I don’t know if I always draw character profiles, or if I always see character profiles in my scribbles. Either way, I seem to spend a lot of time creating silly characters, starting from their nose.
I used to get anxious about being repetitive, but of late my thinking is that, since there are billions of people on Earth, there must be a billion ways to draw them. My real problem is probably that I can’t RE-draw any of these characters with consistency. No matter, nobody is asking me to!
I did the above doodle one recent evening just before giving up on the day and eating a large bowl of peppermint stick ice cream. I had been beating my mind against a stubborn problem that had finally caved to my efforts, and I felt exhausted. I wanted to pull some joy from the air. I’m learning to ignore the self-critic in these moments, which takes reinforcement, so I just leaned into drawing yet-another-profile. I’m glad I did, because I really like this dog. And I really like that these two have matching chest ruffles.
There’s a good lesson here for just getting the practice in, even when you’re sure the outcome will be lousy. Who cares! This is for you, and you alone. Draw a profile. Draw ALL the profiles. Stay loose. Give yourself a gift.
Process Peek: Loosening Up