I have a friend named Brad Ferguson. He directs YTV hits such as Almost Naked Animals and Numb Chucks. If it’s got screaming and slap stick, he’s on it!
He recently got me to start rebuilding a habit I’d lost somewhere between teenagehood and adulthood.
“Doodle-a-Day” is a practice I want to see all of my animator friends start now. Who cares if you don’t like it. It’s practice. It’s reestablishing a habit that used to come naturally. When we animate for a living it’s easy to forget we haven’t really drawn for a month. Let’s get back to our roots!!
I also encourage my writer friends to write something every day, my musician friends to create music every day, and my theologian friends to study a verse every day.
This also serves for me, personally, as a practice in not being anxious about perfection. We need to just make. One crappy drawing can lead to an idea for a better drawing.
And even if you don’t post pictures to the internet of your doodle-a-day, at the very least, don’t throw it away. What you think is bad today may just take time and fresh eyes.
I’m posting the doodles-a-day that I’ve been putting up on facebook so far. And I’ll be adding more.
It only takes 21 days to form a habit. Now go doodle!!
[…] doodling something every day. Low pressure, lots of crap. But something every day. Doodle-a-Day. This is my roommate, […]