Sketching. And Writing. Really. Well, sort of.

Note to self: when planning to watercolour a sketch, don't sketch it with a water-soluble sketching pencil. Also, don't try to erase lines made with a water-soluble sketching pencil with a gum eraser. Success rate is low.

Other than that the sketching is going alright. I'm experimenting with using colour or just going black and white. I couldn't sketch the kids at the bus stop yesterday because they weren't there. So I settled for sketching a few pictures from my newspaper, and they turned out okay. I'm hoping to get out to the park this weekend and try sketching some other people and/or things.

I know this is meant to be primarily a writing blog, but the writing has been pretty ... not there recently. I've felt drawn to the art side, so I've meandered a bit. Julia Cameron, author of The Artists Way, in an interview I heard on tape, mentioned jumping from one creative frying pan into another. When this creative endeavour stops working, she jumps to another one. I feel the same way lately.

I still have plans to complete my manuscript, at least in a usable first draft edition, before CreateSpace's offer ends at the end of July. I also have Associated Content articles to work on and two short stories to write, not to mention I keep bumping into ideas all over. Frustratingly they're mostly bits of things: pieces of setting or background or the like. But I'm writing them down. Hopefully they'll prove useful in conjunction with plots or characters at a later date.

I'm coming back round to the concept of 'Ass In Chair' - in order to get all these projects done I must sit my butt down in the chair and write. My manuscript's not going to edit itself, nor are my stories going to write themselves. A periodic diversion for art is all well and good, but my nose has to go back to the grindstone soon.

Here's hoping you all have a great weekend. See you Monday.