Written by For our prompt of “Goldfish” today, I made this quick little sketch of one. Though my day was super busy, I always like to take a sketching break! Sometimes, if a day is also super stressful, it’s one of the brightest moment in my day. I can’t imagine not taking even a little bit of time to draw and paint. In truth, I have lots of little things that I enjoy doing daily, that have also become habits. I like to write, and so these posts help fulfill that little urge as well. Though, yes, I don’t have that much time for each of these things. My sketching time averages about 45 minutes a day, writing is about 25 minutes, and I always take 15 minutes to read a bit of a book before going to bed. In total, it’s really only 6% of my day dedicated to the fun hobbies I love. That doesn’t seem like much at all, but I’ve found that it all adds up quite nicely. By the end of the year, I end up with 365 watercolor sketches, will have written the equivalent of almost 4 novels, and I also will have enjoyed reading around 18 books. I’m not sure I could do that if I’d set out to do so, but by just carving out a tiny bit of time daily for the things I love most, it happens naturally!
Before I started approaching life this way, I’d set big goals for myself. I’d imagine some fascinating end result and then try to set a deadline to complete it. If I wanted to read more, I’d tell myself that I would try to read 20 books a year or something like that. The end result was that I would end up reading about 5 books and feel like a failure. That’s one of the downfalls with big goals, they always set up big expectations. That’s why I switched to just making little goals instead. I just pick a small amount of time that I can actually spend DOing something and then focus on DOing it! Since I like to do quick sketches, I can do them daily in my little bit of time allotted. But if, for example, I enjoyed making larger and more complex paintings, I’d still be able to complete several each year just by showing up for whatever time I made available each day. I’ve no idea if this is a legitimate way to get things done, but it’s one that works for me. Instead of waiting until I have time to dedicate to something, I just take whatever time I have and push each little thing forward, every single day.
Not only do I get to enjoy what I love on a daily basis, I’ve formed a habit of doing what I love. To me, that’s been the real gift of adopting this approach. I no longer worry about time at all as each thing has already been given it’s own little moment of the day. And though it’s not some wild life of achievement that takes place in a single week, I like the slow burn of the life I’ve created. It ensures that I’m always taking breaks to recharge and that’s probably why I end up with such a ridiculously positive outlook on life! Each day is really pretty wonderful when you can always say you’ve enjoyed your favorite things. That’s not to say I don’t sometimes wish I could have spent more time creating something. That’s always the case. And it would probably be the case even if I had hours and hours to make something. There’s never really enough time in the day to create. But there’s always enough time to stop, enjoy what you love, and create a bit of gold!
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About the DoodlewashDa Vinci Paint Co.: Hansa Yellow Medium, Quinacridone Red, Cobalt Turquoise, and Ultramarine (Green Shade). Lamy Al-Star Safari Fountain Pen (Broad Nib) with sepia ink in an A5 Hahnemühle Watercolour Book. Want to purchase a print of this doodlewash? Send me a note with a link to this post, and I’ll add it to my shop! |
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nice gold fish….. looks happy!!!!
Thanks so much, Walt! 😃💕 Yay! I was hoping my little fish looked happy!
What a lovely Goldfish!
Thanks so much! 😃💕
Fantastic goldfish Charlie and yes to finding time for your joy daily! I was having a bit of worry that my art maybe turning more into a business and that there would be less joy. And then the phone rang and a very excited voice was on the other end asking if he could buy one of my paintings that was hanging in the local coffee shop. It is going to a good home and will be loved. To share what makes me happy to paint with a joyful soul makes it all worth it. I need to paint.
Thanks so much, Karen! 😃💕 Yeah, art never quite a business since you get to bring people so much personal joy! That’s a wonderful gift indeed!
I love the little shadow, such a small detail gives it a great sense of suspension and depth!
Thanks so much! 😃💕 Yeah, I figured without a background it needed a little something more. Glad you liked it!
Love your gold fish! It’s been a while since I have visited you, well you know what I mean. Sometimes I wish that we had more time in a day but I don’t think that would guarantee that we can eek ( is that the word!?) more time to do what we love to do. At least nowadays I have a lot of time to do the things I want to. Life is still busy because then I have to get those chores done because of being so darn selfish! Cheers!
Thanks so much, Margaret! 😃💕 hehe…. it’s good to be selfish sometimes, when it comes to art! I always think since art makes me so much happier, it’s got to make everything else better in the process. Though yeah… I’m still not great when it comes to chores! 😊lol
Beautiful!! 🙂
Thanks so much, Lisa! 😃💕
I used to ride my bike 10 miles a day, then double or more on weekends. When I moved to Chicagoland I gave it up because I was afraid in all the traffic. By the time we moved up here, I couldn’t really ride much any more. And the bummer is that a bike trail runs right through my front yard. Luckily, I found other things to occupy my mind.
Wow! 10 miles a day is impressive! I’ve never biked that far in my life and it’s been years since I’ve even ridden one. But, it’s wonderful you’ve found other things to occupy your mind. I seem to never run out of those things! hehe
Stunning fish
Thanks so much, Susan! 😃💕
Darling doodle of the goldfish.
Thanks so much, Donna! 😃💕
Beautiful goldfish, Charlie!!
Thanks so much, Mary! 😃💕
He is such a wonderful little guy. When I “studied” it, there really isn’t that much to the sketching part, it’s mainly done with the paint. An a-ha moment for me to approach mine. Thanks for the inspiration! 😉
Thanks, Lori! 😃💕 Glad you liked this little fish! And yeah, I go back and forth. Some days I get extra sketchy and want to draw more and others, it’s just my more usual coloring book outline and I let watercolor do the heavy lifting! 😉
Setting reasonable goals is more likely to result in feeling successful than making goals you can’t possibly achieve and guaranteeing failure. I think it’s also good to drive yourself beyond your comfort zone and to be gentle with yourself when things don’t work out. Having said that, I’m capable of forgiving everyone – except myself. I do like this little goldfish, especially your use of complimentary colors. Well done, Charlie. You gave me lots to think about.
Thanks so much, Sharon! 😃💕 Yeah, I was actually a bit tough on myself lately and that’s where this post came from. I thought I just wasn’t spending much time doing what I love and it turns out I’m doing quite a long… just slowly and little by little each day!
Finally back from the ‘gray fringe’ and just loving everything I see here.
Just reading today, but had to stop to let you know that your goldfish looks
exactly like the patriarch of The Sparkles family (my granddaughter’s goldfish
that she kept at my house in a huge aquarirum that allowed 4 one inch feeder
fish to grow into fancy finned gold fish, the largest of which grew to almost 6
inches. They lived happily for 5 years before departing for goldfish heaven.)
Oh wow! That’s so awesome this resembles your family fish! Yay! Glad you enjoyed this! 😃💕
Finally back from the ‘gray fringe’ and just loving everything I see here.
Just reading today, but had to stop to let you know that your goldfish looks
exactly like the patriarch of The Sparkles family (my granddaughter’s goldfish
that she kept at my house in a huge aquarium that allowed 4 one inch feeder
fish to grow into fancy finned gold fish, the largest of which grew to almost 6
inches. They lived happily for 5 years before departing for goldfish heaven.)