What is this?
In July 2011, on a trip to NYC, I bought this little “One Sketch A Day” journal. I didn’t know why, but something about it seemed important to me.
I am not good at drawing. For self-expression, I’ve always felt more comfortable with a camera in my hands or a piano at my fingertips.
But I opened up this little journal and started sketching every day.
My sketches were simple and crude, but I was having fun.
As the years went on, I experimented with a lot of different mediums. I used gel pens, colored pencils, acrylic markers, and watercolor.
Between July 14, 2011 and December 7, 2024, I created 4,896 daily sketches. I did not miss a single day. I have stacks and stacks of sketch books, filled with sketches.
4,896 sketches later…
All of these sketch books became a little overwhelming. I am running out of places to put them. Plus, I was feeling like I needed more variety in my daily creation practice. So, I’ve decided to move on from limiting myself to doing physical sketches.
Last night, I got to the last page of my last paper journal (for now). Here’s the sketch for that page. It’s a watercolor phoenix creature. In the world of my sketches, this green creature with orange hair is an avatar for myself.
The question it asks, and maybe what I’m asking too is, “What is waiting to be reborn?”
The answer lies ahead…
My daily creativity project is evolving. Every day I will do something creative that is not related to work. I’ll document that progress every day on this blog.
Maybe the daily creativity will be a sketch using digital tools. Maybe it’ll be music. Maybe it’ll be writing. Who knows?
Kevin Thom
December 8, 2024
