goal – about 2 hours total. This boils down to how long the beginning stage of sketching in perspective took. I need to practice this more to get faster.

For the second sketch, I went with a couple of friends downtown. Again, I was definitely struggling with the motivation and excitement to draw. We explored a bit and found a beautiful church with some cherry blossoms outside. We sat on the sidewalk, looked up at the church, and got sketching.

I began this session with a bunch of work and school stress weighing on me. I started not in the right headspace. A few minutes in, I restarted my sketch, and turned my phone on do not disturb.

I decided not to listen to music. This was the right decision, as I could notice all the little things around us. The slight rustling of the leaves and branches as a gentle breeze started picking up, a dry, crinkly leaf blowing down the road. This had such a calming effect on me.

Once I got past the initial sketch (which I struggled with pretty hard this time) I began adding some detail. It wasn’t until the end of our session, when it started to rain, that I noticed something wrong about my sketch. I was able to fix this, since I was still working in pencil.

Once I fixed the perspective issue, I added color. I started with a vibrant purple for the outlines, as I wanted this to be the dominant color. I had a lot of fun rendering the cherry trees and adding the bluish green for the foliage. Somewhere along this process, I really started to like my drawing (probably once I added pink).

Final Sketch 2

The lesson here is to show up, even when your entire being is screaming at you not to. Struggling is part of the process of growing. It is what makes art rewarding – the output is proportionate to the amount of yourself you put into it.