Doodling: Tip #2, Experiment with New Mediums

I am notorious for drawing hearts, birds and flowers, and you know what? That's okay! I think we all have our "go to" icons when doodling, as soon as we hold a pen in our hand, it just becomes second nature. The hand draws what it "knows" how to draw. It's like driving home from work and realizing you're home already but you really don't remember all the traffic stops you made, as scary as it sounds, your mind was just on automatic and got you where you wanted to go without thinking. 
One way to keep things interesting and continue to evolve in your drawing abilities is to push yourself beyond your "automatic" setting, by consciously adding new details to your doodles and/or trying a new medium. And that's exactly what I did last week. 
Since I've been trying to improve my hand lettering abilities, I have practicing daily the last couple of months. I've gotten pretty comfortable with it, not so much to where I would take on a commission project, but comfortable enough to try my craft on a new medium. Being the pen/marker hoarder that I am, I had purchased a set of ceramic pens around Christmas time thinking they would come in handy for my holiday crafts. They did, but I didn't create anything magical or worth sharing until now. I took those pens to a set of plain coffee mugs and THIS happened. Yes, I was nervous about possibly ruining the mugs, but I figured I could always use them to plant some succulents in them. Luckily, I love how they turned out! Especially this one. I really like the way the metallic ink adds to the overall design. Yes, I let my hand draw what it automatically draws: hearts, "love" lettering and dots; but I applied those icons in a different combination while using a new medium - and I surprised myself! I want you to surprise yourself too and I encourage you to try a new medium whenever you have the chance. If you normally doodle with pen, use water colors. If you normally use black pen, use two different color markers instead. Try anything as long as it's a new creative process for you and don't give up if it doesn't turn out to your liking your first time around. Once you practice enough, you'll come to another break through in your artistic growth and just like that, you'll be ready for your next challenge. 
~ Dio