Nothing quite focuses the mind as much as the urgency of time….say a 10 minute slot. That’s all you’ve got to create something. Do it. Stop procrastinating. Stop thinking you need more time or you’re not good enough or everyone is going to stop and stare. Grab that lunchtime coffee and set yourself the challenge.

For me each work day often means a new place or location. I thought I would upload a very short snapshot of the start of a longer term “place” project – a major career theme in 2020 that I’m going to fully share at a later stage as the concept develops.

My thoughts on the 10 minute sketch slot;

  1. Use a smaller sketchbook. I’m using a cute square sketchbook from Seawhite of Brighton 140gm paper. Perfect for the double or single spread.
  2. Stick to sketching simple shapes.  I know, I know….my cityscapes don’t necessarily come across as simple but trust me, once you look beyond the view its a question of arranging a series of straight lines and boxes!
  3. Any colour or frills – add later. Choose one feature to elaborate on that will bring a memory to the sketch. In my case I’ve loved the December skies I’ve seen this month so I’ve added a 30 second watercolour wash to the skies. (oh…and a date stamp!)

What has this practise taught me? Undoubtedly the ability to deconstruct a scene in front of me and recreate it on paper is becoming easier. And weirdly too….this is becoming a transferable skill. I often think of my focused creative 10 minutes when deconstructing a personal or business challenge, viewing whats in front of me from all angles and then proceeding to reconstruct a simple solution or interpretation of it.