October 15 Morning Practice

Well, I did it. Working both mornings of 14 and 15th, I left black and white ink behind and filled two pages with illustrated journaling and lots of color (posca pens). I used Michelle Allen’s color block and lettering styles, and then continued with my own subject matter and style. I used to fill sketchbook pages like this now and then and it was fun to come back to it.

I started with an insight I’d had recently that underneath all the things I think I might want in my life, my real goals are pretty simple: make friends, feel peace and excitement and connection in al the good ways that all link together like chain.

I illustrated a quote from a book I finished recently, Meditation for Mortals by Oliver Birkman, that really stuck with me. If life is like being thrown into a big mysterious sea as the philosopher __ Heidegger proposes, Birkman rightly observes, we’d all like to feel as if we’re “captains of a super yacht.” in full control. But in fact we are just paddling around on our little kayaks. So much of life is actually not in our control. I liked that analogy a lot.

I captured my poor grandson’s ambivalence about halloween. Almost two years old, Archie is coming across all kinds of halloween decorations out in the world that scare him. The other day he was on my lap and we were reading a halloween book together when he turned the page to see a Frankenstein figure. He puzzled over it for a moment and then looked up at me with a worried expression on his face, “Not spooky?” What a good question!

And finally, feeling gratitude for several friends and still fighting my own lack of confidence in drawing comic people, I tried my hand at drawing them. Not my style, I think, but a good exercise.

I decided that I really don’t like using Posca pens to fill large blocks of color. I should have broken out the paint brushes with goauche. To draw it out first before paint, I’m thinking I could do something like this in rough colored pencil and then go over it with goauche and ink. That might be more fun to do—and I’ll have many more color choices too.

October 4 Morning Practice

Today I took the theme of “windows” and ran with it. Just let myself doodle, basically. An altogether quick morning page. Worked on varying line weights and values while still staying monochrome.

I’m coming to the end of this sketchbook and I’m wondering what I want to do going forward. I’ve been focusing on black and white ink because 1) I love the bold contrast of black and white and I love using ink pens, and 2) drawing with pens is probably the easiest way to make art (especially when traveling). But I find myself yearning for color and other mediums.

Lately, I’ve been admiring several other artists who create visual diaries—Amandaworks with her wild expressive and colorful mixed media daily pages, Kevin Mercer’ and Marc David Spengler’s shape-driven collage journals…collage is definitely calling me back. Jane Davies shared a collage artist this week, Ashley Mary, whose work I loved…and then also Michelle Allen has some visual journal pages in either/and ink and paint in her instagram feed call that me too. (I’m not bothering to provide links because as a digital journal on my own website I’m not expecting too many people to stumble here—but if you do, you can find the above artists on instagram or pinterest or a quick browser search.)

Not sure where I’m going next, creatively, but I do know that I want to continue doing morning pages and most likely I’ll switch up the media. I also have to make a decision about whether to bring this digital journal project out into the world on those other platforms. We’ll see.

It’s been all black and white drawing this month and I do like this group of morning

October 13 Morning Page

One of the best things I do are early morning outdoor workouts three days a week with a lovely bootcamp group. Recently we moved from a fully landscaped park to open space near wetlands and I am so loving nature all around us.

Today was my first day back to bootcamp after our trip so maybe I had new eyes, or maybe it was the light between all the clouds not gathered yet for rain, but it was a truly beautiful morning.

Instead of Morning Pages October 11-12

I don’t know why I did this exactly, but I had woken up as usual, grabbed my coffee, started reading on my ipad…and when I came to Anne Lamott’s newsletter in my inbox (because Anne just started a Substack newsletter and of course I subscribed), I was inspired to pull out my sketchbook and sketch out her essay in comic form. Here’s what happened in a snapshot (larger images at bottom of post):

It didn’t look like this on the first go round. I just quickly penciled it out in the messiest way for each panel —I wish I’d taken pictures at that point—and I was done for the day.

Again, I really don’t know why I created this illustrated essay. Lamott’s writing is SO engaging and especially visual. I just “saw” the images in my mind in her text and I wanted to draw them out.

