#tinyanddaily

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The prompt for today in the July #creativesandboxchallenge inside the #creativesandboxcommunity is “pear,” so I started with a pear in this doodle. Then it evolved into Doodlebot’s dream of yummy things to eat. 😊 . . . #dailycreative #dailydoodle #dailyart #doodle #doodlebot #doodlesofinstagram #tinyart #tinyanddaily #abstractart #originalart #pigmamicron #blackandwhite

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Pure play in the #creativesandbox. With #doodlebot! 😊 . . . #doodle #doodleart #doodlesofinstagram #dailyart #dailydoodle #dailycreative #creativesandboxway #imperfectionism #originalart #tinyanddaily #tinyart #abstractart #blackandwhite #pigmamicron

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Frozen time. Day 10 from the July creative challenge inside the Creative Sandbox Community. 🖍 It’s supposed to be a stopwatch in an ice cube, though the blue streaks at the bottom make it look a bit like a gigantic stopwatch on a pillow on a bed with blue sheets! 🤣 🖍 Context is everything. If I drew this image in a sketchnote, to illustrate the concept of frozen time, you probably wouldn’t see a pillow and sheets. But now that I mentioned it, it’s probably all you *can* see! If I added the label, “frozen time,” however, my lack of drawing skills would be forgiven, and you’d get what I was trying to communicate. 🖍 Visuals don’t have to be perfect, they just have to be placeholders. Stand-ins. Something for our eyes to grab onto and say, “Ah, yes, I get it.” 🖍 Having that visual allows our minds to relax—the information is retained by the visual, so we don’t have to remember it. We can focus our attention elsewhere, knowing the information will be there for us when we need it. 🖍 The visual holds the information for us, so much more powerfully than just words! Even if it’s wonkily drawn. 😉 . . . . #powerofvisuals #visualnotes #visualthinking #visualcommunication #graphicfacilitation #sketchnotes #time #neulandmarkers #originalart #creativesandboxway #creativesandboxcommunity #imperfectionism #dailyart #dailycreative #creativesandboxchallenge #tinyanddaily

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Doodle from today’s Doodlecam (which you can watch on my IGTV channel) This one is all about handling the gremlins —you know, that inner critic voice that tells you “you suck!” and stuff like that. 🖍 In fact, from the very first mark, when I talk about dealing with the fear of the blank page, every Doodlecam talks about handling gremlins, but this one really focuses on them. 🖍 See, the goal is to get the gremlins OUT of the driver’s seat, because if it’s up to them, your bus will stay permanently parked! You’ll never go anywhere, try anything, or make anything! 🖍 Not acceptable! 🖍 Gremlins, bless their pesky little hearts, are just trying to keep us safe. Safely inside our comfort zones, where we can’t be hurt, humiliated, or shamed (they think). 🖍 But of course, paralysis is painful! So in the Creative Sandbox, we want to keep our gremlins OUT of the driver’s seat, and get our inner 4-year-olds IN the driver’s seat, so THEY’RE driving the bus! 🖍 That’s what today’s Doodlecam was all about. Check it out on my IGTV channel, and let me know your thoughts. . . . . #doodle #doodlebot #doodlesofinstagram #originalart #imperfectionism #blackandwhite #abstractart #tinyanddaily #creativesandboxway #doodlewithdinwiddie

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Thursday morning doodle-as-a-spiritual-practice, streamed live in Instagram Stories today. In which I share how to deal with fear of the blank page, how to deal with the gremlins who invariably pop up to say you have no business even having a pen in your hand, etc. etc. etc. 🖍 I’ve found my tiny-and-daily doodle practice to have a profound impact on my life. Surprising but true. Like meditation, even a few minutes on a consistent basis can change how you walk through the world. 🖍 Check it out, and try it for yourself for a month. See what shifts for you. . . . . #doodlingasaspiritualpractice #doodle #doodlesofinstagram #imperfectionism #artistsofinstagram #pigmamicron #improv #originalart #blackandwhite #abstractart #selfcompassion #intuitiveart #creativesandboxway #tinyanddaily

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Day 6 of the June Bugs creative challenge inside the Creative Sandbox Community: “flirty fireflies.” . . . . #creativesandboxcommunity #creativesandboxchallenge #fireflies #doodle #dailydoodle #dailycreative #artistsofinstagram #doodlesofinstagram #imperfectionism #originalart #tinyanddaily

