184. A Weekend in Seattle
or, almost spring.
Dear reader,
I was in Seattle for an extended weekend. It was almost-spring. In today’s post, the things that happened to me, the people I met, and the things I saw.
The SneakyArt Post is a publication about secretly drawn art of the world. Every week, I share my drawings and best ideas from a journey of self-education to be an artist and writer.
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A few hours after reaching Seattle, as we sat down for the first cup of coffee, I realized I had forgotten my trusted Lamy Safari fountain pen at home. Shock! Horror! Disbelief!
How could I do such a thing? Still, adversity proved to be a good teacher. And having made it through this ordeal, I love my Lamy more dearly.
Browsing bookstores in Seattle, I was delighted to come across these books by podcast guests:
Samantha Dion Baker spoke about her design career and sketch-journaling in Ep 52 of the Podcast.
Virginia Hein discussed her transformation from oil painter to toy designer to urban sketcher in Ep 31 of the Podcast.
Sarah Nisbett, in Ep 12, spoke about sketching on the NYC subway and the inspiration behind her moniker Drawn on the Way.
I met with Eleanor Doughty (IG@herbcoil) again, and with Jenny Adam (IG@ronkiponk) for the first time. We sketched together at Gas Works Park. It was some good bonding, before they drove away to conduct a workshop in the woods in North Bend, Washington.
I attended an Urban Sketchers meetup with the Seattle chapter, at Hing Hay Park in Chinatown/International District. It was a terribly cold day. But as if by magic, as soon as we finished sketching, the clouds parted and a bright sun lavished golden warmth upon us. So it goes.
I had a phenomenal breakfast at Portage Bay Cafe in the University District.
On the same day that I learned early spring is prime crow-mating season, I saw cherry blossoms begin to flower on the University of Washington campus.
Even without the trusted Lamy, I made some drawings that made me very happy. I posted them on r/Seattle and received lovely comments from redditors.
🗓️ The first quarter is complete
We will be TWENTY-FIVE PERCENT done with the year in 2 days. I made some important (and terrifying) resolutions with SneakyArt Insiders at the beginning of 2023. You can read them in the post below.
I speak about discarding goals for systems (or habits) and the importance of being process-oriented. I also wrote about the illusion of social media likes.
I first shared my thoughts on the BS-ness of social media metrics when speaking about Goodhart’s Law in Ep 43 of the Podcast.
“When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a useful measure.” - Goodhart’s Law.
At the time, I had 18,000 Instagram followers. At the end of 2022, I had 160,000 IG followers. Today I have 327,000 followers. None of it really matters. Paying attention to such things is legitimately harmful to your growth and evolution as an artist.
Correction: Of course, it does matter. Having a large following has tangible effects on your professional career. But what I mean is that it does not help to pay attention to these numbers. They are a trap. It is counter-productive to chase after them. For the sake of your happiness and everything you seek to create, you must pretend like you do not even care how many likes you are getting.
It took me a long time to stop looking at the numbers. Then, Instagram reeled me back into its web. Now I am making my way out again.
This weekend, I share my sketchbook and do live drawings in the monthly hangout with SneakyArt Insiders. To join this free but exclusive session, become an Insider!
Dear reader, thank you for your time and attention. See you next week.
Those cheap blue and purple markers created a damn masterpiece! I feel like Dorothy waking up in Oz.
Hey friend,
It's been a while since I last dropped a comment. Well, today is a good space to do that.
Maybe, I'll do bullet-point comments. Ha.
1. Tools. I think mostly only the artist would notice the output of using different tools to create. The rest, just enjoy looking at the created piece. But, I'd understand the horror of leaving your fav pen behind when you are *suppose* to be on a sketching trip.
2. Tools again. This week, I retrieved the 1st watercolour brush I bought, (which is a waterbrush), and placed them in my pencil and everything case, together with my watercolour travel kit. And. I have been gleefully sneaking in drawing and painting in 10 minutes chunks; before bedtime, while waiting for my husband's doctor's appointment...All because the barrier to making art has been lowered so so much, and the tools are easily accessible. I kept the water brush aside after hearing from some sketchers who swore by not using waterbrush, deeming them as non-brush. As a rookie, we lap up everything said by those who are more experienced. Well. The more I explore with different mediums, different tools, different ways to compose a line drawing, or to paint, the more I found out—there's no one way. There is a foundation, a technique. And then, you are on your own. Which is perfectly fine by me. Make your own rules.
3. IG. I try to keep myself sane by not looking at the insights per post or analysing to death why one post sunk and another one is doing well. The webby part for me, is the comparison syndrome. That one, I am careful to quickly get out as quickly as I fell in.
Thanks for writing.