On Easter Monday Folk on Foot – a podcast hosted by Matthew Bannister – put together an impressive line-up for their ‘Front Room Festival’ – viewable via Youtube from the comfort of your own domicile. Here are the sketches I made throughout the day. A pleasant way to enjoy a day off.
Having started Sketchtember last year (as a kind of prelude to the popular Inktober) I felt duty-bound to have another go this year, although as John Lennon once sang: ‘Life is what happens while you’re busy making other plans…’ It’s been a hectic month, and I only got around to a bardic dozen, but for the record – here they are. I enjoyed doing them, and, of course, it’s about process, not product – I find sketching can be relaxing when I’m not too tired. I wish I sketched more often, without any arbitrary goals like this – but, there you go! It helped stop my sketching muscle from completely atrophying. Now all I have to do is keep the practice going all year round…
Diary of a Viva Ninja: Day 32
More ergodic displacement activity…
YOU have embarked on a quest to become an Academic of Phire-Top Mountain. You have entered the Chamber of Testing, and are engaged in a perilous Duel of Wits and Cunning with Level-7 Academic-mages. Hold onto your Pouch of Vulnerability…Â
Page 11
The External offers you an ‘icebreaker’ – something about you favourite part of the research. Do you…
Page 14
After the ‘warm-up’ the examiners lay in with some tough questions. Do you…
Page 21
The examiners really start to drill down into the detail, referring to specific parts of your thesis. You feel your labour of love is being mercilessly torn apart. Do you…
To be continued…
DIARY OF A VIVA NINJA – DAY 11-12
Although this is tangential I thought I’d include it anyway. Last month I came up with a drawing challenge – one pencil sketch a day for 30 days – which I called #Sketchtember. It provided a gentle incentive to draw, which I find relaxing. And I did manage it most days, except when I was extremely busy/away from home with work. Despite these missed days, I still managed 30 sketches (plus extra, because I did a couple of ‘warm ups’ before the month began). I wanted to offer it as an example of the kind of micro-projects that make up a PhD – not sketching necessarily (although my transmedia approach did encompass that – see my research website www.thesecretcommonwealth.com). But a PhD is all about good project management and self-discipline. Setting yourself regular goals – short-, mid-, and long-term (and rewarding yourself when you complete them!). Focusing on a priority task first, then working your way down the list, basically – but ‘little and often’ is far better, (e.g. daily) than trying to do too much. To avoid being overwhelmed, or burning out, small, achievable tasks are better for the motivation. Recently, in preparing for my Viva, I’ve tried to focus on one key task each day. Something I can achieve in an hour or two. This stops the feeling of ‘never enough’. Yes, there is always more you can do, but zoom in on one thing at a time. Get that done. Then next day, when you’re fresh, start on the next on the list. It is important not to beat yourself up about ‘slippages’ – days off; days missed. Life happens. The main thing is to focus on what you have achieved. And now and then, (e.g. once a week) look back and take stock. You’ll be surprised by how far you have come, and how much you have done.
SKETCHTEMBER sketches by Kevan Manwaring September 2018
Dr Kevan Manwaring 