It’s almost criminal, how I’ve been ignoring the Wacom.

More than the job, the long commute time and the general vagaries of old age (the woes of being in the late twenties, sigh), I squarely blame that massive time-suck of humanity we call Facebook. I don’t understand how the hundred and one annoying updates on breakfasts and the inane jokes and the LOLs and  the baby pictures (now even belly pictures, God!) can still keep me hooked to the screen. I try to convince myself that Facebook has allowed me to find out, check out and have a good time at countless events I wouldn’t have known otherwise, but the voyeur in me does a victory jig every time I stay an hour too long. I just have to know what everybody’s doing: the trips people have gone to, the exes’ new boyfriends, the now-tame lives of those who bullied me in school. And in college. And at the office…

Then there’s Twitter. And then there’s Reader. And then there’s Youtube. Oh good lord, Youtube.

ADD has taken its toll, big time. Thin of wallet and sober of disposition, I spent much of this long weekend, de-cluttering my computer. I found a lot of unfinished works lying around, some great ideas left incomplete because I was too lazy to pick up the stylus. I also noticed that, since 2007, I haven’t improved much. I learned nothing new. I tried nothing new. I just did the same thing, over and over again. While one would think iteration enhances skill, 4 years of my sporadic sketching fits proves that wrong.

Everything changes today. Well, actually, yesterday. Have you heard of “I Will Drawing That For You“? It’s this super idea by illustrator Nathan Hale, where he asks readers for bizarre and whimsical ideas which he then tries to sketch up.

So here I am, with “Three Words and a Picture” “A Picture’s Worth Three Words” “Help Me Guys!” “Retch-A-Sketch”: quite simply, I ask you for three words. Completely random, unconnected words. And then I draw something.

Yesterday, thanks to @strangie, I learned a new word: Frou-Frou. This Retch-A-Sketch is for her.

Good friend of mine @prazy suggested “aperitif, zombie, libido“. This Retch-A-Sketch is for him.

All in all, a fun exercise. And probably something I can do every evening, instead of passing out at the local bar. Do hit me up with your random words (preferably nouns) and I’ll dedicate a Retch-A-Sketch to you. Let’s see how I fare.