Dear reader,
This email is going out to over 12000 readers. At this time last year, less than half of you were here. A year before that, less than half again. What an honour. Thank you for giving me a space in your inbox.
Last year, I resolved to live a year without goals and without numbers. Instead of lofty extrapolations of countless trajectories, I gave myself the job of maintaining select habits. One of them was this - to give away as much art as possible.
In today’s post, I show you how it went.
The SneakyArt Post is a publication of secretly drawn art of the world. Every week, I share the latest drawings from my sketchbook and the best ideas from my journey as an artist and writer.
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Last year I resolved to give away as much art as possible.
I learned about the practice of art abandonment from Kate Buike (Red Harp Arts) and tried it for the first time on Day 20 of a 30-day drawing challenge in April 2022.
But this year I took it another step forward. Throughout the year, I left drawings at various cafes and free libraries in Vancouver. I do not know who found them. I do not know where the drawings went. I did not try to find out. I have learned there is much to gain from this kind of renunciation.
In the video are some instances that I happened to record. Not all were recorded. And not everything recorded was shared on social media. Because I now have a big following, I thought this necessary to keep things sneaky.
To make sure I would stick to it, I made the rules simple - go somewhere, see something, draw something, and leave the drawing for a stranger to find.
This is the (Sneaky) Art of the Giveaway.
You will see in the video also some drawings mailed to readers. These were the prizes for winning entries in the various tiny story contests last year. Tiny drawings travelled to several countries around the world. Tiny story contests resume next week!
I did it for simple reasons too.
To exercise autonomy over my work in this age of hyper-commercialization. To do something for the art of it, not the economics. In a time of best practices, to not practice best practices. To exercise a Dostoyevskian freedom in the face of the Machine. To love something and to let it go. To move and to be moved by the cycles of life. To be as intensely human as possible.
Art is meant to be shared with other people. It is good to reinforce this principle from time to time.
It is interesting to think that by giving away my drawings, I was able to gain more control over my work. Letting go as a means of regaining control is aparigraha. It is peak Jain.
Ten feet underwater, off the coast of Montenegro many years ago, this lesson was given to me by a scuba instructor, as the right way to swim and to not drown. So it is a way to live.
Related/Unrelated
In 1972, Pink Floyd travelled to the abandoned city of Pompeii (Italy) and recorded a complete show inside an ancient, empty theatre. Pink Floyd is, of course, one of the greatest bands of all time. You and I are lucky that we can watch the whole thing. What a time to be alive.
“Strangers passing in the street
By chance two separate glances meet
And I am you and what I see is me”
Pink Floyd
Every blank page of every sketchbook is every drawing ever made, and every drawing yet to be made. Every line you draw is reality defining itself. Dear reader, make bold lines.
When I started the SneakyArt Podcast in 2020, the overwhelming advice from friends and colleagues was to not do it. Fortunately and/or unfortunately, I only do what I want to do. Today, after 100+ hours of conversation with 50+ guests over 68 episodes, it attracts listeners from ~140 countries around the world and ranks in the Top 2% of all podcasts everywhere.
The best advice I can give you is that sometimes you should not take the best advice you get.
After much prevarication, I am putting up some originals for sale on the website this week. As readers, you will get the link before anyone else, in your inbox!
Many amazing things are happening this year. I am eager to share some exciting news with you very soon. Thank you for giving me a share of your time and attention. Talk soon.
220. The (Sneaky) Art of the Giveaway