Dare to Suck

Journaling:

Miz Dee loaned me her copy of An Illustrated Life, a gift from her son a few months ago. Tucked inside was his note about the book, ending with, "I want to encourage you to 'play' more."

I smiled at that since I had just dubbed Miz Dee my new playmate. Between the two of us she'll be making mudpies soon!

I read the first four or five artist's interviews and was struck by how they viewed their sketchbooks. None of it is supposed to be finished artwork, just a place to play and dream and meditate and escape from or delve into their world.

I got to thinking about that and how stiff and formal my journal seems to me.

Then I read a blog post of Maggie Stiefvater (Hi, I Suck; April 27, 2010) about how to become good at something. She said besides practice, you have to be willing to suck.

Commenters said things like, "I will embrace my suck," and "I dare to suck!" Had to laugh. I get it.

So, with all that buzzing about in my head, I think I will adopt the Dare to Suck attitude and loosen up on these journal pages...letting things just flow across the page without so much mental pre-planning. I think too long about *what* to draw. I should just snatch up the book and start scribbling what's in my head.