Morning Sketches - A New Daily Practice

Early this month, I spontaneously began a new daily practice of drawing in my sketchbooks as soon as I roll out of bed in the morning. Cooling coffee to my left and markers to my right, I have been spending my early mornings slowly waking up my brain by drawing. The practice has renewed my creative energy and lately I find myself popping out of bed in the morning, excited to see what shows up on the page. As the month of April comes to a close, I thought I'd write a quick blog to recap the month of drawings, consider what I have learned with this new routine and how it will impact my work in the studio going forward.

One of my first daily drawing spreads from early April 2026.

Back in December 2025, I showed my artist consultant, Pennylane Shen of Dazed And Confucius, some of my marker drawings, looking for ways to bridge the gap between my drawing and painting styles. Pennylane responded with enthusiasm, encouraging me to make more marker drawings, share them more often on social media and even make the individual sketchbook pages available to collect (I'm not quite there yet!). I came away from that meeting feeling excited but it still took me a several months to come around to the idea of considering my drawings as an important part of my practice. Now, having fallen into a morning drawing routine almost by accident, I find that I have become fully invested in seeing where they lead me.

In these drawings, my process has been simple: I start by quickly selecting a reference that interests me on my phone using Pinterest or my own collection of photos. I don't spend a lot of time on this as a rule. The reference isn't especially important in the grand scheme of things but it does provide me with a starting point as I lay down shapes, marks and lines as immediate response to observation, often selecting what markers to use by taking inspiration from colours or values I notice in the reference. I don't try to copy the reference exactly - far from it. My drawing is an observation of the subject in an open ended way; one which welcomes spontaneous creative license and the unique, individualistic nature of my own personal mark making.

This sketch ended in a mapping of shadows with deep maroon marks, grounding the sketch to the page in a satisfying way.

In the past, I have approached drawings like these with a rule or two in mind when I begin. Sometimes I will limit myself to a specific amount of time so that the drawing is slightly rushed and I am forced to keep moving, keep making decisions and taking action in order to have something close to finished on the page once the timer goes off. Other times I will try to keep my eyes on the reference and avoid looking at the sketchbook page as much as possible. Both of these are examples of limitations which force a level of immediacy in the drawing that I otherwise wouldn't achieve. With these recent morning sketches, I haven't set myself any intentional limits. I find that being tired seems to be limiting enough! Although I don't move very quickly when sketching in the early morning, I also don't over-think my decisions, which I find is often a benefit to my work. It is helping me to distill information in the reference to only what I find interesting or feel is important, bringing a simplicity to the work that I find difficult to achieve in paintings.

Markers are an easy-going medium for a half-awake drawing session. With no colour mixing required and no mess to worry about, they're perfect for lounging on the couch. Despite having about 40 different colours to choose from, I rarely find a perfect match to whatever I'm drawing, so inventive colour combinations are a fun result. Drawing with markers in quick sketches such as these, brings a freedom of invention and imperfection and the results are refreshing. I use mostly Tombow Dual Brush markers and enjoy how I can vary the quality of line depending on what side of the pen I use.

In regards to subject, lately I am drawn to a more up-close perspective of the kinds of plants and flowers that might be found in a meadow or a garden. I'm interested in my personal connection with the landscape and with the plants that might surround me when I am part of it. The tangle of stems, leaves and blooms is interesting to me. Plants in a natural setting are wild and messy but there is still a sort of organization to the chaos. Leaves, attached to a stem at the base, alternating or opposite, basal or whorling; the parts are organized in a logical matter while simultaneously unruly as plants grow so close to each other it is difficult to tell where one plant begins and another ends. I find that push and pull very interesting and, in a way, see it as a reflection of my own inner tangle of thoughts.

I'm not yet sure exactly where these sketches will lead me. I do know that I will continue to try and make them each morning, posting to share on social media each day. I'd like to see how long I can keep it up! I hope that a continuous daily practice will help me to keep a finger on the pulse of my creative work, even on days when I am unable to make it into the studio. Eventually, I would like to pull inspiration from the drawings to feed my painting practice but for now, I think that the benefits I enjoy from a creative wake-up are reason enough to keep going.

I'd love to hear your thoughts! Send me a note or any questions you might have by emailing me: jlmohrart@gmail.com I'd love to hear from you.