Last week I went to the wonderful Phoenix Public Library and spent a few hours pouring over stacks of books, drawing and taking notes with my Sharpie and cover stock paper. It was the best afternoon I have spent in awhile… so peaceful and inspiring!

So here’s the assignment: Go to your local library and spend about 5 minutes tops grabbing books that catch your eye. For me, they tend to be any type of art book… that day I had books on Egyption painting, Indian Contemporary art, art by Jerry Garcia, and an American Indian history book.

Then, draw! (Click to enlarge my samples.)

I didn’t necessarily have an “on” day with my drawing, but I tried not to stress about it. They were just practice drawings, after all, nothing to get upset over! Here are a few more:

I also took lots of notes…

After a few hours I started to get hungry and needed to stop. You might find that you are “done” after 20 minutes. Or five hours. Everyone is different, so you need to listen to your own heart about how long you do this.

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What are “Assignments”? They are mini tutorials of drawing exercises I do myself. I hope you will try some of them… drawing is a blast!!! Here are some past “Assignments”:

Assignment #31: Modified Blind Contours

Assignment #16: Blind Contour Giraffes

Assignment #22 – Go to the Library

Assignment #56 – Draw Cats in Bed