how I kept on sketching for 760 days or 2 years everyday
2016—2017
hi, my name is sasha bogatov. i work as an illustrator, graphic designer, and freelance art-director. i am curating a month-long course “the baton of creative fire” in the online school “controforma.” from 2016 to 2018, for two years straight, I have been running a daily project called daily sketchups which ignited my creativity and let me run a bunch of doodling experiments spurring my imagination.
get a flavor of the project with this three-min video:
unfortunately, the daily project is stored on my permanent account in instagram. therefore, you will have to flip through my instagram to get to the project. all posts of the project are marked with numbers. in my instagram only working materials and illusions, there are no personal photos.
there was ketchup in my fridge, and there was the “daily sketches” project by andrey smaga which I followed. thinking of both things at the same time, I came up with a name for project.
summer of 2015 brought me face to face with article “how to become an awesome designer in 365 days” marko stupić documented his own mastering the vector graphics skills. he achieved great heights, and I — well, I read the article and completely forgot about it ever existing.
yet, when I quit agency, I instantly recalled his heroic deeds and decided to pursue the project which would resemble it. that would have been a challenge, a completely free upgrade, a chance to update my portfolio and bring attention to my skills. i would have ignited my imagination, for at the moment I felt vast amounts of energy which was not put to use. therefore, my here-and-there doodles were to become the daily practice.
i launched “daily” on january 1st, 2016. In 16 days I stopped. i put things on hold for one and a half week, because I did not realize how serious the year-long project is. then the conscience kicked in, and so it took off again. the days I skipped I doubled in works.
discipline is crucial for daily projects: you set and achieve goals, day to day. It is hard to start, for you have to push, push, push against the routine. then you develop a habit, and it seems unnatural to go on without it.
42 day. it is important to keep working even if you are traveling. this sketch comes from komsomolskoye lake in chișinău (moldova)
google keep screengrab: don’t grow shy on your ideas
497 day. i tried to switch between varying methods and mediums. here, for example, is the animated sequence of watercolor sketches
there is a simple way of battling the boredom, and that it is devising a story arc for the series. like, pick a tool and lock oneself with it; pick a topic and toy with it, shifting tools and styles; juxtapose forms and volumes which have a certain likeness; copy the technique developed by the favorite author of yours, and so on.
some series were up for a week, some were developed over the period of time. here is a pick on some:
1
news envisaged as a “new yorker” cover
2
minimalist signs and illustrations, executed in red and black only
3
collages with girls and acrylic smears
4
combination of small objects with animals doodled over
5
one-colored items in the flat
days 50–55. the link leads to the 50 day
6
thoughts on love, “heart” sign, and relationships as such
7
thoughts on joy and pity enabled by the contemporary technologies
8
wordplays and quibbles
____
twelve recommendations on how to run daily projects
1
goal, skills, timing
determine the skill you want to pump, choose a concept for the project, timing, media space;
2
get inspired
back in 2017 I wrote a review of daily projects, have a look (in russian only, though). in 2018 the following daily projects were afloat: sonya korhenboym— does illustrations, denis bashev runs typo experiments
3
ritual
make your project a ritual which is extremely required for your well-being. one’s got to have a coffee, to brush teeth, do cool things and, well, run the project
4
self-motivation
when you clearly understand, where you are heading with this project and what is the greater goal of it, — no thoughts on it’s uselessness will ever occur
5
always find the time
because it is always there, just reserve at least 30–40 minutes a day
6
preparatory studies
make some, so that the bad mood would not screw up your intentions, and you’d always have ideas to develop
7
anytime, anywhere
whichever conditions, cities, spots, areas you are in, just keep on doing the thing. The archive would be of help
8
story arcs, series, wishes coming true
set your mind on series, that would enliven the project. you want to try collaging, animation, or wordplay? well, get started, then
9
things to draw this week
think two days ahead, pick narratives to dabble with, zoom in on ideas from the archive; choose tools to work with or series to start
10
likes
you always want a friendly pat on a shoulder, though likes are not quite enough. set a targeted ad on Instagram, go public with your project, promote it on Telegram-channels, facebook groups, designer blogs, etc.
11
you never know when idea kicks in
make oneself a habit — keep a notebook close or an app, so you would instantly put thoughts on paper
12
bad sketch
It is ok to get wary about pictures which are done on a daily basis. well, you cannot be fancy every day!
1