And also, as a writer (and a former English teacher) I appreciate her take on writing that “shitty first draft” (her own moniker that I think she defined in Bird by Bird). It’s nice to be reminded that writing IS hard for everyone, especially at the beginning. I find myself in that lost place all the time when I write. It may or may not be why I’m not writing newsletter posts over on Substack much at the moment…

But that idea to make a comic? It just came to me and I went with it and I’m glad I did. It’s true what Anne says about ideas being like goldfish, and not just for writing—for any creative idea. Too often I let that bright goldfish just swim away and I lose it.

This time, though, I acted on the idea of making a comic and I made it. I went back the next day and inked it out, and copied her essay and pasted the excerpts of her story to finish it, even if still pretty rough draft-ish (but it’s a sketchbook so that’s ok!)

Comics intimidate the heck out of me. I don’t often make them, although I have come to love and appreciate comics as an art form and I follow several artists who make comics…Lynda Barry, Mike Lowery, Edith Zimmerman, for example. Occasionally I have created visual diary pages in comic form (that I have to say I like very much). But still. Comic making REALLY intimidate me! I don’t have a lot of confidence in my ability to draw from imagination.

This little exercise, though (and it is just an exercise in my sketchbook. Without Anne’s permission I would NEVER share this for commercial purposes), this little exercise was super enlightening for me. First, I was so very judgmental about the drawing, especially the humans, as I drew and inked it all up. I wanted to give up a million times—my inner critic was screaming!

But you know what? I kind of like it now. Someone said that a big part of being an artist who draws is to accept what comes out of your hand. I think I’m in a part of my drawing journey where I’m just beginning to let my “bad” drawing come out as it wants…

The other thing I learned is that this feels like something I should do more of—tell stories and illustrate them in some way. Hmmm.

Okay, here are pages in readable form (click on each if you want it even bigger):

Morning Page October 10

Except this was an evening page…and I’m shaking things up - gasp - changing out ink for graphite.

It was a busy day getting back to life and I still felt jet lagged. So I sat down early on the sofa and started watching Cruella (based on my daughter’s advice).

And I intended to just doodle and I was going to just sketch lightly in pencil before ink - but then I remember how fun it is to shade in pencil so I decided to just go for it. Nothing too exciting. Just fun.

Morning Page October 9

Today I devoured half of Lisa Miller’s book, The Awakened Brain (h/t Andy, Creative Peptalk podcast #525 after meeting with the Wilder practice group* and doing some journaling…and this felt kind of like a download. Like something I’ve been traveling towards for quite a while. I feel ready to live into the connected, spiritual being I know I am.

Obviously, this wasn’t a morning page, but an evening page. First day back from traveling and it was a jet lag dayI hope to read the read rest of the book today.

Morning Pages Oct 7-8

I was on and off airplanes Tuesday and Wednesday (the 7th and 8th) so I had plenty of time to draw—but little time to post. So here I am. Home—and belatedly posting.

Fall is full of long shadows and as it turns out as I tried to quickly draw a self portrait, my face is full of shadows too, and I think as this image suggests so was my heart. There was nothing wrong with the flights, really. The first plane was delayed on Tuesday, which caused me to pivot and book another flight Wednesday morning and spend the night in Charlotte. And I’m glad I did as I was exhausted by the time I got to the hotel after 8pm. So I think I was just tired.

I had much more energy at 7am in the airport when I came up with the idea to draw a grid of airplanes. So I quickly snapped a few pics out the window and also did a quick image search and made a few more screenshots of airplanes. That made for a nice time drawing frin reference photos while watching a movie in flight—so that was nice. One reason I chose to draw airplanes is because I really don’t feel like I can draw them from my imagination so hopefully this little exercise gave me some brain references for future drawing. If I want to draw airplanes again.

It’s good to be home. I have the house—and the cats—to myself for a few days. The solitude is nice.

Morning Page October 6

Look at me posting every day!

