I didn’t finish inking until last night, but I’m pretty proud for finishing the pencils before February 1st was through! It was fun, and great practice.

Although I wasn’t terribly consistent with the sketchbook this year, I am pretty proud that I managed to fill up 2 Moleskines with journal notes, sketches, doodles and ideas. Many of my favorite spreads are from when we were on vacation: Vancouver B.C., Newport, Costa Rica, Montreal (where Todd proposed!) and Vermont.

Of course there are a lot more doodles, scribbles, website concepts and such in the rest of the 80 pages. See the whole thing on Flickr (or check out slideshow below):

I had quite a few “perfect for summer” tasks on the list but I really only completed one of them: Buy a long board and ride a wave standing up.  This past June Todd and I went down to Costa Rica for a week.  Although the surf was awful (for a place that is supposed to have consistently good surf anyway) we still had an amazing time and I learned a lot.  The trip renewed my interest in surfing the Pacific so when we got back to Oregon I was determined to finally get my own board.  Although it would’ve been great to be riding my own board all summer, we didn’t get around to it until October, when I bought…

… “Spiderman”!  He’s only a 7′8″ so for most people he wouldn’t be considered a longboard, but for me he is.

We took Spiderman out to Short Sands on that sunny day in October:

I still only ride in the white water, so it’s nothing fancy, but I did ride some waves standing up! Todd was helping me learn how to turn a little bit.

That was the last time I surfed in 2010; but we’ve both been itching to surf more. It’s been too cold for me this January (Todd went out once in 30-degree weather. Yikes.) but this weekend is looking pretty good!

Of course we’re always dreaming of Costa Rica…

(and wear an owl pajama sweatshirt like one too)

Well, anyway, I’m not going to be too hard on myself. I have had other projects come up and overall I am pretty happy with how I’ve spent my time so far in 2010.

One thing that I can definitely check off the list is: “Go to life drawing sessions/classes.”

Todd and I found a great studio right on Burnside on the way home from work: Hipbone Studio. We’ve been attending the Wednesday evening drop-in life drawing sessions. And, for the most part, we go every week. It’s been great! Not only are we getting better at drawing the figure, but it gives us three hours of uninterrupted, meditative drawing time in the middle of the week. No computers, no work-worries, no household chores – just drawing. I definitely look forward to going every week.

For anyone visiting from OC Weekly, I’m not a professional baker or cookie maker or anything -  I just make them as gifts for friends, and they seem to like them so I just kept doing it.

Thanks for visiting!

But March feels like a fresh start.

After experiencing the monotonous, soul-sucking judicial process for a week by serving as a juror on a pointless civil trial, having the worst cold/illness I’ve had for a couple years (upper respiratory infection), feeling so behind on work yet also feeling too burnt out to work extra hours, and finally (and worst of all), my very sweet & kind grandfather passing away… I am ready for a new month.

I feel like I’ve learned some lessons, I’ve been hurt, I’ve been healed, and I’ve been rejuvenated to continue creating new things and having new experiences.  It’s time to dive into my list with renewed conviction. In February I abandoned my sketchbook/journal a bit, but it’s about time we became reacquainted.  I have another set of cookies that needs some icing and a grand reveal to its recipient (oooh, who could it be?). Spring is just starting to spring so it’s almost time to start getting outside again; gardening, bike rides, picnics, and general exploring.  It’s time to start drawing more. And more. And more. And more. South by Southwest is coming up in a week and I need to make some new business cards.  I have a lot to do and I feel excited to get to the doing.

Meanwhile, Todd has finished up a very special project that we just HTML-ified and put online last weekend. It’s a “what we did in 2009″ recap, but in super fun, design-y style. Check it out at Quackenblog.

Todd also just started a Tumblr blog tonight in which he shares some of his musical findings, of which he has quite a lot. And those findings are quite good. So that can be found here: candyhugs.tumblr.com

So, anyway, March: I like you so far. I feel a little more caught up with work, I feel inspired, SXSW is coming soon, and more good things are on the way, I can tell. So, thanks.

I thought I would have it done by my birthday but I wanted to make sure I got it right, so I didn’t rush or pressure myself.  I kept that mantra in mind as well as I wrote this list – no “draw something every day” or “write a blog post every week”.  Those types of goals just make me feel stressed and I am more likely to give up on them if I miss a day or two or seven.  I always think, since I screwed up that one time, I may as well just give up on the whole thing because I ruined the “streak”.  I have already started my illustrated journal, and I’ve tried to be very forgiving of myself if I don’t draw or write anything for a week.  If it’s been a while, I just pick it up when I get some time and keep going, and try to avoid the whole idea that I have failed if days and days have passed without any drawings.  That just causes me to feel like I am “behind” and then I avoid the whole activity until I can muster up the motivation to do multiple days worth of drawings (crazy).

So I guess Number Zero on this list is “forgive yourself”.  I think that’s a good one.  Here are the rest, in no particular order of importance:

1. List something for sale on Etsy
2. Make promotional illustration postcards
3. Illustrate something… for money! *gasp*
4. Design and print “real” business cards  – backups for when I don’t have hand-made cards :)
5. Put up a portfolio website (for both web development and illustration)
6. Keep an illustrated journal/sketchbook (See my sketchbooks for 2010!)
7. Go to life drawing sessions/classes (Life drawing at Hipbone Studio)
8. Animate a little something every month
9. Create an infographic (or an animated how-to or how-this-works)
10. Set up an “arts & crafts cabinet”  to make pens, pencils, paper, glue, Xacto knives, sketchbooks, paints, etc. easily accessible upstairs (e.g. not in basement)
11. Fill a sketchbook with drawings from around Portland (landscapes, buildings, statues, etc)
12. Make a gardening/home improvement/travel blog with Todd, where we write about… life and stuff (not work)
13. On that note… create a “travel-log”-esque website for our 2009 Switzerland trip
14. Make a stuffed animal for Carter’s first birthday (my nephew)
15. Visit the Classical Chinese Gardens and drink tea
16. Explore Portland’s west hills, and see the Rose Garden, Japanese Gardens, and see Pittock Mansion
17. Hike in Forest Park
18. Have a picnic in Cathedral Park and walk across the St. John’s Bridge
19. Buy a long board and ride a wave standing up (I bought Spiderman and surfed at Short Sands)
20. Drive down Hwy 101, surf, see the Redwoods and hang out in Ashland again
21. Learn rudimentary Italian and French
22. Give thoughtful gifts to my close friends and family for their birthdays
23. Finish Todd’s Valentine’s scarf (started for V-Day 2008)
24. Make a terrarium
25. Learn to hockey stop on my right side (and just overall become a better skater)
26. Bike the Springwater Corridor from Main City Park in Gresham to the Eastbank Esplanade
27. Decorate the mantel and hang pictures above the fireplace
28. Make an inspiration board – OR – decorate my office/desk area at home with things that inspire me
29. Attend a roller derby match
30. Attend a play/ballet/symphony concert

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