Drew 30 doodles in one day last month and my hand is still recovering

I had a crazy day where I just could not stop sketching. Started with a coffee stain at 7 AM and by midnight I had filled a whole sketchbook with random stuff. My wrist was screaming by noon but I kept going because every doodle felt better than the last. Ended up with 30 drawings of cats in weird poses and one really angry looking mailbox. Has anyone else ever had a day where your hand just takes over and you can't stop?

3 comments

3 Comments

grantmartinez27d ago

I was just reading about how your brain kind of rewires itself when you get into that groove, like the muscle memory takes over and your conscious thoughts just disappear for a bit. It reminded me of that whole "flow state" thing the neuroscientists talk about, where your brainwaves actually shift into a different pattern. That angry mailbox doodle sounds pretty cool too, sometimes the weirdest stuff comes out when you're not even trying to think about it.

the_hayden27d ago

That line about your hand taking over really hit home, I've noticed the same thing happens when I get into a good rhythm with yard work or cooking, it's like your body just goes on autopilot while your brain checks out.

miles27927d ago

Yeah exactly, @the_hayden, I get what you mean. I had the same thing happen when I started learning to play guitar years ago. At first I had to think about every single finger placement, but after a few months my hands just knew where to go without me telling them. The best part was when I could play a song all the way through and realize I was thinking about something else the whole time. It felt like cheating, like my hands had their own brain. It took a lot of practice to get there though, you can't skip the boring stuff.