Working toward bricks and a mountain moment

Dear Sarah - Day 179 of our daily drawing exchange

June 27, 2025
Hi Nikki,

I have no idea at all how to draw the bricks on a brick building, so I looked up "drawing a brick wall" online and realized that there was NO WAY I was going to try drawing every single brick. So I did a bit more drawing and then added a brick-coloured wash and some green window trim. Next will be adding depth and shadows. This drawing has been an exercise in moving past perfectionism, since I made a big mistake early on. It was uncorrectable since the drawing is in ink. Note to self: SLOW DOWN and really look.

Then I moved on to the "six months later" bit of the book, which is now done. Or as done as it's going to be until we start re-writing.

I am going to take my headache out for a walk and then make crispy tortellini with prosciutto, fennel, arugula, balsamic tomatoes and lemon parmesan dressing.

XO S

Hi Sarah -

Today in the mountains the town is hopping - Main Street is full of visitors, the skies have cleared and every other person is interested in moving here, or so it seems.

At some point, I had to put down the phone, back away from the laptop and take myself for a walk. It didn’t take long to remember why I love it here (and why so many visitors want to stay - who can blame them?)

On the other side of the river there’s a quiet spot where I took a moment to take a deep breath and just appreciate where I am and the fact was able to walk to said spot without a great deal of pain, shortness of breath… that I was able to see the mountains, the brilliant blue sky, puffy clouds, the distinctive glacial green of the Bow River, hear the chatter of magpies, the persistent swish and gurgle of the river moving past, that I was, in that moment, calm and happy.

Sketch was done quickly after I got back to the house - ballpoint pen and a spittle smudge to try to suggest the river.

When you’re here, I’ll take you to this spot - we could take our sketchbooks and draw while sitting on one of the various conveniently-placed benches along the river.

Way to go getting the six months later well under way. To think, we have pretty much arrived at the end of the first draft - and, just in the nick of time. Though we have been pretty relaxed about our writing schedule (no guilt or blame when life has interfered with our word counts), this slow and steady method has nevertheless brought us to this point. I can't quite believe it. Nor can I believe we have reached the halfway point in the year without missing a day of this drawing project.