Witness the Small Life – I-I-Icon

“Patience is a virtue” -Me (probably)

Is it just time going fast or do I not have my glasses on, cuz everything sure is a blur right now. Hour after hour I go to class, I do work; I get out of class, I do work; I go to sleep, I dream of work. Everything flashes by in a haze and I continue to work. Call me Sisyphus because this boulder just keeps rolling down!

Although everything happens so fast around me, my spare time has been filled with doodling on Photoshop with my laptop trackpad (my new best friend!). Lulls in lectures and commutes on buses have regained a sense of whimsy and color when I’m able to fill it with goofy little stars and apples. It’s been almost meditative this week: pulling up a blank canvas and going with what my heart tells me. Recently, I’ve dedicated these doodles to becoming new icons for my desktop (shout out to the Gargoyle for being my first muse). The doodles on the page are my shiny new folders that live amongst the picture of a double rainbow over my camp’s shimmering Half Moon lake. Through drawing these doodles, and drawing with my trackpad in general, I’ve found myself to grow a new form of patience and mindfulness with art-making. It brings me back to my early days of digital art when I could only use my trackpad to make various drawings of colorful My Little Pony characters. Nowadays I have a plethora of resources that would make my 11 year old brain pop! Trackpad drawing has brought me back to my roots, while also forcing me to learn how to draw again in a kind of way. There’s a certain kind of method and resilience needed to constantly press undo and redraw the same line over and over again until it reaches its best potential. There’s also a kind of acceptance that is required to come to terms with when something doesn’t come out exactly how you envisioned but it still doesn’t look bad. It’s similar to printmaking in that way, the apple of my eye lately, to where you learn to roll with the punches and how to take something both simple and meticulous to new heights through experimentation in tandem with trial and error. I feel more connected to my creative process in my trackpad doodling and more aware of what I’m making, how I’m doing it, and how I can play with ideas of shape and form. These doodles are simple, yes, but they bring out a joy in doodling that I’ve been missing lately. I encourage everyone to pull up their drawing program of choice, stretch your fingers, and play around with making fun little characters and creatures. Even if it looks like a hot mess of lines and color, keep playing around with it! Find what works, find what absolutely doesn’t work, and enjoy the process as you do so. Exploration, experimentation, and process are so important to art making, and also life living, so try it out and see what joy it sparks in you.

To take into our next week:

Ins: Simple syrup, my bright orange hoodie, copper and brass, little dogs, limes, tomatoes, bunny slippers, reaching out.

Outs: Timezones, cracked heels, freezing rain, the crust on a milk jug, the smell of room temp coffee, hit snooze a little tooooo long, sleeping with only one pillow.

Enjoy the last full week until break (as much as one is physically able) and appreciate that trackpad!