My Daily Routine


Getting a little glimpse into someone’s daily life feels slightly indulgent. It can also be inspiring, or even just relaxing. I thought it might be fun to do a “day in my life” post about my quiet, simple life as a fledgling illustrator. 

As I am new to the field and still learning and growing, a large portion of my time is spent honing my skills, and challenging myself, artistically. I also work on curating and updating my portfolio, as I continue to create characters, designs, and one-off pieces. Additionally, over the past 2 years, I have been working on a picture book, which I recently took out of hiding, after putting away the first draft several months ago. This blog is a monthly priority as well, as it helps me to organize and clarify my thoughts about the creative process. And finally, as I am currently seeking work and/or representation, I do A LOT of research, and am actively submitting my portfolio to companies and agencies. And now, with all that said, here is my typical day:  

Depending on the time of year, I change up my routine to get the most out of each day and night. It is currently late summer, so it’s warm-hot most days, despite being the “rainy” Pacific Northwest of the United States. Brutal heat waves aside, most days are not so hot that I can’t function normally. When it is insanely hot, I just go with it and use the time to read, listen to podcasts, and meditate. 

I don’t set an alarm, and usually wake up between 8am-9am. I light a stick of incense and do about an hour of yoga asanas. Sometimes it’s an active session, sometimes it’s a calming, relaxing flow. Sometimes it’s a little of both. Afterwards, I try to do a few minutes of meditation or prayer. Yoga is important to me, and even on the rare day I skip asanas, I still incorporate it into my day, by reading about or studying it, or doing a guided relaxation session. 

Breakfast is usually oatmeal, or peanut butter and banana toast, and coffee. I look at the news, read my book or a few articles online.

My husband and I live in a small, 1 bedroom, south-facing apartment on the top floor, so it gets hot, sometimes extremely hot, on summer days. If any heat-generating activities need to happen, the morning is the most practical time to get those tasks done. I bake several of our dietary staples, such as wheat muffins, wheat bread, and cornbread, so I usually need to bake something at least twice a week.

After the baking is done, I settle into doing artwork for the day. I don’t have a strict schedule of tasks, but I have a general framework that works well for me. I tried being more rigid in the past, but it wasn’t as helpful or useful as I’d thought it would be. Nowadays, I have a monthly task list that I look at each week, and stick to it pretty faithfully. I also have a few long-term goals, which are broken into small tasks that I work on each month, getting me a bit closer to the end goals. Overall I feel productive, and challenged, but not pressured.

Examples of monthly, art-related tasks are:

- Complete at least 2-3 stand alone illustrations

- Refresh online portfolio

- Practice sketching

- Draft a blog post

- Work on 1 revised illustration for picture book

- Practice sumi-e style art 

- Post on Twitter and Instagram

- Research/brainstorm

- Submission to 1 company or agency

I take a break in the late afternoon for lunch and, weather permitting, a long walk, usually for at least an hour. Lunch is light; half an apple and maybe some leftovers from dinner the night before, or avocado toast.

I work until about 6pm, taking a quick break at about 4pm for tea (also very important to me). Stopping at around 6pm leaves me with about an hour and a half to do whatever I need to do before I think about starting dinner. We tend to have dinner late by American standards, at about 8pm, and it’s always something simple - pasta and vegetable stir fry are a couple of our favorites.

We watch either a classic movie or an episode of an old TV show and, after clearing up, it's teatime. Bedtime is around 11pm or midnight. My husband lights a cone of incense in the bedroom, and I read for about a half an hour, then it’s light’s out.  

Sundays are my “day off”, and I try not to do anything art-related, to avoid burnout. After our ritual pancake brunch, I read, take a walk, do household chores, and maybe do an extra long yoga asana flow.

Peppered throughout the week are a few regular activities - plant care, grocery pickup, bill paying, housecleaning, laundry, and anything else that comes up. We are both neat people by nature, so there is never a huge mountain of laundry, or a stack of dirty dishes waiting to be done. 

That’s my day in a nutshell. The pandemic forced me into a major lifestyle change, and it took me a bit of time to get my bearings, but I feel like I have found my flow, and myself. My life is centered around creating art, which is what my husband says  I am "clearly meant to be doing".   

I hope you enjoyed this little peek into my daily life.     



  


Popular posts from this blog

Series: A Capsule Kitchen: An Introduction + Minimalist Everyday Bread Recipe

Image
  This is the first post in a new series I’ve opted to call “A Capsule Kitchen”, which I will be incorporating into my blog every other month. Typically, I write about art and creativity, with the occasional off-topic piece peppered in for a bit of variety. This year, I came up with the idea of “A Capsule Kitchen”, and thought it would be a fun addition. Each post in the series will feature a tried-and-true recipe that is in regular rotation in my household. For the introduction of the series, I thought it might be helpful to provide some context and a brief background, before starting things off with a simple staple recipe. My husband and I eat a vegan diet, and I do the cooking and baking, which I enjoy, especially now that I have a curated collection of trusty go-tos we both like and that are easy to prepare. We are decidedly unfancy when it comes to our food preferences, both by choice and necessity, which will be clear from the recipes I will be sharing. I decided to call the ...
Read more

Series: A Capsule Kitchen: Minimalist Cornbread

Image
This simple and humble cornbread is one of my husband's favorites, so I typically bake it once or twice a week. I have it streamlined to just 5 ingredients, which are inexpensive and always on hand. Years ago, we occasionally bought cornbread, and I feel like such a sucker now, as making it at home is so easy, which is why I wanted to share this recipe for fluffy, yummy, cheap and easy cornbread.  Minimalist Cornbread Supplies 8” round baking pan Measuring cup Measuring spoons Spatual Mixing bowl Cooling rack or cutting board Ingredients ( Dry ) 1 cup all-purpose flour (whole wheat flour also works well, and gives it a bit of a rustic taste and  texture)  1 cup cornmeal 1 tablespoon baking powder ( Wet ) ¼ cup vegetable oil 1 cup water (I've used almond milk, but found water works just fine, and is much more cost-effective) Optional ingredients   Pinch of salt A drizzle of agave or maple syrup, if you like a sweeter flavor Grated vegan cheese or a sprinkling of nutri...
Read more

Series: A Capsule Kitchen: Vegan Chili Mac

Image
Vegan Chili Mac is one of our favorites, so we have it a few times a month. It is just my husband and myself in our household, so the amount I make is enough for several nights.  As is the case with most of recipes I use, this simple and cheap dinner is more of a template, rather than strict instructions to follow to the letter, which makes it pretty foolproof, and allows for additions or omissions depending on your preferences. Based on trial and error, we have settled on this combination of ingredients most of the time, with the occasional addition if we want try something different, or have something that needs to get used. Simple Vegan Chili Mac Ingredients 2 cups uncooked macaroni ½ cup dry red beans, or 1 15oz can, rinsed and drained. (I use dry beans because they are cost effective. A ½ cup dried will be about 2 cups cooked.) 1 15 oz can tomato sauce ¾-1  cup frozen corn (more/less, if desired) ¾-1  cup frozen kale (more/less if desired) 3 tablespoons chili powder ...
Read more