As a youngster my initial explorations into art were through drawing and painting. I’d actually reached a point in my teens where I had pretty decent drawing skills (though I’ve never been particularly good with paints), which I mostly seemed to use for drawing dragons, horses, and unicorns. (Every horse is just one horn away from becoming a unicorn). Over time I’ve lost those skills from lack of use and only recently have I been considering ways to develop them again.

Last week I took steps to get started on this and bought a small sketchbook, two drawing pens, and a pencil, then gave myself permission to start drawing again. This was inspired by a review of my sketchbook from high school and seeing some of the work I was able to do back then. Unicorns and dragons aside, it was a pleasant reminder of the repetitive pattern-style drawing I’ve always done that is echoed in my current paper cutting work. I’d never made this connection before.

The drawings I’ve made so far are more like doodles but I’m enjoying the process of creating them. As you can see, a few have made their way into the self portraits I’ve been shooting for Be Your Own Beloved to great effect. I love that I can bring these two different media together and how these are shaping up as a series. It feels so good to have new ideas flowing.