Look for the Beautiful Things

#256 read to the end for links to two free events this month.

Nov 13, 2024

Dear reader,

I want to tell you that we live in a beautiful world.

Even when we do not understand it, even when it appears cruel and indifferent, even in the midst of ugliness and strife and malice. Within you is a capacity to recognize beauty that is uniquely yours. Nobody can take it away from you. But a purposefully distracting and manipulative environment can make beauty difficult, or even impossible, to find.

The world seems designed this way. More than fossil fuels and real estate, there is money to be made from anxiety, discontentment, and the shards of our broken attention spans. Powerful people have colonized our minds and constructed an unreality with bright signs that point away from all the things that would make us happy, towards all the things they want us to buy.

All of which means that this newsletter actually has an important mission, one that I did not fully appreciate before. I suppose it is also the fundamental job of every artist. To make it easier to recognize beauty in a distracted, divided, and unhappy world. I intend to live up to this responsibility.

The SneakyArt Post is a publication of secretly drawn art of the world. Every week, I send you the latest pages from my sketchbooks, and the best ideas from my journey as an artist and writer.

If you like having this post in your inbox, share it with another person who might enjoy it too.

Long Days, Long Gone

Summer is long gone, but a sketchbook page remembers the warm sun and soft grass, the mingling conversations and laughter and dogs barking after other dogs.

Memorial

Just after the death of Queen Elizabeth, walking through the park that bears her name in Vancouver, I found this tree with a plaque at its base.

Zzzz…

This year, we became parents. And we were blessed to have our parents fly all the way from India to spend time and help take care of Rohan.

Mini-Universes

We lose so much in this business of growing up. Children remind us that each of us has the capacity to construct their own little world, to find joy even on a cold, rainy morning.

Other People

In the first year of COVID, social bubbles taught us the tremendous value of having other people in our lives. But it feels like we are in a rush to forget again?

Lucky Me

A drop of water evaporated from the surface of the ocean, rose high into the air, travelling thousands of miles, joining forces with clouds, only to burst over my head and land on this page, to blur a line of ink, and intersect with my life on this grey afternoon. Lucky me.

Life, Expressing Itself

Everywhere you go, there is more life to see. It is expressing itself in unique ways, delighting in its own existence. Outside of our differences of language, culture, religion, or politics, the existence of other life is a reminder that we are the same thing. Do you see?

This month, I will finish writing the first draft of my book. I will then hit the Big Send button to send my dear words to the editors, then wait to hear what they think. Rewrites are surely on the horizon, and I look forward to that too.

Unfortunately this means I have little time to do a workshop this month. The next workshop will be in December. First notice will go to SneakyArt Insiders, the paid subscribers of this newsletter, who get FREE seats in every workshop. To be in the loop, and get your seat for free, become an Insider.

That said, there are two fun and FREE events I am part of this month:

🎟️ 16 Nov | Join me for this month’s SneakyArt Hangout. I will share the drawings from my trip to India, and some cool art supplies I picked up.

💻 24 Nov | I join seven amazing artists to share tips and techniques about drawing from observation in the Holiday Sketching Summit 2024.

I am now back in Vancouver, unpacking literally but also mentally from the long-ish stay in India. There is so much to say, so much to show, and always so little time. I admit, I am also afraid to impose too much on your attention. I am afraid to be seen as straying from my lane.

Thank you for opening this post. Thank you for giving it your time. I am glad to have a space in your inbox.