iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

A Cowen @oamyoamy.bsky.social · 12/11/2025

A pile of these bears gave me some trouble trying to get a photograph, but I love how this one of just these two worked out in black and white. Sometimes the simplest things remind us so much of someone. I hope we all have the chance to become real. illustratedlife.substack.com/p/muffy-vand...

illustratedlife.substack.com

Of Otters, Bears, and Becoming Real

From the bears to the paintings on the wall

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A Cowen @oamyoamy.bsky.social · 11/11/2025

I do like November for a #gratitude mindset reset. You, too? Here are some practical, no-nonsense reminders for nurturing a gratitude mindset and making a gratitude practice a habit. --> illustratedlife.substack.com/i/177438984/...

A table-top tableaux of tarot, coffee, solo rpg dice, keyboard, and graphic novels

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A Cowen @oamyoamy.bsky.social · 29/09/2025

Sketchnoting some talks, essays, interviews, and videos for practice. Debbie Millman on designing a life you love: illustratedlife.substack.com/p/loose-leaf... #sketchnote

illustratedlife.substack.com

Sketchnote - Debbie Millman on Designing a Life You Love

Loose Leaf 01 and notes from the week, plus a “design a life you love” sketchnote

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A Cowen @oamyoamy.bsky.social · 23/07/2025

Rock, paper, scissors, star. Writing letters. Hoping my reader emerges. illustratedlife.substack.com/p/epistolary...

illustratedlife.substack.com

Crow, Dove, Poet

A letter, a chant, and the echo of light from a star

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A Cowen @oamyoamy.bsky.social · 20/05/2025

I’ve participated in ICAD a number of times through the years -- and done some series I really loved. Here’s a bit of a retrospective (my 2024 post). illustratedlife.substack.com/p/index-card...

illustratedlife.substack.com

Index-Card-A-Day (ICAD) 2024

Thoughts on ICAD 2024, a classic summer art challenge on index card

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A Cowen @oamyoamy.bsky.social · 20/05/2025

ICAD is an excellent way to start/boost/rekindle your create habit in June/July -- using simple index cards. #creativelife #dyicad2025

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A Cowen @oamyoamy.bsky.social · 20/05/2025

Had some fun with a recursive Robert Graves poem -- and the Droste effect. illustratedlife.substack.com/p/tawny-yell... (Image: Wikimedia)

Droste cocoa tin that demonstrates what is known as the Droste effect of an image that repeasts in the same image

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A Cowen @oamyoamy.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

We just finished Week 2 of our Making Comics read/draw-along. It's great to see so many people jumping in. I have to admit I woke up this morning and drew Batman (part of Week 3) and realized.... yes, yes, I can. You can, too! illustratedlife.substack.com/p/making-com... #comics

illustratedlife.substack.com

Making Comics—Week 2

Reflections on Week Two of working through Lynda Barry's Making Comics with a new appreciation for our bones

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A Cowen @oamyoamy.bsky.social · 12/05/2025

Making a list of poems that are good to memorize (for someone looking to spend a week at a time with a poem). Just did the NYT Millay week, and looking to do more. Old enough that memorization takes some work. Suggestions? #poetry #BlueSkyPoetry

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A Cowen @oamyoamy.bsky.social · 12/05/2025

Enjoying working through Making Comics with a few people. This broccoli moment was great!

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A Cowen @oamyoamy.bsky.social · 05/05/2025

So many reasons to keep an illustrated journal. Now.... I need to just get better at indexing and organizing them. That's an important step I've neglected.

illustratedlife.substack.com

13 Reasons to Keep an Illustrated Journal

Thoughts on the value of keeping an illustrated journal + a Starter Kit postcard prompt

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A Cowen @oamyoamy.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

Starting an informal re-read of Lynda Barry's Making Comics. I've read it & Syllabus before, but I'm looking forward to it. Happy to have a small group already joining in. Just getting started if you are interested. illustratedlife.substack.com/p/making-com... #diarycomics #graphicnovels #comics

illustratedlife.substack.com

Making Comics—Getting Started

Rereading Lynda Barry with a small group. Here we go!

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A Cowen @oamyoamy.bsky.social · 22/04/2025

Decluttering (at the pace of a glacier). I’m having as much trouble getting rid of this old GameBoy Color as I am trashing piles of academic papers and readings from the early nineties.