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Today I felt the need to immerse myself in abstraction for a bit. Doodling as meditation. And of course Doodlebot decided to come out and say hello. 😊 . . . . #doodlebot #doodlesofinstagram #doodle #dailyart #dailycreative #dailydoodle #creativesandbox #creativesandboxway #creativesandboxcommunity #blackandwhite #abstractart #intuitiveart #pigmamicron #originalart #gogetcreating #tinyanddaily #smalldailyacts

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Doodlebot decided to come out and say hello on this fine Mother’s Day! Happy Mother’s Day to all of you mothers, and to all of you who have — or ever had — mothers, as well! . . . . . #doodlebot #creativesandboxchallenge #creativesandboxcommunity #dailydoodle #dailycreative #mothersday #tinyanddaily #doodlesofinstagram #blackandwhite #pigmamicron #originalart #abstractart #intuitiveart

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Today is National Odometer Day — who knew there was such a thing? The monthly creative challenge inside the Creative Sandbox Community is “National Days,” so I’m learning what the national days of May are! 🖍 In honor of Odometer Day, I’ve been sketching vehicles from Ed Emberley’s delightful book, Make A World. 🖍 I remember checking Emberley’s books out of the library when I was a kid. They break all kinds of items down into drawing “formulas.” A rectangle, plus two triangles, plus a couple of circles and dots—*boom*! You have a car with a driver and a passenger! 🖍 Emberley made drawing into a fun game, a series of easy steps that anyone can do. 🖍 DRAWING NEVER CHANGED! 🖍 It’s still a series of easy steps that anyone can do! Whether you want to draw to communicate concepts (the kind of drawing I’m excited by these days), or to represent the world in a photorealistic manner to express emotions for a fine art purpose, it’s still a matter of breaking it down into steps. 🖍 All complex challenges in life are the same: break them down into smaller steps and they become a whole lot more manageable. . . . . #creativesandboxchallenge #creativesandboxcommunity #tinyanddaily #smalldailyacts #edemberley #visualcommunication #originalart #odometerday

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Happy Lost Sock Memorial Day! 🖍 This was one of the fastest doodles I’ve done in response to a prompt from one of the Creative Sandbox Community creative challenges. It made me smile, it put me in a good mood. It got my creative juices flowing. Which is, of course, the point! 😊 🖍 Part of the point is also to be inspired by what others are doing, and today’s sketch by @carla.la.la.olson made me laugh out loud! Definitely check it out! (Alas, unless you’re a member, you won’t be able to see what everyone else is doing, because they’re all sharing inside the Creative Sandbox Community. But you can get on the invite list for when the doors open again next month: http://creativesandboxcommunity.com 😊) . . . . . #creativesandboxchallenge #creativesandboxcommunity #creativesandboxway #sketch #doodle #doodlesofinstagram #missingsockmemorialday #originalart #tinyanddaily #smalldailyacts #visualthinking #visualcommunication #lostsockmemorialday

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Happy Coconut Cream Pie Day - May 8! I love learning some of the “National Days,” thanks to this month’s creativity challenge inside the Creative Sandbox Community, hosted by @lbcoop. 🖍 The community is my lab for women’s leadership through creative expression, and a discussion inside the community came up with this definition of the kind of leadership we’re fostering: not authoritarian leadership, but “linked-elbows leadership.” 🖍 Collaborative leadership, where we move each other and ourselves forward by linking elbows with each other. 🖍 If that’s the kind of leadership that resonates with you, get on the invite list to join us at http://creativesandboxcommunity.com . . . . . #coconutcreampieday #creativesandboxchallenge #tinyanddaily #smalldailyacts #visualcommunication #visualthinking #sketch #doodlesofinstagram #dailydoodle #originalart #creativesandboxcommunity

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May 7 is National Barrier Awareness Day, so I did a Google search in order to draw a wheelchair, and discovered that the icons for disabled access have gone through a big transformation recently. The newer icons show more active, capable humans; the older icons show more passive, dependent humans. The way we depict people plays a powerful role in how we see them, and how they see themselves. 🖍 When these things don’t impact us directly, we tend not to even notice them. But now the light has been turned on, I cannot un-see it. Those old, passive icons make me ANGRY! And having hobbled around on crutches for several weeks after foot surgery and knee surgery, I’ve learned to appreciate barriers in a way I didn’t before. It’s all about EMPATHY—being able to experience the world through someone else’s eyes for a moment. To feel even just a taste of what it’s like for them. 🖍 Empathy and compassion. We could use some more of this, please. . . . . . #creativesandboxchallenge #tinyanddaily #smalldailyacts #doodleart #dailydoodle #visualthinking #visualcommunication #barrierawarenessday #originalart #doodleicons

