From 0 to publish post in 30 minutes.

Now fully recovered following the extreme sport squirrel (he jumped 20 feet from a tree, narrowly missing my head - I may have mentioned it) I've decided to try a little loosening up exercise.

I've been agonising over every minute detail of my art recently, I'm not sure it's entirely healthy. I'm about embark on a toucan and a penguin illustration, so with the hope of avoiding another tortuous few days I decided to give myself 30 minutes to research, draw, colour and upload a toucan and penguin to my blog - and to approach the art in a new way. Publishing and sharing the results (no matter what) would, it was hoped, sharpen the senses.

I had to extend my deadline very slightly, as the penguins at Cincinatti Zoo made me giggle too much.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TW1jmatHBIc

I don't know if it was an entirely successful exercise but I've definitely taken something from it (apart from "make toucan beaks larger than this") - and I think it'll change the way I approach my next illustration. So that's nice.