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A Cowen @oamyoamy.bsky.social · 14/04/2025

Following the #harvard news as they reject the terms. Buried in that letter.... a BAN on masks? "Harvard must implement a comprehensive mask ban with serious and immediate penalties for violation, not less than suspension."

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A Cowen @oamyoamy.bsky.social · 14/04/2025

Thinking about doing a group re-read of Lynda Barry's Making Comics.... I floated the idea in Sunday's post at Illustrated Life. Thinking about it.

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A Cowen @oamyoamy.bsky.social · 14/04/2025

So looking forward to this new book from @goraina.bsky.social & @scottmccloud.bsky.social coming in at my library!

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Reposted by A Cowen

Jamie McKelvie @mckelvie.bsky.social · 23/10/2024

I have a joke about Sisyphus but it's long and tedious and just as I'm about to get to the punchline I lose my thread and have to start from the beginning again

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A Cowen @oamyoamy.bsky.social · 06/04/2025

Make someone’s day … feel more connected… send a #postcard. Monthly prompt series. open.substack.com/pub/illustra...

open.substack.com

Postcard Prompt 7: Comics

A sequential art and "funny pages" throwback for April

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A Cowen @oamyoamy.bsky.social · 10/03/2025

100-day project is all about contours and some quirky rainbow topography. Two weeks in, and it's got an easy flow to it. A look at week two is in this recent post: illustratedlife.substack.com/p/open-the-gate

Three versions of a contour images of two women with a rainbow background

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A Cowen @oamyoamy.bsky.social · 24/02/2025

My grocery order arrived, and it looks like we also got someone else's order. (I know the store won't take it back because someone received our entire order before.) We sort of feel like we just won the lottery with the assortment of random food that arrived. A bit sad to be this excited, but true.

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A Cowen @oamyoamy.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

Week 8 #illustrateyourweek #illustratedjournal 2025. It’s a grounding process. Anything goes. Weekly prompts are shared on Sundays.

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A Cowen @oamyoamy.bsky.social · 19/02/2025

Drawing my kids on birthday week has become an annual tradition. I wish I had started doing this when they were young. open.substack.com/pub/illustra...

Desire to draw kids was a reason to start drawing

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A Cowen @oamyoamy.bsky.social · 16/02/2025

I draw on Sunday mornings with a few people via zoom. I usually get a pencil sketch in that I ink later as I start my week in my illustrated journal. It’s the most human contact I have all week! Weekly prompts shared on Sundays on Illustrated Life. #illustrateyourweek #illustratedjournal

Sketch of a woman in glasses and with short hair

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A Cowen @oamyoamy.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

I sure wish I still had a Mabel. A dog in the lap can make all the difference.

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A Cowen @oamyoamy.bsky.social · 13/02/2025

Week 6 2025 in #illustratedjournal. I share #illustrateyourweek prompts each week to help you fill in the spaces—if you like that approach. #documentyourlife

Illustrated journal page with portrait of woman blowing a gum bubble

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A Cowen @oamyoamy.bsky.social · 13/02/2025

Knowing kid bdays are coming made pulling this little doll out last week feel hyper-meaningful.... It seems that some readers found the image of the doll with the little star eye creepy. I'm thinking I should make him a little #lgbtq rainbow top. illustratedlife.substack.com/p/jack-with-...

illustratedlife.substack.com

Jack with his Purple Star Eye

I pulled a doll out to draw and found myself tumbling through time

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A Cowen @oamyoamy.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

Week 6 prompts for your illustrated journal. No denying the country is falling apart. Your journal is a good place to capture some details week to week, alone with some bits about your life. illustratedlife.substack.com/p/week-6-ill...

illustratedlife.substack.com

Week 6 Journal Prompts for Illustrate Your Week 2025

Prompts for Week 6 in your illustrated journal

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A Cowen @oamyoamy.bsky.social · 26/01/2025

For the language of it all… Reading The Right Word this week (about Peter Roget) was a delight. open.substack.com/pub/illustra...

open.substack.com

A Treasure of Word Lists

The whimsy of synonyms and a children's book about Roget's Thesaurus

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A Cowen @oamyoamy.bsky.social · 19/01/2025

An hour of drawing with a small group via zoom on sundays … the best human contact of the week. (Pencil sketch to ink later.) #portraitdrawing #drawingwithfriends

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A Cowen @oamyoamy.bsky.social · 19/01/2025

Moving forward with reading Proust for the first time. After considering multiple options, I think I’ll read the Carter translation. See three versions of a short passage in this post. Which would you choose? open.substack.com/pub/illustra... #proust #reading #booklist

open.substack.com

Reading Proust 0

Getting ready to read In Search of Lost Time for the first time.

