In this week’s Showcase Sunday, I want to introduce PMu Ink from Daily Doodle. She has a wonderful doodle blog that is fun and is promoting and encouraging positive drawing habits. She also has a wonderful blog exchange where she introduces other blogs. Her blog is a wonderful way to share her gift with the world and cultivate the wonders of doodling. Before you hop over to view some of what she has to offer, get to know her in the interview below.
What made you get into blogging?
It was actually my friend Paul who convinced me. I was doing a lot of drawing last year as part of processing a particularly nasty bout of depression, and during that time I felt like I found my voice as a doodler. As I came through the other side of it I shared a few doodles with him and he gave me the encouragement to start the blog. It’s also where the tag line came from, I always felt that art had to be incredibly deep oil painting, I had to tell myself that something didn’t have to be that ‘worthy’ in order to pluck up the courage to share something.
Have you ever had any formal training or education in your blog subject?
Not really. I have a GCSE in art, but anyone who has done that knows that half the course is copying other people’s work. I actually really hated it, and after graduating it took me a few years to pick up the pencil again. Studying really sucked the fun out of it for me. I see drawing as more of a skill than a talent, literally anyone can do it they just need plenty of practice and some realistic expectations. I will never be a sculptor, but I can nail a doodle a day and really enjoy it. I have also found by cultivating some really positive drawing practices I have really improved over the last year. I also now have a record of that learning which is really great.
What was your greatest failure and how did you learn from it?
Every time I draw something I make a mistake or something doesn’t turn out how I picture it in my head. For a long time I thought this meant I wasn’t very good, and I would start again or break out the rubber. Now though I just try to go with it, or incorporate it into the design of what I’m doing. Learning how to make the most out of my mistakes has been really freeing and if I could share any lesson with the secret doodlers out there, who have a ton of sketchbooks and pieces of paper stored somewhere in the bedrooms, it would be that.
Who has influenced you the most with your blog?
There is a book called Mindfulness and the Art of Drawing by Wendy Ann Greenhalgh which is really worth a read. It’s an easy read, the illustrations are really stylish and it helps draw that line between an internal process and external expression. Other than that it’s pretty varied. I read a lot of sci-fi and folk tales, I watch a lot of documentaries about animals. The hatch style that I have settled into was particularly inspired by old wood carvings and etchings.
How much time do you spend blogging in any given week?
It really does vary depending on what I’m doing. Some drawings like My Lovers Heart And Mind Are One 04 take no time at all and will only take an hour or so, others like Middles take days. One of my favorite posts was the time-lapse video I did. I was determined to record one of the larger A3 doodles, and in the video you can actually see the shadows move as time passes throughout the day. I think I started at 10 in the morning and finished just before sunset, with two very short breaks in between.
Is blogging your profession or just a hobby?
It started off as a hobby, and has actually become a bit of a profession, although it’s not enough for me to give up my day job, it’s great to make money from something I enjoy so much.
What is your passion?
I love drawing, but I have a serious passion for watching cartoons and animations. I don’t have the patience to actually make them, but I will often have something animated playing in the background as I work.
What is your ultimate goal in life?
I would like to find a way to make a living out of my doodles, but apart from that I try to keep my goals small. At the moment I am working on a book project with my friend Paul, after that I’m not sure. Continue with the commissions I have at the moment, and then maybe start gathering things together to get an art book printed.
What legacy would you like to leave behind?
To lead a life that helps people in some way, to be kind and to be remembered when I die as someone who laughed a lot, felt things deeply and hopefully inspired others to do what they loved too.
Is there anything you want the readers to know about your blog we haven’t covered?
The only other thing I would like to share is to say again that anyone can draw. No really, anyone. It just takes practice and like any skill, practice is done little and often. You will learn more from doodling in the margins of a notebook every day then spending a week in an artist retreat once a year, although if you can do both, great! Also even if you don’t think something is very good, share it anyway. You will be surprised what others like, some of the stuff that I have come seriously close to throwing into the fire is the stuff that gains the highest number of views. Let other people judge your work and just enjoy the process.
Don’t just take my word for it, please visit her blog and let her know that you saw her here on “Sunday Showcase.”
As always, If you would like your blog to be featured on here, please do not hesitate to email me at craftyartistkc@gmail.com and I would love to feature you next Sunday.
Great piece. A nice cross-cultural melding of styles and motifs.
Absolutely.