My art - or lack of it - in 2025

At the beginning of last year, I was feeling so inspired and ready to go, art-wise. Lots of ideas in the hopper. And for the first few months, I got some stuff done! I started a series of vine/nature-covered street signs that I want to get back to. But then this year happened, and it was a hard year for most of us, it seems. Then I worked on various iterations of this damn arboretum piece from July-September and made myself finish it. I’m proud I finished it, because it’s good practice either way and I have a habit of quitting when things aren’t going my way, but. . .ugh. I spent longer on that picture than I had any other until now and seeing it turn out so underwhelming sort of killed my enthusiasm for art for a while. At least I learned that I just don’t enjoy colored pencils by themselves that much. Usually when I make myself complete something creative, it turns out better than I thought. Not this time. And I know that’s just how art is, but again: ugh. In a perfect world, spending a lot of time on something would make it turn out good, but I guess that’s another lesson: sometimes shit just don’t work. Everyone’s got some clunkers, I imagine. Pick up and move on.

So that’s what I’ve been trying to do! I got a new sketchbook for Christmas, and as I always do with sketchbooks - I highly recommend this method if you’re someone who is also scared of a blank page - just sort of dived in and started scribbling. Painted a big peach-colored square in gouache and then drew on it with some neocolor crayons. It was relaxing to work on, which is exactly what I needed. I’m also surprisingly satisfied with how it looks, which is also what I needed.

I’ve also wanted to draw some mundane stuff around the house for a while, and I decided to take that on, too. This is our magnetic knife block in the kitchen. I originally started this with some color, but then I realized that the real meat of the drawing was in the big chunks of black on the handles and the knife cover, and the arrangement of the knives themselves. Drawing with pen without sketching anything out first is intimidating but also freeing - like being a kid and just putting your crayon to paper without worrying about the finished product. It forces you to accept your mistakes. I did another pen-and-ink drawing like that a few years ago, and it remains one of my favorites. I want to explore this style more.