How I started my daily artmaking habit

A New Year's Day story

This was the story of January 1, 2018—six years ago! I made art every day that year, and at the end of the year, I published an a visual essay about my year of daily artmaking at The Rumpus. I called it “The Habit of Art,” a phrase I learned from Flannery O’Connor’s wonderful and cranky book about writing, Mystery and Manners. (More on that in a future post.)

In 2019, I did it again: made art every day and published an essay about it.

When I started this Substack, I brainstormed a bunch of titles before realizing I already had a title I loved and that reflected what I wanted to write (and draw) about. So, thanks for joining me at The Habit of Art! Lots more to come in 2024.

My point in sharing this story is that you can start anytime, anywhere. You don’t have to make a masterpiece, you just have to make something.

But if you want to jumpstart a daily artmaking habit and prefer to avoid a late-night Dial Soap drawing, you might check out Ten Minute Artist with Adam Ming or Wendy MacNaughton, who are both actively offering daily prompts and community.

Happy New Year! (And sorry for two posts in two days!)

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Thanks for reading The Habit of Art, a free illustrated newsletter by Kelcey Ervick about writing, drawing, and storytelling as radical acts (that look a lot like sitting at a desk). I love creating these posts and am grateful for all of you who read them. I’m the author and illustrator of the graphic memoir, The Keeper, which was featured in the NY Times Book Review’s Holiday Gift Guide. And I’m co-editor with Tom Hart of The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Graphic Literature—a guide to making all kinds of comics, collage, and graphic poetry.

Website: www.kelceyervick.com/
Art on Instagram: @kelcey.parker.ervick
Twitter, X, whatever, nevermind: @kelceyervick