Here is today’s drawing for Reverb 10 prompt #5, “Let go.”

What (or whom) did you let go of this year? Why? (Author: Alice Bradley)

I moved this year, for the first time in five years. It was a big deal, as I had lived in the same apartment for the past five years–the longest I had lived in any spot since graduating high school in 2000.

I left the suburbs of Lansing’s West side and moved downtown.  I even wrote about it for Capital Gains.

I love living downtown: I can walk to work, the Lansing City Market and to all of my favorite downtown haunts (even the library!).

And I’m saving a bit of cash on gas too–when I lived on the West side I would buy gas five to six times a month. Now, I buy gas about twice a month.

I paid attention to how I was inking this one, as I used thinner lines for the Capitol in the background. I also did some tricks in Photoshop to help hide my left over pencil and eraser marks.

Here is today’s drawing for Reverb 10 prompt #4, “Wonder.”

Wonder. How did you cultivate a sense of wonder in your life this year? (Author: Jeffrey Davis)

I had to think for a bit about this one, but then I realized my buying a DSLR camera (a Canon T2i) and taking up photography as a hobby did plenty to cultivate a sense of wonder in my life.

That is a photo I took for a photoblog post a few months ago.  Originally, I had drawn that photo, but I hated out the half-blinked eye turned out–it looked like I just drew a normal eye wrong.

So, I decided, “Well, there isn’t a reason I can’t mix the drawing with the photo.”

I dumped the photo into the drawing’s Photoshop doc and did a bit of vector mask magic to blend the two images. Not bad.

And now I’m caught up, huzzah.

—
Daniel J. Hogan is a freelance writer, podcaster, and a photoblogger.  He likes drawing stick figures in Lansing, Michigan.  Follow him on Twitter, @danieljhogan.

Here is yesterday’s drawing for Reverb 10 prompt #3, “Moment.”

Pick one moment during which you felt most alive this year. Describe it in vivid detail (texture, smells, voices, noises, colors). (Author: Ali Edwards)

I had to stretch this one a bit, my “moment” was my trip to San Francisco this past April. It was a pretty big deal, as I have never been to California before, and it was the first time I went on a trip like it with a girlfriend.

I guess I didn’t really describe the “moment” as the prompt suggested, but I just drew images of the first memories that came to mind:

The trees at Muir Woods, the Golden Gate Bridge, visiting Alcatraz Prison, the sea gulls, the sea lions at Pier 39, eating at In-N-Out Burger and the San Francisco Zoo.

I broke down and bought a new set of Micron pens for inking. My least favorite part of this drawing is the plane on the “plane ticket,” but oh well.

—
Daniel J. Hogan is a freelance writer, podcaster, and a photoblogger.  He wishes there was an In-N-Out Burger in Lansing, Michigan.  Follow him on Twitter, @danieljhogan.

What do you do each day that doesn’t contribute to your writing — and can you eliminate it? (Author: Leo Babauta)

OK, this was pretty easy. I know what keeps me from working on writing. They are, left to right -Facebook, the Internet, Twitter and worrying about my website traffic.

I guess I could just lump all of those together and just say, “Internet.” But, in response to the question, yes I could eliminate the time I spend on these four distractions.

I was going for a bit of a “reverse fail whale” look here.  Get it–everything is weighing the pencil down? Y’know, instead of lifting it up? Hm.

I drew this one in blue pencil and then inked it by hand with my micron pens–which I haven’t used in a King’s age.

—
Daniel J. Hogan is a freelance writer, podcaster, and a photoblogger.  He is waiting for the Great Fail Whale in a pumpkin patch in Lansing, Michigan.  Follow him on Twitter, @danieljhogan.

Today’s prompt was:

One Word.
Encapsulate the year 2010 in one word. Explain why you’re choosing that word. Now, imagine it’s one year from today, what would you like the word to be that captures 2011 for you?

2009 was a rough year, but 2010 saw me patching things up, hence “repairs.”  I hope to make a few changes in 2011, hence “upgrades.”

This was fun! I miss drawing.  I’m going to try and draw for most of the prompts, if not all.

The drawing part was fun–I just used a blue pencil.  But, the clean up in Photoshop took some work, and I did not have my WACOM with me.

But, I also didn’t want to go too crazy my first time out–I just wanted to draw and have fun.

And who doesn’t love (poorly drawn) robots?

I went back and forth between getting the newer DSi and the slightly older and cheaper DS Lite for a spell, but I am very happy with my choice.

Why? For starters, it has an SD card slot and it’ll play music files, thus filling in until I get a new iPod.

The other reason was the downloadable games available only for the DSi.  Seeing as how downloadable content is where the industry is going, I decided that I did not want to be left behind.

One program in particular was the deciding factor–Flipnote Studio.  It is actually free (came pre-installed with mine) and all kinds of fun.  It is a simple drawing and animation program, but what I love most is that I can export my (horrible) drawings as .GIF files so I can subject all of the Internet with more of my terrible sketches.

My first drawing with Flipnote, a rendering of two cartoony hamsters.

That’s suppose to say “Hams Without a Cause.”  A narrative involving two rebelous hamsters, I reckon? I have no idea.  I was inspired and went with it.

I’m still getting used to the stylus and drawing on the screen but I it is a lot of fun, and being a person that likes to doodle, I see all kinds of potential here (…potential to make hundreds of lameo drawings).

The animation process is pretty fun too–and you can export your “toons” as an animated .GIF file. Neat.

The music player also impressed me greatly, especially with the ability to alter songs in real time (I messed with the speed and pitch of Pink Floyd’s  Comfortably Numb and it was a hoot).

So yes, I’m having fun with my new toy.