This was a good practice day - I need to do more of this. Just sketch things I see FOR practice.

A couple writing utensils, a few items from a lovely Substack post (https://alilabelle.substack.com/p/you-too-can-live-in-the-world-of)that curated actual things in the world inspired by the Madeline children’s book drawings. And then a few whimsical from-my-imagination sketches (surely influenced by bits I’ve probably stored away in my brain from other artists). It was a peaceful time of drawing while watching the final episodes of Traitors New Zealand on my iPad in my motel room.

I have to say I’m really getting a lot out of these Morning Pages and I think it’s a habit that’s going to stick. This little Morning Practice experiment just might be a thing I do long term. Huh.

So - what’s my digital future?

I’ve posted these pages here as journal entries instead of my Substack newsletter so I could test the posting part of the practice out for myself without concern of others reading it, which might be a little self delusional. Analytics for my website report that I have more visitors than I think here…but it feels like I’m posting without an audience.

Whereas, even though I have very few subscribers on Substack (my own fault for lack of trying), they and the possible whole Substack universe that could find me felt too exposed for what amounts to daily journaling.

And this is a little project I wasn’t sure would last so I didn’t want to embarrass myself there.

AND I have a lot of confusing thoughts about Substack right now.

I might move these over to Substack soon. I don’t know. “Wonderwise” as a concept doesn’t feel right lately, in these dark times. I DO believe we all and especially artists need to keep on creating and finding joy in our lives—which is what I’m doing with my Morning Practice, after all. We need to create the world we want for ourselves and for each other and I want wonder and awe and joy and discovery…and I want to help spread that to others.

This little project is feeling good and sustainable and worth sharing, I think. Not only for me, but I know I enjoy and am inspired by other artists who share their practice - Tasha Goddard especially really did inspire me to do morning pages this year as a prime example. Good ideas spread!

But. I also want and need PEACE in both my life and the world - and man, dark, dark forces are working against us right now. Life just can’t go on as usual.

Not when ICE is violently descending on apartment buildings and city streets, zip tying children, hurling elderly people on street curbs and literally disappearing thousands of people (I just learned 1200+ people at Alligator Alcatraz alone are suddenly gone; their families don’t know where they are https://www.democracynow.org/2025/9/25/alligator_alcatraz ). Not to mention the current government setting up the idea that all Americans who don’t agree with them are enemies and therefore subject to ICE atrocities. Not to mention All Their Other Unconstitutional and Immoral Crimes.

How can I just talk about my creative practice?

The answer is I can’t. I do need to speak out, share and spread what is real and true and important—and threatening. And that feels so opposite to my Wonderwise mission.

And yet…didn’t I just say I found peace in the time I took for this morning page…and that I want peace in my life and the world…so isn’t speaking out against people who want to take that away from us—who ARE violently and forcefully taking peace away from us in this country right now—of no greater importance to my mission?

Ahh.

So. This is truly my rambling journaling, me thinking out loud. But if you happen to stumble here, please know that I think I worked something out for myself today. All in all a very good Morning Practice session.

Morning Page October 5

I saw this most excellent skeleton placed just so in someone’s garden while traveling through Arcadia. A celebration of life, I think (which of course includes death). I had a little extra time this morning to play with value contrasts so that was fun.

I’m leaving Maine tomorrow. It’s been 10 days of touring the midcoast region, and yet a very small portion of this big wooded and coastal New England state.

I have never been here before. And yes, I only have surface impressions over such a short time, but the earth here is truly magnificent - all the islands and peninsulas and bays in the coast…the thick northeastern forests. Amazing. And I do feel like I understand more how both history and geography must have shaped the people who live here. Not to mention, by all accounts the cold, cold, long winters.

This California girl can’t begin to comprehend what that even means.

Anyway, good trip. But I’m a homebody at heart. Time to go home.

Morning Pages October 2-4

Three more morning pages…

I’m pleased that I’ve been able to keep up with my Morning Practice while traveling (though not just in the mornings.). I’ve never been able to do this much drawing while on the road (and I have other pieces I’m working on besides Morning Pages too). So that’s a win. But damn, I just can’t seem to post one each day! It doesn’t take that long! I’m going to try harder for rest of the trip which is now just four more days.

