4 months done. I’ve not yet uploaded the last few drawings for the month but will do so soon. So here are the stats for April 2022 with March as a comparator.
| Data Point | March | April |
| Total days ON v OFF | 20 v 11 of 31 (64.5%) | 21 v 9 (70%) |
| Total number of 60 min sessions | N/A | 10 |
| Total mins drawing | 556 mins | 1096 mins |
| Total number of drawings | 20 | 29.5 |
| Average drawing time | 27.8 mins | 37.2 mins |
| Average session time | 27.8 mins | 52.2 mins |
| Longest session | 72 mins | 73 mins |
| Shortest session | 10 mins (once) | 20 mins (once) |
| Longest single drawing time | 65 mins (single sitting) | 115 mins |
| Longest sequence of days drawing | 7 days (once) | 5 days (3 times) |
| Longest gap between drawing days | 7 days (once) | 3 days (once) |
| Shortest gap between days | 1 day (twice) | 1 day (3 times) |
There is a new line, the total number of 60 mins sessions. Actually I do know that 3 times in March I did more than 60 mins in a day. That line is to reflect Target 2 Discipline where I set aside two time slots (AM and PM) in which to draw. In the ideal world, I would do AM and then, work permitting, PM as well but as it happens throughout April, I drew in the AM slot once. Almost every other session was in the 5-6 pm slot except towards the end of the month when I found it easier to draw 4-5pm.
Also I noticed that energy levels dropped towards the end of the month and in the last week, I did not manage a single day that was over 60 mins.
Summary: across the board there were improvements. More drawings and drawing time, longer sessions, longer drawings, more consistency with drawing and non drawing days and finally managed to get to 70%.
Towards the end of the month, I found myself losing energy and not sure if that was the subject matter (the cats) or health related as I seem to always be on the edge of a cold. I suspect that being ill in March suppressed my immune system a bit and my allergy to the cats have kicked in. Maybe it is a bit of both.
Other observations:
- Block in – that is definitely getting better but it also shows that there is still so much to do
- Drawing cats – cats are fairly easy but it is the fur that is hard and time consuming. Given that I want to illustrate my own cats, I will need to work on how to make that quicker. Also I suspect getting emotion in the drawing of cats will also be a challenge.
- Sketchbook – I am not enjoying this current sketchbook. The paper is kind of rough and getting drak values is tough. With the couple of times I’ve tried to use charcoal, it hasn’t been better. I probably should abandon it for now but I am going to persist to finish it.
- Sharpening pencils – to get some of the more finer fur on the drawings, you have to constantly sharpen the pencils. The harder pencils are ok and last a bit longer but the softer ones, they wear down very quickly. There must be a better way.
- Blending fur – does not work with this paper or the fur that I was drawing. Not at all.
Next month
In April I tried to begin drawing digitally – I would do traditional drawing and then later than evening, try some digital drawing. I managed that a whole 3 times last month. So I think I may switch priorities and now use my drawing slot for digital drawing and if I have time, then do some traditional drawing. I’ve not really worked out the targets for digital drawing but I’ve given the basic tools some thought and will eventually get something up on the site. I think like the initial targets for traditional drawing, it was only after doing for a period of time, I was able to narrow the focus. Having done some work on the digital drawing side, I think I need to do something similar.
It is the first of May, and like last time, I plan on take a day or two break.