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So here’s a confession: every time I post one of these, I think “Everyone is going to laugh at me, and think ‘that is SO LAME! She draws STICK FIGURES!’” Because it’s true. I draw stick figures. That is about the limit of my human illustration abilities, especially when said humans are engaged in any sort of activities (like carrying a tray with a glass of lemonade!) And right now it takes me several tries to get this even close to acceptable, and even then the proportions are ridiculous (I mean, who ever saw a lemonade glass that ginormous???) 🖍 But here’s the thing: I share these stick figures even though I’m embarrassed that they aren’t more masterful, precisely BECAUSE they aren’t masterful. Because I hope they get YOU to pick up a pen and draw, too! 🖍 I watched a couple of talks by @evalottchen on YouTube this morning, which were so inspiring, and a little bit of what she did in those talks was get people drawing. She demonstrated a few simple icons, and exactly how she draws them. And that’s the thing: drawing is not magic—it’s steps that you can learn. The kind of drawing I’m excited by right now is INTENTIONALLY simple, because it has to be done FAST, and the goal is not photorealism, or even artistic value, but to communicate IDEAS. So the more quickly and efficiently I can draw those concepts (i.e., stick figures!), the better! 🖍 Still, my gremlins are afraid you will laugh at me, shun me, think I’m unworthy of love and attention because what I create is so lame. But again, I share it DESPITE THE GREMLINS! Because I hope it will make YOU think, “Hey, if Melissa can share a stick figure, maybe I can draw, too.” 🖍 It’s fun. It’s empowering. Give it a try. . . . . . #visualnotes #visualthinking #creativesandboxchallenge #tinyanddaily #smalldailyacts #originalart #stickfigure #nursesday #lemonadeday

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Happy National Cartoonists Day and Start Seeing Monarchs (as in butterflies) Day! It’s also Hoagie/Scrapbook/Homebrew/Silence the Shame Day, so if I were really ambitious I could have fit a few more in there for today’s Creative Sandbox Community creative challenge daily prompt! I felt rather pleased that I managed two in one, though. 🖍 Baby steps. We’re all about tiny and daily and small daily acts in the Creative Sandbox Community. 😉 After all, “Think tiny and daily” is Creative Sandbox Way Guidepost #4! . . . . . #creativesandboxchallenge #tinyanddaily #smalldailyacts #visualthinking #visualcommunication #cartoonist #butterfly #monarchday #monarch #originalart

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For Star Wars Day, my original thought was to draw R2D2 and Princess Leia together, so I did a Google search, but all the images I found of them seemed much more complicated to draw than I felt willing to take on... 🖍 ...so I gave myself the challenge of “How quickly can you draw Leia?” 🖍 Then it became fun, rather than daunting! And after a few attempts to get sleeves and hands right, and figuring out whether to show feet or not, I drew this. 🖍 Fast, simple, and gets the point across. Which is precisely the goal. 😊 . . . . . #visualcommunication #visualthinking #starwarsday #princessleia #r2d2 #creativesandboxchallenge #tinyanddaily #simpledrawing #originalart #dailydoodle #doodlesofinstagram #starwarsdoodles

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It’s day 4 of the May creative challenge inside the Creative Sandbox Community. Our prompts this month are “National Days,” and one of the National Days today is Star Wars Day! Who knew? 🖍 I was contemplating drawing Princess Leia, or even Leia with R2D2, but then I got wrapped up in all the details of R2 (which, yes, I know are not accurate, all you Star Wars fans, but close enough that people will know who this is supposed to represent, which is my goal here). 🖍 I’d still like to try my hand at Leia’s hairstyle... How quickly can I draw Leia—that would be a fun question to answer in drawing! . . . . #r2d2 #creativesandboxchallenge #tinyanddaily #smalldailyacts #creativesandboxcommunity #doodleart #dailydoodle #originalart #100dayproject #starwarsdoodles #starwarsday