On Oct 2 I drew shapes inspired by the forms we saw at the Boothbay Botanical Garden. That garden was definitely a highlight of the trip. Beautiful foliage everywhere. When I experience nature, I’m always thinking about how to create abstracted shapes inspired by natural shapes. The quantity and complexity in nature is truly astounding.

On Friday, Oct 3, we went to several coastal areas in Arcadia National Park and the rock cliffs are beautiful. I couldn’t unsee these elephants.

Finally, Oct 4, we got there early (8am) and hiked a gorgeous trail through the Arcadia forest and also some carriage roads. I was back to being dazzled by natural shapes and forms, but the old bridges built of the land’s rock…oh my. I spent a pleasant few minutes drawing this one.

Morning Pages Sept 30-October 1

Again, I did my morning pages but didn’t post them over the last couple of days. I frustrate myself. This little Morning Practice is really a digital journal project, as much about getting myself to quickly journal and upload the image of what I create each “morning” as it is to get into habit of drawing in the mornings—my most creative time.

But oh well. Here I am. Drawing, but not always in the mornings. Posting when I can. We have spent the last couple of days in Boothbay Harbor at a nice little place on the water. Clearly we have arrived late in the season. Mostly just a few retirees passing through. Staff getting ready to leave and many places around the area have signs posted: “Closed for the Season.” “See you in May 2026.”

Most not closed yet though. It’s quiet and quite lovely everywhere you look. Maine is so full of forest and waterways and here on the coast, batteries of harbors, inlets and points and islands just on the horizon. Kind of wish we could take a boat out on the water, but the tourist boats are closed and I would have to kayak alone. I could…but no. It’s cold and getting colder.

Anyway, I’m managing to draw a little as we travel and that is good. Good practice to get outside and draw. I need it! And I had fun. The blue fish is a little bit of collage (chopsticks packet). I’d like to get in more collage going forward.

The Pemaquid Lighthouse is out of proportion because I made an error at the top with the number of rings needed. When I allowed myself to solve the problem by letting go of realism I felt much better.

Morning Pages Sept. 26-29

We left for Maine on Friday, and while I didn’t post on these days as you can see below I did do my Morning pages, sometimes in the afternoons. This is a 4 day quick recap.

Who knows what time it was when I filled in this grid. Airplane time feels out of time. But it felt good to make it. I want to play with making more little images like these. The more I make the more ideas that come for new images and approaches. Ideally, maybe I can pull some of the fun ones for other projects.

A note on the making: lots of self judgement as I drew and made choices—especially with the rabbit and the cat. i can see now that I can accept the rabbit - he’s kind of cute and he IS what came from my hand. The cat is still an “eh”—but now, afterwards, that’s ok too. It wasn’t so ok while making.

We spent most of Saturday and Sunday walking the city, covering almost 14 miles, so I only had time for some quick in the moment sketching, which was good practice. And as for my self judgement, I have to remind myself that these were minutes-long sketches directly with ink pen. No erasing or embellishing. Sunday’s two sketches of lighthouse and a street are actually quite nice, I think.

This morning I drew a collage of images from photos. I was really taken by the wharf and its building and boats as well as this moment where all the seagulls are perched along the length-wise peak of the building. If I have time soon, I’d like to make a full picture of it. But for now, just a quick nod. I also drew the circular bricks laid out in the middle of a brick lined street. Just a quick capture. Downtown Portland has a lot of brick buildings and uneven brick sidewalks and streets. Sometimes like this one, they used granite, I think. Very difficult to walk on. But picturesque!

We move on today from Portland to Boothbay Harbor.

