The theme of this month’s Sketchbook Challenge is doodling — that feels like cheating because I already spend most of my drawing time doodling.

When I started drawing a year ago, I was really intimidated by a blank page and the need to be perfect. I would erase and re-draw lines until I put down my sketch in disgust. I couldn’t get my drawings to come out right. One morning I couldn’t find my pencil so I grabbed an ink pen… and now I mostly doodle in ink. I can’t fix an ink doodle so I’m free to be messy and explore.

In January the gardening catalogs arrive and I start planning spring: