Random Sketchbook Zen Doodles

 So, I got some scary news health wise last week, and, needless to say, I'm freaking out a bit. I'm to have surgery in April. So I have until then to keep waking up in the middle of the night full of what ifs. I do ok during the day. I can keep my mind busy. Trying to sleep at night is another matter. Praying I'll be ok. 

I haven't worked any more on my mini junk journal, but I keep collecting papers and stuff. I also collected a few more paper bags for the paper bag journal I plan to make for one of the last two Jeanne Oliver courses (The Magpies Nest or Storytellers and Mavericks) I bought and haven't started/finished yet. I love to make journals, and I have several started that I need to finish. I have a tendency to get half way through one, see something else interesting, and off I go down another rabbit hole. From what I see and read online though, I'm not the only one with a fascination with rabbit holes...:)

Anyway, I spend too much time looking at everyone else's beautiful, and interesting, art than working on my own, and sometimes I think I love the gathering up things to use in projects more than actually using them. I do love looking through my little collections of various things, collected over many years, for my many projects and interests.

I have been picking up my sketchbook, Zig, Posca, and Calligraphy pens and markers, and occasionally a gel pen, to make these sort of zentangle doodles while I watched TV over the last few days. Not perfect like you see on Pinterest (I have cataracts and shaky hands), but they are mine, and they were fun to do! Hope you enjoy looking at them! :)

I wasn't aware when I crossed off the groups of five, until just now, that I made eleven of them, which is the age I was when my dad died in 2004. I love how you can look back over sketches you did mindlessly at the time and see the meaning in them later! I also just noticed that I did this page March 4 after they called me from the clinic with my biopsy results. Now I can see the feelings that I was trying to wrap my head around subconsciously while my pen moved.

My large Zig pen nib was about out of ink on the one above, which accounts for the gray lines. I saw an old leaded glass window on TV, similar to this, and tried to sketch it from memory. It's out of proportion, but the idea is here.

I used a water brush pen full of India ink, also nearly empty, to sketch this one from my imagination. She looks like she sees something suspicious...

This one looks sort of disconnected, which wasn't intentional, and it didn't start out that way. The two halves were connected at the beginning, but when I drew the dark line across the center, it made a "two halves of a whole" page. I'm feeling kind of disconnected right now.

I sketched this one off of the TV. Nowhere near a likeness, but good practice!

Now that I look at these after a couple of days, I can see areas where I could add more marks, and I might, at some point. But, right now, I'm about to start a new one. New sketch! New adventure!

Take care, be grateful, and keep making beautiful things, because the world can never have too much beauty! Thank you for visiting! :)