If you follow me on facebook you probably have seen my ‘Sketch du jour’ images. I try to post them daily, just as I try to sketch daily.

Sketching is a discipline that I challenged myself to take up in 2008. As time has gone by, I’ve seen improvement in my work and it’s become a thing I look forward to at the end of the day.

I’ve also gotten faster which makes it very easy to squeeze in 20 minutes or so at the end of the day.

I get inspiration from books and magazines. Mostly I do portraits because I love the intricate shading process, but I also sketch objects laying around. It really doesn’t matter what you sketch as long as you do it.

It’s like exercising ( I know-groan, but it gets easier the more you do it) you get stronger when you exercise those muscles!

Last year during the holiday season, I was working on a portrait a day for 30 days, Page du jour you can find these entries through the search feature. It’s always good to push yourself with a little challenge. Right now I ‘m pushing myself to finish my current Moleskine journal so I can begin work in a brand new 8 1/2 x 11 Moleskine Sketchbook on January 1, 2012. It never hurts to have a little ‘prize’ waiting for you!

So as I get ready to travel and see my family before Christmas, this is all I’ll be taking with me, along with my journal. I’m going to use my travel time to hopefully meet my goal and finish this journal. Looking forward to the New Year and the promise it brings. Time to start thinking about your goals and resolutions to make ‘it’ happen in 2012!