Draw Your Day: An Inspiring Guide to Keeping a Sketch Journal

As a beginning watercolorist, I spend a lot of time scanning Pinterest for inspiration and art tutorials. While doing that early last week, I came upon a nice sketch by Samantha Dion Baker. Clicking on the link to her page, I discovered that she’s the author of a book called, Draw Your Day: An inspiring guide to keeping a sketch journal. 

She had me at the word “journal.” I’m a big fan of journals, which I’ve mentioned here and here. So I checked it out on Amazon, ordered it, and had it in my hands in two days. Then I sat on the couch and read it cover to cover.

So now I’m “drawing my day,” although I did miss a day this week. But my aim is for this to become such a habit that I wouldn’t think of ending my day without journaling it.

While sewing face masks for our son, who was about to leave for a summer of salmon fishing in Alaska, I thought that might be a good subject for my first sketch. He had also asked for more of my Muscle Magic salve, so that went on the page as well:

The next day, Dave and I spent almost two hours floating lazily in our backyard pool. I know what you’re thinking  … outdoor pool in May in Washington. But Dave built this amazing solar pool heater a few weeks ago, and it has really made a difference. I’ll share that Youtube when he gets around to making it.

The bumblebees are everywhere this year, and they all seem unaware that taking a sip from our pool is a treacherous endeavor. I can’t tell you how many I’ve scooped out just before they’ve taken their last little breaths (and some who had already done so, sadly). So I wasn’t surprised when I saw this little guy dog-paddling next to my inflatable tube:

After another Amazon deliver the following day, I held this tube of Daniel Smith Phthalo Green watercolor paint in my hand and thought it might be fun to try drawing that. It was … but all that tiny lettering was a killer.

Most fun to date. Indian Yellow should be arriving next! 🙂

So how about you? I’d love to hear about your journaling habits, and whether or not you like to sketch or paint. Do you think you’d like to develop the “draw your day” habit?