Writing has always been my main way of expressing myself. If I’m feeling creative, I go and burn out that feeling by sitting at the computer and getting to writing.
But sometimes that’s not the best way to scratch the itch. I’ll stare at the screen and nothing happens. I just end up hitting a couple of keys and then hitting backspace. And then growling and thumping off.
Then it’s time for me to dig through my limited supply of back-up creative activities: things that are usually not as satisfying, but their novelty is usually enough to make up for it.
It’s all about letting that part of my brain stretch and do something new for a change. It can be tedious to do the same thing over and over again, even if it’s something I normally enjoy.
Lately, I’ve been futzing with Inkscape and its pen tool. And it’s not as stressful as writing. Not that writing is really stressful, but…I feel more pressure to do well with anything I write. Anything that’s not up to standards was a waste of time and I never should have attempted it. If it turns out well, then it meets expectations. While this is starting to sound arrogant, it’s still true.
With drawing, I never feel that pressure. I’ve never claimed to be good at drawing, I don’t promise you quality, so I don’t care if it looks like complete crap. If something happens to be the tiniest bit good, I can be inordinately pleased with myself.
This is my way of saying that there’s going to be truly atrocious little doodles accompanying my blog posts in the future. For example, here’s one of my cats:
Dylan Charles
