I tend to improvise. When I think too hard, art ideas run away from me. But I also like to study and practice a little thing many times—in case I will need it later. I'll have pages of nonsense, then a careful piece, followed by pages of nonsense. I do this in a 9x12 sketchbook and in a tiny travel sketchbook. I would like to be able to fill up a page more regularly. Once a week? I would also like to try and encourage more of those "gut feelings", so I don't have long periods of inactivity. Exploring masters and visiting museums seem like good practices. Taking this course and completing assignments also helps.

Went the analytical route and followed the process: 1. rough it out 2. clean it up and simplify with a straight edge on tracing paper 3. copy outside contour on tracing paper 4. duplicate outside contour and tweak the insides I found using my new tools in step 2 difficult. I couldn't decide if I wanted to freehand step 3 or use a ruler, so I did both. I was able to put my outer countour tracing under my sketch page to duplicate it. Then I played around with some inner shapes using pencil before going over it with a micron (my preferred medium). It was hard to decide on line width. I tried to make things that were closer thicker. Hopefully we will spend more time on some of that decision-making. Ultimately, it was great to study a master then create something of my own—instead of only copying. Time flew by, which must mean time well spent!

I want to draw with a pen from imagination...from any angle. I love nature and notan. I'm glad Marshall sees and treats perspective as solving puzzles. I love a good puzzle too!