Having norovirus sapped my strength for a lot longer than I expected. For a week post… acute symptoms, i felt tired and lethargic. Generally crappy. I got behind on everything. I came home from work and crashed.

This past long weekend (I saw the Monday off weeks ago and decided to take the previous Friday off, not even realizing it was Valentines day*) really felt like I was back to my old self.

I hit record on a bunch of new videos and got editing them.

I hit a minor snag though- the mic picked up the high pitched hum of our pellet stove. It’s obnoxious. Apparently I still had 3 days left on my CapCut sub and used their software to clean it up. It’s too clean but whatever, it doesn’t have that hummmmm.

I’ve been working on a lot of things, despite feeling tired and run down for the last few weeks.

While I wait for the train I’ve been sketching cars and trucks in the parking lot. I’ve headed to the station a bit early to get in a few extra minutes of sketching time. Not today though. It’s under 20°F with a wind chill of who knows what. I’m going to cut it as close as I can to the time the train SHOULD arrive.

I’ve also decided to attempt a 100 people challenge. The challenge is usually set for March, I think, so I’m starting early. And I’m making blob and simplified forms. I find them vaguely unsettling. I’ve also been churning through the Gesture Drawing Party channel on Youtube. 

Anyway. I have many thoughts about what I’ve been learning as I make these vehicle sketches as well as the gesture drawings and blob people images. LOT’S OF THOUGHTS.

I’m learning a lot about processes and color and composition. 

*We aren’t big on celebrating Valentine’s Day. Working as a florist really ruined it for me. There’s nothing like seeing people be performative about love to sour you on a holiday about love. Back when I worked retail my coworker and I set up a Valentine’s Day display of red roses, condoms, and lube…  Our boss was not impressed and made us dismantle it. I enjoyed telling him that we had already made sales off of it and many customers had a good laugh.