Morning Page, 9/24

Wednesday, September 24, 2025

So today I looked back to Monday’s Morning Page and I was taken again with how much I love it. The shapes, the black and white contrast, the grid even—it just really makes me happy. And I wondered if I would like this set of shapes as much as a representational picture—a botanical arrangement. So that’s what a made today and here’s a side by side comparison:

Monday’s Morning Page

Today’s Morning PagE

I ask myself if I like one over the other. Non-objective or Representational art, which do I prefer? And still I don’t know. Can I allow myself both? Maybe. But I do wish I understood WHY I respond to purely abstract work and why I respond to representational. What about either image speaks to me, or for me? I can’t say. They just both make my heart sing a little.

I am definitely drawn to black and white—and yet, again, I don’t want to limit all my artwork to just black and white. I love color! So what gives? I’m thinking that maybe it’s the high contrast that makes me happy rather than the actual colors (black and white). I think I see more experimentation in my future.

(Speaking of color, this week I tried giving some header space to these morning pages for color studies—but I don’t really like them after all so that’s going to go away.)

On a personal note, next week I’ll be out of town (Maine) and I’ve decided to try to keep my Morning Practice going, but I’ll have less time for detail on these morning pages. Also, I’m sticking with this sketchbook. I considered the blank 8X10” sketchbook I have in waiting, but there’s enough space (30 sides) in this one and it’s a better travel size. Tomorrow is the day before we leave and there will be a lot to get done so it will be a good day to start working faster.

Morning Page 9/23

September 23, 2025

For yesterday’s Morning Page I wanted to talk about the pens I was using, but I didn’t get around to it so I drew them today. I really am a pen addict. I love drawing with ink pens, and I like to have the right pen for the right purpose when I need it. Which makes traveling especially tricky, like for my upcoming trip. I can’t take them all with me, but I want to make sure I take what I’ll need. Hmmm.

As for yesterday, I used a Micron 01, Zig Clean Color brushes for the header colors (a new-to-me pen I absolutely love for their paintbrush like tips), and both sizes of my favorite waterproof black pens: Uni-ball vision. Uni-ball visions are super black, super juicy gel pens that take a little time to dry or they smear, but they absolutely don’t move when they are dry.

The two tip sizes really give a lot of choice in line weight, although I think they are mis-named size-wise. Size “micron” should be “fine” because it is a very fine line, like what would be an .01, and size “fine” is not so fine—it makes a thicker line more like an .08! I laid in all the solid black shapes yesterday with this thicker pen without a problem.

Anyway, I think I’m writing right now as if for an audience, but this is my digital journal and here at least in the beginning of this project, there is NO audience except myself! What’s happening now that I think about it is that I would like to write a post someday sharing everything I know about pens--because I do know a lot about ink pens these days, the different brands out there and how the different types perform for what purposes—but note to self: this is not that post.

Anyway, it took me 38:25 minutes to create this page. I used the stopwatch to time the session because on my trip I can only give myself 20 minutes on mornings to complete a morning page. Today and most days I take much longer than that.

My problem with time—and it happened yesterday too—is that I get really involved in the details of what I am creating. Like today, I could have drawn quick contour drawings of the three pens at a larger scale and called it a day…but no, I wanted to capture the colors of each pen and then I needed to re-compose the page beyond just those three pens to include that quote from my reading this morning (which I think so captures in the utter lunacy of our social media times in just one sentence)…and I. Must. Get. It. All. In.

That’s a problem when time is short. It will be a good practice to force myself to take less time and settle for less detail…and maybe the drawings will be even better. We will see.

Morning Page 9/22

Monday, September 22, 2025

FINALLY indulged my desire to play with shapes in a wonky grid structure. My eye loves this kind of work in color, in black and white, using fabric, or paint or collage—but for whatever reason I don’t do this enough. I did hear a critical voice in my head at the beginning (‘what’s the point?’) but I know that is a lousy thought. Something someone might say who was conditioned by a culture to devalue visual play.

Am I someone like that? Absolutely not! But that doesn’t mean that voice—the Culture--doesn’t exist in my head.

