When I sit down at my art table I don’t know where a doodle will go. I start with deciding what colors to use and a color that is unexpected. On this day it was purples, touches of hot pink, and some orange.

I can’t remember where I read this but it’s true – the journey of making art is like going into a big valley.

The project starts all clean & shinny. You have a great concept/idea for how you want this to go. . . . .And then you start. Things don’t go the way you expect and it’s just not looking right. It doesn’t sit well with your gut.

This is actually what is suppose to happen. Art is fun but it is a struggle to birth an idea or image from your head onto a page. So when you are in the middle of the valley and you think it looks like crap – KEEP GOING because your half way there. Anything that is done only half way isn’t very good. Put on more layers and add more detail. Sit with it and listen to what it’s telling you. Don’t make something on a timeline if you can help it. Art has it’s own timeline and birthing process.

When I doodle I find it’s all the details that make it pop and come alive. I do a little bit and then look at it to see what it “needs”. I look for balance in the lines, in lights & darks, and flow.

There are two take-aways from this blog – put down your expectations because they tend to be the root of frustration. Think about the big picture and concept of what you want to work on (ie – I want to use purples and circles with doodles). The other is don’t stop when you think it looks like crap. Keep working on it and see it emerge. Sometimes there will be stuff that you toss and that is ok – it’s part of the process & experimentation. Your piece will usually turn out better than you thought even if it may be a bit different than what you had in mind.