Soaking it all in

I have a tendency to get be in one of two modes when it comes to my creativity; soaking up as much information as possible, and spitting all that learning out on a canvas of one sort or another. It doesn’t matter if I’m writing or drawing, if I’m in one mode its darned hard to switch.

Lately I’ve been in the “sponge” mode, which means a great deal of scouring the library for new books and flipping through my art books and searching for new tutorials online. When its nice outside I tend to go wandering off with my camera, or out on my bike. Both writing and new artwork comes along at a crawl, and I feel twitchy whenever I go to long without a source of new knowledge to soak up.

The opposite of “sponge” mode is a little easier to deal with, but still has it’s moments. When I’m busy spewing up all the stuff I soaked up, I absolutely must write, and you can usually spot me scribbling down ideas and such in the little notebook I carry around. It’s likewise with the art side of things. I can’t carry my sketch book while I’m on the clock at work, but receipt paper will do in a pinch. Some get tossed, but those I decide to keep and turn into real drawings are put in a little drawer in my art desk.

Of course, it doesn’t matter what mode I’m in when there are edits to be done. So while I try to resist the urge to call it quits just a little earlier then usual so I can get to my latest haul from the library, or the new art supplies waiting in my studio, I’m hammering out the latest snarl and watching the clock. After all, if I can’t buckle down and get things done now, how will it be if I ever find myself facing a publishing deadline?

So on that note, I’m off to get my work done for the day and get this posted. There are still another two books waiting unread in my latest stack from the library, and I have some new surfaces to try my art on now that I‘ve managed to get my paws on some of the Ampersand‘s Claybord I‘ve been hearing about. After all, my brain might be trying to soak up everything it can, but I can still have some fun, right?

Later, guys.
 

~Sun and Moon