My mood is dramatically altered when I don’t get enough sleep. The past 3+ weeks have been incredibly stressful with deadlines, unexpected emergencies, and just getting overwhelmed with the amount of STUFF that needs to be done.

Fortunately, I got a good night’s sleep last night and woke up ready to tackle the day today. And it was an incredibly busy day. I started my morning off by going to the cabin after breakfast to do my warmup:

I managed to get a mattress for the bottom bunk in the hunting cabin turned art studio, too. So I have a place to stretch out between tasks and turn completely OFF after going completely ON. It’s important to be able to oscillate, and I finally have a place to do that in the cabin.

Oh, and I caught a mouse in a live trap! My wife rehomed the little fella and I worked on doing a contour drawing exercise from The Natural Way to Draw:

This one was a struggle for me because it’s the first 1 HOUR contour drawing exercise. I had to break it into 15-minute blocks and could only bring myself to work on it for 45 minutes. I need to improve my focus endurance for exercises like this one.

Later in the day, my wife had a health crisis, which took priority over any further art.

What went well?

• I didn’t break the chain.
• Finally getting my anxiety under control after a good night’s sleep.
• Saving a mouse.
• Getting a mattress in the cabin.
• Working on more exercises from The Natural Way to Draw.

What needs work?

• My wife’s health.
• Artistic endurance.

What did I learn?

Obstacles make me stronger. Obstacles make me stronger. Obstacles make me stronger.