work in progress I enrolled in an imaginary art school! So apparently I enrolled in an imaginary art school with ChatGPT. And It’s kind of working.
inspiration Tiny Autumn, Spotted! Cicadas are still screaming, but look—leaves are turning yellow! Fall is sneaking in, one crisp breeze at a time.
inspiration Discovering RISO Magic in the Midwest A Riso catalog from Milwaukee just landed in my mailbox and I’m spiraling into full-on Midwest print nerd mode.
work in progress Leaning Poses and Accidental Sass on Labor Day Started drawing “leaning people” and ended up with fashion magazine-level seduction. Oops? Labor Day energy = zero.
monthly recap Monthly Charlie’s Playground: August 2025 August is over! Here are my favorite posts, quotes, and doodles from a month of recovering, drawing, and getting back into the swing of Chicago life.
inspiration Back to Skokie Northshore Sculpture Park Went back to the Skokie Northshore Sculpture Park—perfect mix of a walk and outdoor art. This time I explored the part I missed before!
inspiration My Treasure: Ben Clark’s Never Forever Picked up Ben Clark’s Never Forever in Amsterdam—cute characters with pitch-black humor that makes me giggle every time.
work in progress Repeating My Weak Spots, Over and Over Still stuck on limp-body sketches—but I believe in practicing the hard stuff again and again until it clicks.
work in progress Drawing Limp People: Crying & Lazy Still wrestling with limp poses—today I added crying and lazy-on-the-couch. The lazy one? Totally my mood lately.
work in progress More Limp Practice: Despair, Death, and Pure Joy Still struggling with limp poses—tried despair again, plus “dead” and “over-the-moon.” Amazing how limp can mean total opposites.
work in progress Practicing Despair (and Feeling It Too) Today’s sketch theme was “despair.” Couldn’t get it right—side profiles are tough! But hey, I kept trying.
work in progress Practicing Limp, Low-Key Still not feeling 100%, but today’s sketch theme was “limp bodies.” Turns out it’s way harder than drawing tense ones!
work in progress Today I’m Just a Cat Felt awful today—this doodle was all I could manage. So I drew myself as a cat, curled up and useless.
work in progress Reviewing My Struggling People This week was all about people straining, stressing, and grimacing—and I’m proud I kept pushing through my weak spot!
work in progress Ouch and Brrr! Drawing Practice Today’s drawing drills: people in pain and people freezing. Needles still terrify me, and Chicago winter is already creeping in!
work in progress Drawing Practice: Full-Body Protest Today’s sketch theme was “angry and resisting”—basically full-body protest poses. Way more fun than I expected, and I couldn’t stop laughing while drawing.
work in progress Just Another Lazy Day Practiced drawing, went for a walk, snacked, lazed around… and somehow the day’s already gone.
work in progress Some Days You Just Draw Bad Tried sketching at a café today and… wow. Truly terrible. But hey, still my “progress,” so up it goes!
Shredding Music with a Fan?! Stumbled onto a YouTube thumbnail of a guy rocking out on a fan like it’s a guitar—and wow, it turned out epic.
inspiration August Street Art Forage (With a Side of A/C) Too hot to wander outside all summer, so this month’s street art forage includes a few things I spotted indoors too.
news POP NEWS Cover by Me! Got to illustrate the “Last Drop of Summer” cover for Amsterdam’s RISO POP monthly newspaper—such a fun project!
My Epic Quest for Norwegian Brown Cheese A magazine article sparked a craving for Norwegian brown cheese—what followed was a little urban adventure worthy of a storybook.
Discovering "Friluftsliv" Learned a new Norwegian word—friluftsliv! It’s all about outdoor life, and now I can’t wait to step outside again.
work in progress Gold Star for Just Picking Up My Pen Today! Finally feeling better, and my doodling urge is back! Today I sketched a boxer and a tipsy characters as rehab practice.
inspiration A Morning Detour to McKinlock Gate An early downtown errand turned into an unexpected art encounter—Chicago’s full of these surprises if you just take the long way around.
