No. 14: Commencement Sentiments and Settling into 50

Plus a few class announcements!

Hi everyone,

Thank you so much for the birthday wishes. It has been a fun and interesting time for me, celebrating my fiftieth birthday in 2023. A lot of feelings are still sneaking up on me. I am trying to just roll with it and focus on the positive rather than the number of years—a number that in this moment seems so big, but from another perspective, is still so young. Encountering this milestone at the same time that my niece and nephews are graduating from high school and college has also been interesting. The messages in posts and the speeches about the future and the possibilities in the years ahead seem completely relevant to me.

I listened to Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson deliver the commencement speech at Middlebury College this past weekend, and I was jotting down notes so quickly, as if I needed to absorb every word. I have always remembered words best when I have written them down—it’s how I got through school. (Dr. Johnson says on a recent Instagram post that the speech will be published soon, and when I find that link, I will be sure to share it.) One line from her speech, which I wrote in my sketchbook, is so simple: “What if we behave as if we love the future?” My goal is to live these words as much as possible.

In a family group chat, my husband sent this piece in The Guardian highlighting some of the best graduation speeches from this 2023 season. I was struck by two composed in a similar vein as Dr. Johnson’s:

Do not allow hardships, personal or existential, to become a barrier to your ability to look ahead with hope. Rather, embrace the challenge and take the building blocks of lessons you’ve learned during your most trying times—times you wanted to quit or run away or thought the path ahead was just too dark to even attempt to find the light. Take these experiences with you. Embrace them and use your experience to face the challenges ahead. Because you are more than capable. You are enough. —Karine Jean-Pierre, White House press secretary

And this from Oprah: You start by being good to at least one other person, every single day. Just start there. That’s how you begin to change the world. I love this. It’s so simple, but so true. It is kindness that will create change and a future worth loving!

Graduation speeches are as much for the parents and grandparents—and, apparently, for random onlookers!—as they are for the students, and I am so thankful to be reading them as I embark on life on the other side of that “big” number.

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Three color variations of the same illustration

I have had an interesting conversation on Instagram about the coloring of the above illustration that I recently completed in my sketchbook. The three old buildings seen in the small town of Bristol, Vermont this past weekend were so colorful — similar to the image on the left— but when I was about to share a glimpse in my stories, and I scrolled through the different filters, I stopped at the black and white version. At that moment I much preferred it in black and white. So I decided to ask what others thought, and many people agreed that it works really well without color. Today I added a sepia version to the mix. What do you think? Note: There is no reason for this question other than curiosity!

Meanwhile, I have a lot of class announcements coming up, and while I am excited about all of them, the promoting is completely overwhelming. So I will just take it one step at a time. See below:

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Handwritten Invitations with Derwent - June 13th at 4pm

In this free one-hour class, we will work on creating unique and personal invitations using your own handwriting as a starting point. I am so excited to share how even the messiest handwriting can be used with intention to communicate and create keepsake, celebrated and useful pieces of art. We will work with pencils, fine line permanent pens and Derwent Inktense paint pans or pencils. Bring an open mind and let’s play with our handwriting and transform it into lettering. Click here to reserve your spot!

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What’s Behind The Door? - June 29th at 1pm EST/7pm GMT+2

I am excited to be hosting a class with my friend David Morales. We connected a few years back over our mutual love of drawing the everyday world around us and became fast friends. His work is so inspiring, and I especially admire how he works in just pen alone, and acheives so much with one tool.

We decided to open some doors in our home and draw what’s inside or behind them as the focus of the class. We will be sharing some reference images to those of you who register, so you can follow along with us. Or you can open the doors in your home and draw from your own reference. David and I will draw (and I will paint) live while answering questions, and there will be time for guests to share work at the end. We have an amazing moderator helping us host the class.

If you are unable to attend the live class, the recording will be sent to everyone who registers a day or two after the event.

For all details and to register, click here.

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Draw Your World Subscriber Meet-Up

The next Draw Your World meet-up will be shared via my Substack chat. My guest for the next one will be the incredibly talented France Van Stone, author of Sketch. These casual talks and drawing sessions, that I host via Zoom, are a part of the paid subscriber portion of this publication. If you upgrade today you will be sent meet-up invitations and have access to all posts that have been sent to paid subscribers.

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My new Skillshare class: DRAWING EVERYDAY: Motivational Sketchbook Practices for Creative Fulfillment will be live and available to watch in the next week. It is so close!

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Ambassador and Affiliate codes

If you’ve been following my work for a while, you know I am a loyal fan of Blackwing pencils. I have one or two (or even three) in my bag at all times. I am really honored that they have just added me as an official ambassador for the brand. If you’d like to try out the pencils for yourself, and also help support my work, please shop using my unique link, blackwing602.com/sdionbaker. When you purchase using my link, there’s no additional cost to you and I earn a small commission. I appreciate your support!

Additionally, all Canvas lights and accessories are 10% off with my discount code: SDB10. They just introduced a mini light, so there are even more options to choose from!