Bex Hall

Bex Hall > ICAD

ICAD

Drench yourself in words unspoken

Today is where your book begins

I am unwritten

I am unwritten, can’t read my mind, I’m undefined

I’m just beginning, the pen’s in my hand, ending unplanned

Drench yourself in words unspoken

Live your life with arms wide open

Today is where your book begins

The rest is still unwritten

One of my all time favorite inspirational songs and it played while I sketched this.

Pencil—>ink—>watercolor pencils, 3/61

P R O C E S S N O T E S

This is the first year of ICAD where I pictured something in my mind and put it to paper. In the past I primarily searched online, found something that appealed, and then used it as inspiration. I struggled to create something of my own.

I spent a great deal of time worrying about whether others would (A) like what I had created, (B) consider me a horrible artist, or (C) think I thought whatever I had created was “good.”

Think about all that energy and how instead it could have been used to create.

It took some time, lots of practice, and a heckuva great deal of courage to let all that go. Like the song lyrics tell us: “We’ve been conditioned to not make mistakes, but I can’t live that way.”

There’s a delicious freedom at your disposal to let your intuition guide you. To listen and tell your inner critic to hit the road.

Create for the sake of creating. You’ll understand what I’m talking about when you do.

Pick up that pencil, that brush, that pen, whatever — get to it.

XOX

Is it okay to do different?

Draco the Snapdragon

No one liked it when Draco got hold of a wet towel in the locker room. He wasn’t called the Snapdragon for nothing.

Pencil—>ink—>watercolor pencils, 2/61

P R O C E S S N O T E S

I first thought of the flower with this ‘snapdragon’ prompt, then the image above flashed so I went with it. I don’t usually draw dragons and these look more like dinosaur hybrids, really, but I kept going.

I googled dragons and learned about the Mesozoic era and how Jurassic is one of the periods when dragons may, or may not, have existed. And I liked the word Jurassic over Mesozoic for the name of the gym. The alliterative ‘J’ sound gets my juices jiving.

The original name for the guy on the left was Barney, but I remembered he was a dinosaur, so back to google and turns out, Draco is one of the most popular dragon names, so I felt better about people understanding this is a dragon. But I kept his color purple, being true to my original concept of him being a ‘Barney’.

I haven’t used watercolor pencils in a long while, so this was good practice. I wanted color on this piece, but not realistic, since it’s meant to be cartoonish. Plus, index cards do not hold up to full water very well, although there are times I do full watercolor and then press the card under a heavy stack of books after it’s dried.

That said, I have found these heavier-than-store-bought index cards online (which you can buy here) that hold up much better. I prefer the 4×6, but they come in 3×5 as well.

When it was time to take a photo, it seemed appropriate to stage the card on a towel in the bathroom with tile in the background to lend a locker room ambience to the theme.

I published the card on Instagram and Facebook with some hesitation. Would anyone “get it”? Then I asked myself, “Does it matter?” And the answer is, “No, it does not.”

The goal of ICAD is to promote a daily creative habit. Check. My personal goal is to show up and create something and share it. Check. No where on this list is the line item “Share and get as many likes and comments as possible.” Thankfully.

So don’t worry about what others think of your work. It’s okay to do different.

Be your authentic self.

Index Card A Day challenge begins

This is a great way to grow your creative practice

Contraption of my dreams

First card of ICAD! That’s Index Card A Day, if you’re not familiar. Every day for 61 days, create some thing on an index card. This is not a competition, it’s a challenge. One that asks you to incorporate a little bit of creativity into each day.

There are prompts which are optional, but today’s prompt, “Contraption”, has me longing for extra hands to create and do the things I love doing most. 

This is my sixth year and I return because I’ve learned creative practice brings satisfaction into many areas of my life. My outlook, attitude, health even — all improved.

Check out Daisy Yellow Art for information on how to participate.

Fake handwriting as meditative practice

Remember fake cursive?

Fake cursive with highlighters

Who remembers fake handwriting? 

As a youngster, I would sit in the office at our stable and compose fancy cursive business letters to tack and feed companies. I wrote and asked for free samples of horse treats, brushes, or any paper advertising materials printed with pictures of horses.

What showed up on the page however, were indecipherable scribbles.

Recently, Lynda Barry (@thenearsightedmonkey) posted about how she used to do fake handwriting and she revisited the practice with ball point pen on a compbook page. She calls the movement of a pen on the paper as “finger skating.” She inspired me to try my hand with it this morning.

It was difficult to NOT form actual words. The first couple of index cards I struggled to make the loops and whorls be nonsense. After more attempts, it was easier to clear my mind and let the scribbles skate across the card.

Fake cursive

As Lynda writes, “It was unexpectedly good to do this.”

I agree.

Fake handwriting as meditative practice

Perfect is boring

A good mantra for blind contour drawings

The prompt today is Big Bird. Immediately thought of the big yellow guy on Sesame Street but wanted to do something a little different.

Have you ever tried a blind contour drawing? Specifically a continuous line blind contour drawing or portrait? You draw something in pen without looking. The “results are quirky, kooky and otherwise surreal” writes Tammy Garcia of Daisy Yellow Art.

I first tried this in 2018 during the annual ICAD art challenge (that’s Index Card A Day). Typically you create a self-portrait; look at a photo of yourself, and only the photo — don’t look down, and draw one continuous line to replicate the image you see.

Some people blindfold themselves or create a tent over their hand to keep from looking. The urge to look is hard to resist.

But again, the results… fun.

Multiple attempts Big Bird Blind Contour

I made five attempts and didn’t really notice a ton of improvement, but there were differences. I began with the eyes on these two attempts.

Multiple attempts Big Bird Blind Contour

Started from the top of the head on two others. Then for the fifth, I started at the bottom.

5th attempt Big Bird Blind Contour

I suppose there was some improvement. Regardless, it’s a great creative experiment to push yourself out of the comfort zone of perfection. And there’s zero risk. It’s on an index card, or a scrap sheet of paper. Throwaway.

I’ll share the first one I ever did as a self-portrait in 2018. I added color after the pen drawing, while looking, just for fun.

You can do whatever it is you want. It’s your art, your experiment, your fun. Have at it.

With that, I leave you with my Picassoesque masterpiece. Until tomorrow, keep creating.

Blind contour continuous line self portrait