Today I cleaned the my place and did all the chores that I've postsponed throughout the week. I wish I could figure out ways to keep everything neat without having to clean constany, is that even possible? However, one thing that motivates me to get things done is audiobooks.
Do you consider listening to audiobooks as reading?
I love reading paperback and on my kindle (even my phone), but the only way I finish many books is with audibooks. There are insane amount of choices and even Blinkist has cool 15min book summaries if I want something extra quick.
I discovered my love for audibooks from Unfortunate Events read by Tim Curry, the actor, he also read the Abhorsen series. I like how animated his characters feel and sets the atmosphere well. Audiobooks are a skill and not all audiobooks are the same quality. I understand why some people have negative audiobook associations.
Another great advantage of audiobooks is learning how to pronounce things. I've many timesthan not repeated my favorite words and phrases outloud, trying to mimic the accents. I just love Stephen Fry's reading of Harry Potter, and feels very authentic for the setting.
An interesting audiobook can motivare me to clean more than I would have otherwise, since I get swooped by the story and don't notice the time pass. I don't always feel like listening to books, but that's usually because I start some book that doesn't interest me (I dislike leaving abandoning books). I'm trying to let go now of books that don't grab my attention, otherwise I end up "procrastinating" on reading them.
I was lucky in middle school I got to pick whatever I want to read for school, and at least got to pick my own book ocassionally in highschool. In elementary school I had to read Winnie the Pooh and I hated it since and I recently found out how sad the author's biography was (especially his son's). On the other hand, some curriculum books were immeasurably valuable even if hard to read. Two highschool books to come to mind are The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini and Beloved by Toni Morrison. I sobbed for both books, but books like that are so important on showing us other people's lives and perspectives.
Have you ever cried reading a book?
Right now I'm listening to something lighthearted, more out of curiosity than anything. A collection of short Steampunk stories edited by Jeff Vandermeer. The prologue caught my attention with lots interesting historical infortmation, also each story has a commentary before it. The stories themselves unfortunately haven't been memorable or particularly interesting to me. I previously really enjoyed Lovecraft's Monsters collected edited by Ellen Datlow and I was hoping this would be similar.
Ref: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/555350197802158688/
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/207869339038904083/
About the art-
This was another 30min sketch and I wanted to create an underwater feel. I spent a lof of time figuring out the atmospheric perspective. The contrast is a bit too strong and I'd add some color contrast if I decided to redo the sketch. For now I'm using similar color palettes for these sketches, but I'll try diversifying and experimenting more. I've also been considering what I want to write in future posts and I might make a list :)
Thank you for reading!