The final weeks of the 30 days of drawing challenge included several assignments I wasn’t crazy about, all of which included drawing human figures. On those days, I grudgingly did the exercises, but I derived no joy from them and have therefore not included them in this post.

This was good for me to learn: it helped me figure out what does bring me joy in drawing. I loved the lettering exercise, and I loved one of the visual storytelling assignments: we drew three random objects, then pulled words out of a bowl to go with the drawings to tell one-word stories that were actually kind of profound. For example, I drew a fountain pen, and the word I pulled for that one was Forgotten. I’ve not been writing much lately (because I’ve been drawing), and that one was eye-opening. I also found I love drawing small objects like my ink bottles, my pen pouch, and an imperfect baguette.

I really like the idea of drawn journaling, and being a list-lover, I enjoyed the illustrated list, too so I bought a couple of books for inspiration (Lists: To-Dos, Illustrated Inventories, Collected Thoughts, and Other Artists by Liza Kirwin and Draw Your Day: An Inspiring Guide to Keeping a Sketch Journal by Samantha Dion Baker).

Drawing is still very new to me, so everything could and likely will change. On the days of assignments I didn’t like, the ones that involved drawing people, I was interested by what I chose to do instead to scratch my drawing itch. On those days, I found joy in simple drills of learning how to shade and make textures and patterns using pen and ink.