Pressing on anyway, I quickly discovered (and rediscovered) what makes this kind of work valuable to me. Simply the pleasure of drawing with ink would be enough. But it’s also great practice in composition and shape language. Beginning with single line to draw the grid and shapes, top to bottom, I had to then keep going back and around to layer in different line weights and values, responding to the whole page for a final composition. And also, I started getting excited about how I could develop some of the shapes and patterns I created into other work. My mind was spinning by the end.

I am pleased with the final result. I love the wonky, hand-made quality and it just makes me happy to look at!

I also want to incorporate quotes I might stumble on that day in these Morning Pages, and this morning I included what Adam Ming said in his newsletter, The Ten Minute Artist: “Claire Powell says when you find your tool you find your style and I think there is a lot of truth to that.”

As a mixed media artist who couldn’t choose between ALL the art mediums, I have definitely honed down to my favorites, which are collage, gouache and yes, ink.

Tools I used today: Uniball Signo gel pens, fine tip and extra fine tip, .01 Micron fineliner and Zig Clean Color Real Brush Brush color ink pens.

Morning Page 9/21

SUNDAY September 21, 2025

It is the Fall equinox, and also the day of a partial solar eclipse though we cannot see it in the West. A very good day, say astrologers, to start something new. I hadn’t been aware I’d chosen this particular date to begin. How interesting.

I’m excited to begin this project. I know I keep starting something new, keep developing new routines and processes…but instead of beating myself up for all these start-stop-stops, maybe I can see that I’m honing in on a Morning Practice that works for me and is sustainable long-term.

Today I copied some of the botanical shapes that Tasha Goddard made in her sketchbook (9/20) where she copied those shapes from a piece she’d photographed at a museum. Like she says, studying other artist’s work is an excellent exercise for learning techniques and developing our own ideas from those ideas.

I decided to devote today’s morning page to studying these shapes because lately I’ve been obsessed with shapes! I find that I just swoon over shapes. I love purely non-objective (abstract) works built on shapes, and in my own art practice I am leaning into drawing and painting with abstract shapes. I recognize the value of drawing realistically to learn to to see and draw so I continue to draw what I see for practice, but I mean no shade to artists who love realism, it’s not how I want to draw. I’d take a photograph instead.

I’ve found that' it’s harder to simplify and abstractify real life rather than draw it as it is and it does come down to shapes, so I’m always trying to find new approaches and new ways to create and combine shapes. And here was such a lovely opportunity to practice. I do love these abstractified botanicals very much and I’m thinking how I can push those ideas further.

Oh, and also, I think it would be fun to play with color in daily headers so I think I’ll continue this practice.

Meanwhile, can I just say that it is just so pleasant to sink into drawing. Between shape obsession and deep satisfaction in the drawing moment, today’s page is filled with bliss.

[that took 20 minutes to write).

Digital Journal The Beginning

Visual Journal 9-21-25

This is the first day of what experimenting with an approach to visual journaling that will fold in neatly with my life. Part of a regular Morning Practice (MP) that I want to establish in my life. The idea is that mornings are my most precious creative time so I want to devote that time to myself. 

I have always started my days with coffee and reading. I used to read the newspaper, but for at least 15 years I read articles and essays mostly the form of blogs and now newsletter posts. My sleepy brain needs this time to wake up and my creative mind responds to this wellspring of human creativity and often wisdo with my heart and mind wide open. It’s like I’m a fish at feeding time.  I gobble it all up.

Truly, what I gain in insight, ideas, expertise, experiences outside my own holds so much value for me.  I love this part of my day and would never give it up--so that’s where the Morning Practice begins.

Lately, if I have time I follow up with some journaling.The day takes me away. But what I long for, actually, is to take that morning time and extend it. To not only journal regularly after reading, but also to create in response regularly, to capture what comes through me in a visual journal, and finally to take the extra time to share what I make by uploading it to the web. A digital journal.

Longing is not too strong a word. My heart yearns for this creative morning space, even as I tell myself I just don’t have time for this.  So many other life things vye for attention, not to mention all the other art projects I hope to get to…but maybe this project, this Morning Practice, should take precedence.

I should at least try it.

So here I go.