Were you looking for a sign? Here's a sandwich.

The Sandwich Dream

I was talking with a friend about how hard it is to do creative work and make yourself vulnerable by showing your work to the world. My friend said they’d gotten to where they couldn’t make anything for fear of other people thinking it was crap. I sympathized with my friend and said, here’s a symbol in the form of a sandwich. The sandwich was a big juicy corned beef thing on rye with pickles and mustard, a real five-napkin event. I pushed it toward my friend and told them it was okay to eat. They dove in with both hands and open mouth.

My friend was so hungry, and the sandwich was right there. They were just waiting for permission to eat.

End of Sandwich Dream

So if you’re wondering whether you should make / say / do / dance / sing / try the thing because you’re worried people might think it’s crap, here’s a sandwich. You have permission to eat it.

0 sandwich sketchbook edit 1k.jpg

It comes with a pickle.

1 pickle 1 edit 1k.jpg

Can we make the sandwich a symbol for permission to create? It is written. So it must be.

Here’s a bunch more sandwiches. (images linked to sources where available)

p.s. The Cube Rule of sandwich identification

Dr. Sketchy's OKC, Roller Derby Edition 2010.03.14

Flyer for Dr. Sketchy's OKC, March 2010, feat. Poison Okie
Hey Sketchers, come join me tonight at IAO Gallery for another episode of Dames, Drinking, and Drawing. In that order. Marilyn sez, "If you bring gently used or new art supplies you have a chance to win a fabulous prize. These art goodies will be going to Haiti." Yee-haw!

Abstract Dr. Sketchy's 8, ink on paper, 2010 by Sarah Atlee. Click image to view source.
Abstract Dr. Sketchy's 8, ink on paper, 2010 by Sarah Atlee. Click image to view source.

Check out the new additions to my Flickr site - abstract drawings from this year's previous Dr. Sketchy's sessions.

Feeling Stumped?

Here are some tools that can help spur your creativity. Don't try to execute every idea all at once -- pick a link at random and follow it. The Brainstormer (Read a history of The Brainsormer here.)

The Psychic Sidekick

Directors Bureau Idea Generator

Michael Nobbs' 75 ways to Draw More and Draw Your Life

Doug Chayka's sketchbooks

A methodology for creating new ideas (written by professional illustrator Nate Williams)

An extensive list of ideation tools

Keith Haring knew that anything worth drawing once was worth drawing a hundred times.

I like to go to movies and draw in the dark. And I love love love blind gesture drawing.

Join the BookMooch Journal Project (or just browse their blog or their Flickr pool) or 1001 Journals

Participate in the quarterly Worldwide Sketch Crawl Day.

Illustration Friday suggests a new topic once a week!

Following are some idea-generation links oriented toward writers, but they could just as easily apply to image-makers.

No one cares what you had for lunch.

Idea Generator Blog Writing Prompts

Googobs of Creative Writing Prompts

Now rock out with your socks out.

Related Posts How (and Why) to Title Your Work (Includes some prompts to help you create interesting titles.) Project Idea: Object Sketchbook

Dr. Sketchy's OKC One Year Anniversary 2010.01.10

Dr. Sketchy's OKC Anniversary Flier feat. Ilsa the Wolf
Has it been a year already? Join us tonight to celebrate one year of Dames, Drinking, and Drawing in OKC! Tonight's show will once again feature Tulsa's Ilsa the Wolf. Bring ten bucks, a chair, and your crayons.
Ilsa the Wolf, from Dr. Sketchy's OKC, January 2009. Click image to view source.
Ilsa the Wolf, from Dr. Sketchy's OKC, January 2009. Click image to view source.

Click here to see some more drawings from Dr. Sketchy's OKC, or to learn more about this whole bidness.

Worldwide Sketch Crawl Day, 2009.09.19

This is what happened today, mixed media on paper, 2009 by Sarah Atlee. Click image to view source.
This is what happened today, mixed media on paper, 2009. Click image to view source.

Get your sketchbooks out, tomorrow is Worldwide Sketch Crawl Day # 24.

Sketch Crawl is an excuse to draw whatever's in front of you or inside your head for a whole day. (It's like a pub crawl, but a lot more productive.) Challenge yourself, and don't forget to stretch first. Click here to read more about participating.

I am at the end of my summer sketchbook, an upcycled beauty made by Lindsey Zodrow at Collected Thread here in OKC. I'm transitioning over to another upcycled sketchbook by Sparrowtracks, and I may dip into some Moleskine kraft-cover books.

Looking for some ideas? Have a look at the sketchbooks of Doug Chayka and Debby Kaspari. Or, download one of two pocket guides created by artist Michael Nobbs, 75 Ways to Draw More and Start to Draw Your Life. Go!