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Slow Down (Creativity Matters Podcast 469)

Amy Books | Creative Journey | Daily Drawing | Featured | Mindfulness | Philosophical Threads | Podcast , , , , , ,

Episode 469 Slow Down

Episode 469 of the CMP, a Creativity Matters Podcast — Mindfulness, slowing down, finding your voice, and a book review

The book reviewed in this episode is Draw Yourself Calm: Draw Slow, Stress Less by Amy Maricle.

Finding the balance, the perfect pitch quality of “loose” in your own work isn’t easy, and it isn’t a one-and-done process. Fine-tuning our creative practice and being open to the need to evaluate, course correct, and make micro-adjustments are often necessary steps on our creative journey. We stop, pull out the map (which might be blank save for the trail of breadcrumbs that mark the steps we’ve taken so far), check the angle of the setting sun or the light coming over the mountains, and, if necessary, adjust our direction just a bit.

On the heels of the “loose” shows (467 and 468), I have continued to look reflectively at what I’m doing now, what I was doing at various mile markers along the way, and even what I was doing a few weeks and months ago. In some ways, I have moved to a different middle ground, and I’m continuing to watch how things unfold while also trying to not overthink it, to stay out of my way as much as possible. Through it all, I am mindful of my own voice and aesthetic and trying to stay true to that as I continue to document and record life in an illustrated journal that incorporates a bit of all the things I enjoy, markmaking, mindfulness, gratitude, portrait drawing, sketchnoting, journaling, and more. The #illustrateyourweek weekly prompts continue to be a wonderful part of my practice and a good set of guideposts each week for helping me “fill in” pages.

Inktoportraits in October (or Inktober)

October is coming, and I’ll be doing Inktoportaits again. This will be year 3, and I am looking forward to it. I did see a birds prompt set that was really tempting, but the Inktoportaits series have been ones I really enjoyed. I think I’ll open myself up this year to a few dogs (drawing dogs continues to be something I am fitting into spaces in my journal in the months since our dog passed)…. and so maybe some birds.  I’ll be talking more about October drawing next time.

Inchie Challenge in September

For September, I encourage you to sign up for Amy Miracle’s Inchie Challenge. It runs September 6-16 (2022). You’ll need 2×2 (or similar) squares and a pen.

Review of Draw Yourself Calm

In this episode, I talk about Amy Maricle’s new book: Draw Yourself Calm: Draw Slow, Stress Less. I really enjoyed this book, and I think you will, too. At the core of the book are 25 beautiful patterns that Amy walks you through how to draw. All the while, she encourages you to branch out and explore these patterns in your own way.

Amy’s foundations of slow drawing and mindfulness are ones that have resonance for me (and the underpinnings of the CMP). I think you will find her approach inviting, soothing, and very accessible. Working on small, individual cut pieces of paper (similar to how people who Zentangle use tiles), she outlines and invites you to embark on a soothing creative practice, one that encourages you to slow down. Her pattern work stems from close observation of patterns in nature, and the organic feel to her art is wonderful.

Thank you to Amy for providing a copy of this book for review.

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Note: links provided to books, tools, and other resources on the Creativity Matters Podcast website may be affiliate links for which the podcast would make a (very) small amount of money if the item was purchased. The Creativity Matters Podcast is an Amazon.com affiliate. Links are provided for convenience to help you find/see/explore the books, tools, and resources I talk about. Using the library, when possible, is always my first recommendation for reviewing books firsthand.

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