The First Creative Work in a Long Time

For quite awhile, “studio time” has consisted of going down to the basement room we (my housemates and I) call the studio, journaling a bit in order to settle in, choosing a subject, and then drawing the subject. This has been a useful practice. It means that I am making something on a regular basis, it helps to establish the habit of observing and recording, and it helps me learn to look at the world as an artist.
The piece posted above is something more than my habitual drawing. It is a synthesis of various elements from some of the past weeks’ drawings. It is inspired by the way the leaves look like sails, the tail of a beet popping out at me, the foreshortened leaves of an onion, a clear day, and the hard outlines/soft gradient of Botticelli paintings.
To me, this counts as creative work in a different way than does drawing. It is the expression of the internalized impressions that were the result of the drawing process. The stepping back, reflecting, and making something new is one more step in the creative process than observational drawing.
Also, this was my observational drawing today: Cars Parked at a Park.