I didn’t compete in the very first microblogvember in 2019. It’s a self-challenge to blog every day on the timeline of micro∙blog for the month of November. This year, 2022, will be my first attempt to beat any procrastination to create that might come up during a month. I’ve done 29 of the 29 days so far, with only one day to go. I think I’ll manage the last one.

Here are 29 word prompts (and my solutions):

1. Figure (Musk buying twitter)
2. Feast (guinea pigs)
3. License (Micro∙camp)
4. Admiration (Gollum)
5. Exemption (House owners)
6. Echo (Beethoven)
7. Insight (spacecraft)
8. Consensus (superheroes)
9. Certain (Sherlock Holmes)
10. Minister (TV series)
11. Display (Adrian Black)
12. Suspicion (Hitchcock)
13. Adjust (heating)
14. Leave (of senses)
15. Aluminium (the chemical)
16. Franchise (Superman)
17. Barrel (beer vat)
18. Tire (kitten from playing)
19. Novel (fantasy)
20. Repeat (Commodore 64)
21. Ice (age)
22. Graze (box)
23. Update (Microblog News)
24. Retain (Medieval prison)
25. Ritual (Black Friday)
26. Commitment (Hunchback of Notre Dame)
27. Motivation (Willy Wonka)
28. Trend (life lesson)
29. Fish (barracuda)

Mind you, I’m not stopping when November 30 ends. I will keep going, from “November 31” up to and including “November 61” 🤣 After the last official prompt for November 2022 from the @challenges@micro.blog account, I’ll continue with randomwordgenerator on my own. Hopefully by then I’ll have colored ballpoint pens, so I can make it more interesting to look at.

So, my self-challenge ends with the year 2022. Until then, it’ll be nose to the grindstone and solve the current daily prompt with a sketch and some words. I guess I’ll evaluate how it went in the New Year.

If you’re asking yourself why I drew in a notebook with lines, it’s a self-depreciation built in, so I can’t worry about such silly thoughts. It’s already bad for drawing to begin with. I can only make it better.

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Fish

When Jacques-Yves Cousteau wanted to swim with the fishes, he had to invent self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (S.C.U.B.A.). What he saw made him want to protect it, since we humans were (and still are) destroying it with our exploitation of the sea.
🐟🎨🍂✍️

Trend

I can see my (hobbyist) art getting better with each year I practice, yet still have ebbs and flows in both quality and quantity. It’s frustrating to seemingly have crossed a threshold, only to see my enthusiasm wane because of some outside force or event.
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If microblogvember is any indication, I’m able to write about 1000 non-random words in 30 days, or 1/50th of NaNoWriMo. No wonder I never won the writing assignment; I’m a very slow thinker, hence writer. Words (and ideas) come to me like boots in molasses, even when I was young.

Motivation

The little people don’t need much to make them do what you want them to do. Refined sugar will often do it, hyperactively so.
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I’ve done some research on drawing with a ballpoint pen, and it seems it’s in the indelible nature of the medium that practice is quintessential.
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I’ve ordered some ballpoint pens on Amazon for more drawing happiness:

• Paper Mate InkJoy several colors
• Pilot Super Grip black

I’m told the Pilot Super Grip are more opaque than the Paper Mate InkJoy, and since black is rather important for ink drawing…
🖋️

Commitment

Romantic involvement often doesn’t lead to immediate engagement or even infatuation, maybe a slight tolerance of being close at best. It’s recipe for disappointment and tragedy as life put its claws into a budding relationship.
💍🎭💀🎨🍂✍️

Of course, Wednesday season one launched on Wednesday November 23 globally on Netflix. It wasn’t bad 📺

A new profile picture, drawn in ballpoint pen, scanned, and digitally retouched and colored. I’m curious how long it’ll take before my avatar is picked up. I suppose most Fediverse users don’t update theirs regularly.

Ritual

It is said all things come in threes. Black in the numbers, black in the thoughts and black (and blue) in the face. Online buyers, beware of all kinds of shenanigans today!
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Retain

How do you keep your employees in your failing social media company? Well, those who aren’t bound with feudal bonds as foreign workers you lock up with strict contracts under NDA, and throw away the key. It seems ye olden days of cruel overlords are back, baby.
🏰🎨🍂✍️

Since Tumblr is ganing traction because of what’s happening right now to a certain birdy site, I decided to start using it again, as not to clog this feed with my inking foibles.

Update

We get the latest news about micro∙blog from @manton@manton.org.
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I guess there are lessons to be learned here.

1. Keep that point clean!
2. Spend more time on analyzing the big shapes, then carefully draft then looking at the reference, not the drawing.

Other than that, I’m pleased with this messy drawing, for now.
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Great ballpoint drawing tips from Jess Karp on YT. The most important:

1. forget it’s a ballpoint pen; treat it as a pencil
2. use a paper scrap to regularly clean the tip
3. build your values in layers

Inspired me to sketch some faces from the micro∙blog Discovery Tab.
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As per that previous post for microblogvember, I need to teach myself to draw everyday objects to a level that it’s recognizable as the object. Random scribbles aren’t going to cut it.
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Graze

I had no idea there were boxes filled with delicious food you can mindlessly eat from, like a sheep in a meadow.
🐑🍱🥳🎨🍂✍️

Ice

Her frozen lips felt odd. Days she had been looking for her herd. There’s warmth and safety in numbers. More eyes see further. The biting wind makes it hard to think. Soon sleep will come, everlasting slumber.
🦣🧊🥶🎨🍂✍️

Maybe we should have a competition for amusing server error pages 💡