234. Grandma & Rohan
a sneakyart drop of a quiet moment.
Dear reader,
I can no longer remember what my days before Rohan looked like. How did I wake up? What did I decide to do all day? Time works like that. The past compresses and blurs. The future is across the horizon. Only the present is eternal. Moment after moment.
In today’s post, a quiet moment between Rohan and his (maternal) grandma, or नानी (naa-ni).
The SneakyArt Post is a publication of secretly drawn art of my world. Every week, the best lines from my sketchbooks, and the best ideas from my journey as an artist, writer, and parent.
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👋🏼 I recently re-introduced myself to readers, and how I made up the job title of Sneaky Artist:
When I picked up a sketchbook and headed outside, I was running away from my desk. But I was also chasing my curiosity for these crazy Americans. When I started drawing with a fountain pen, I was distracting myself from a writer’s block. But I was also tired of chastising myself over tiny mistakes, and all this poisonous perfectionism. When I started drawing from observation, I was deliberately not thinking about writing. But I also wanted to learn to draw.
⏳ Responding to a question at a recent live event, I explain why a drawing does not a capture a single moment of time:
I guess the idea of capturing a moment is ubiquitous to our times because photography is so commonplace. We are obsessed with capturing moments. More than every other species on this planet, we are obsessed with time. We are so obsessed with capturing time, that often we forget to live in time.
I am on my second sketchbook dedicated to Rohan, and it is filling up fast:
👨🏽🍼 We don’t use alarm clocks anymore because Rohan sings to us every morning.
✍🏼 Sometimes the sketchbook is an excuse to better observe our little guy.
🖼️ The gifts of a sketchbook habit have nothing to do with being an artist:
A sketchbook is an invitation to spend time at a location and observe the mundane events of public life. Time and attention are an invaluable currency. Spend them wisely, and they will teach you about yourself - your curiosities, your interests, and the superpowers that lie hidden within you.
Thank you, dear reader, for your time and attention. I am glad to have a space in your inbox. Share this post with a friend, buy me a coffee, or buy a print from my store using your special discount code [SNEAKYREADER].
I read your post this morning and had to grab my sketchbook and ink pen and draw my granddaughter’s doctor kit!! Thanks for the inspiration!!!!💕💕💕
An absolute pleasure to look at. Fabulous work. Great words.