Every Mark is Evidence

On Practice Over Perfection

I love my sketchbooks now, but I didn’t always. I was too focused on making every page perfect. I wanted each spread to be Instagram worthy (what they hell does that even mean?!), like it belonged somewhere other than my sketchbook.

It was nothing for me to rip a page out of the sketchbook.
If I didn’t like it, I didn’t want to see it.

Now, I leave everything in…mostly. I have the occasional moment where I will glue pages together because what is on it offends my eye. 😆 That is growth! I didn’t rip it out!

Pages that look like a hot mess teach me something. Every mark is evidence I moved my hand and I showed up. That’s enough.

It’s okay to make “ugly” art. In fact, there is no such thing as ugly art. Art is personal. People hang wild, chaotic pieces in galleries every day, so why would my own sketchbook be any less worthy?

Practice is the sacred part. Perfection is the myth.

That’s been my approach to Inktober this year. I’m not trying to do every prompt. Some of those words don’t even make sense to me, and I’ve learned not to force it. My only rule is to draw something every day.

If a prompt sparks something in me, I flow with it. If it doesn’t, I’ll do a little research and find some unexpected angle to approach the prompt. Joy lives in the discovery.

Right now, I’m working across three sketchbooks—one with white paper, one with magenta pages, and one soft pink pages. Each one shifts how I approach the drawing. For example, colored pencil drawings look amazing in the magenta notebook. Who knew I would love these darker pages as much as I do. The white pages are bristol paper and lends itself well to ink washes and watercolors. I can’t do quality washes in the other notebooks.

Art is how I come home to myself. It’s how I have fun, stay present, and remember that creation is about being, not proving.

That’s what practice is.
It’s showing up for the process, not the product.
It’s giving yourself room for imperfection, discovery, and play.

Practice is the permission slip.
Perfection is the myth.

Maybe that’s your invitation, too. Stop ripping pages out of your sketchbook, your process…your life. Let it stay. You’re learning in real time, and that’s art enough.