Q&A a Day for Creatives: a Review

I recently got to choose another book to review (from Blogging for Books) and this time I chose Q&A a Day for Creatives.

The blurb at the front of the book describes it as "a journal of questions and prompts designed to help you explore your creative potential in a new way every day. The ritual of completing a daily drawing is an important part of keeping your brain sharp, helping you to be more focused, solve problems better, and even improve your memory."

The journal has you address the same question every year, in theory so you can "observe how your technical skill progresses, or how your perception of the questions changes over the years." 

I chose this book for a few reasons: 1) I'm always looking for more ways to foster the creative aspects of my personality and 2) I have become terrible at journaling in recent years, and this seemed like a good way to sneak in a tidbit of that each day. 

Each page looks like this: four blank squares to draw in (one for each year) and a prompt to use every year on that date. 

The prompt above was "Illustrate your favorite use of an apple. Pie? Cider? Worm bait?" I decided to use this prompt to do some journaling, so I sketched an apple wedge and commented "My favorite: cut into slices, preferably eaten with Nikolai (like we did at lunch today!)"

Some other prompts, and how I interpreted them:

"Make a color wheel that showcases the various colors you see today."

"Draw some simple stick figure people waiting in line. Now draw what they're waiting for."

I babysat that day, so I drew the hour-long process of getting all 4 children down for naps/quiet time. 

 Other prompts have been a good excuse to practice drawing (emphasis on practice):

(Please note that the above drawing was done of the sleeping Niko in his darkened bedroom, and I sketched it in pen...so yes, it turned out a little wonky. Also, I guess I'm feeling self concious about sharing my drawing!)

"Try to draw something in the style of a classic comic strip."

The above drawing was on my first day of work, and I was excited to use the space to memorialize that a little. 

Other prompts utilize the 4-year nature of the journal, like this one:

"A four-parter: Draw a step-by-step process (one step per year) of a popcorn kernal popping."

Things I've liked and disliked so far:

I've liked: The colorful cover and unique prompts--both make me want to open it every day!

I've disliked: The fact that the cover is a thin cardboard and is already scuffed around the edges. How will it look in 4 years? :-/

I've liked: The opportunity to journal and to have a creative conversation with myself over 4 years.

I've disliked: thinking that I perhaps won't use it for 4 years (such a long time)!

But finally, I've really liked the chance to sit and be creative for 15 minutes a day. I've enjoyed the challenge to take time to think creatively every day, and the fact that I can make the projects as small or as complex as I want/feel creatively inspired to do. 

I've really enjoyed this book so far and I look forward to making it a fun daily routine!

I received this book from the Blogging for Books program in exchange for this review.