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A Cowen @oamyoamy.bsky.social · 13/01/2025

For anyone keeping an illustrated journal of their lives, I share weekly prompts to help fill space or give ideas for things to draw, write about, or ponder on the page. Week 3 for 2025: illustratedlife.substack.com/p/week-3-ill... #illustratedjournal #illustrateyourweek #sketchbook

illustratedlife.substack.com

Week 3 Journal Prompts for Illustrate Your Week 2025

Prompts for Week 3 in your illustrated journal

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A Cowen @oamyoamy.bsky.social · 12/01/2025

Dropped my mom at the airport this morning - the end of a long visit. I’m glad that I captured some of the ordinary moments with digital drawings. If you draw, don’t overlook the beauty of drawing those you love. open.substack.com/pub/illustra...

open.substack.com

Draw the People You Love

A gist-of-mom series of snapshots of ordinary moments from a recent visit

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A Cowen @oamyoamy.bsky.social · 09/01/2025

Easing into the new year is okay.... it's okay to not have a full slate of goals, targets, and projects lined up. Take a breath! illustratedlife.substack.com/p/catch-your... #substackwriters #creativelife #lifewriting

illustratedlife.substack.com

Catch Your Breath! + Tracking Morning Light

Slow down....there are a lot of days yet to come.

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A Cowen @oamyoamy.bsky.social · 09/01/2025

A postcard prompt for the start of the year -- book stacks, first reads, and more. Jump in on this monthly postcard prompt series.... send a postcard! www.printmag.com/creative-pro... What's your first read of the year? #BookSky #creative #postcardprompts #tbr

printmag.com

Connecting Dots: A Book Stack Postcard Prompt – PRINT Magazine

What book is on your nightstand? What do you have checked out of the library? Amy Cowen offers a book stack postcard prompt for the new year.

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A Cowen @oamyoamy.bsky.social · 01/01/2025

Explaining more in a weekend post, but putting this image here just on the off-chance someone out there is like “me, too” on this day 1. I’m following some unseen thread. #proust

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A Cowen @oamyoamy.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

Anyone have reading Proust (again or for the first time) on tap? I’ve been sorting out translations. It was an out-of-the-blue decision, but for whatever reason, now is the time. #proust

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A Cowen @oamyoamy.bsky.social · 04/12/2024

Postcard prompt series for artists and writers (at substack and PRINT magazine). Prompt no. 3, December: a snowflake theme. illustratedlife.substack.com/p/send-a-sno...

illustratedlife.substack.com

Send a Snowflake in December

No two are the same. A snowflake-themed postcard prompt for the month.

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A Cowen @oamyoamy.bsky.social · 03/12/2024

Finished up 30 days of tracking morning light…Continuing for a bit though wondering how long until I sleep through the snooze. 😴 illustratedlife.substack.com/p/a-month-of... #lifewriting

illustratedlife.substack.com

A Month of Twilight

Into December we go, with a look back at the quite tones of morning

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A Cowen @oamyoamy.bsky.social · 18/11/2024

I drew a series of daily portraits of Substack writers in October. I posted some final thoughts and a look at the full set (of 31 plus a few extra) today. It was a good series to work on. open.substack.com/pub/illustra... #portraitdrawing #substackwriter #inktober

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A Cowen @oamyoamy.bsky.social · 14/11/2024

I don’t know any of the other people on this graph, but something about a system like this really works for me. Some of us respond to the tracking and the visible progress…and also the awareness there are others. — Tracking outside of nano this year. #lifewriting

Graph of daily word count during November writing.

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A Cowen @oamyoamy.bsky.social · 14/11/2024

New here - writer, illustrated journal keeper, portrait drawer, lgbtq+. Have to say the starter packs are amazingly helpful! Looking for writers in the creative non-fiction space/memoir, too. #creativenonfiction

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A Cowen @oamyoamy.bsky.social · 12/11/2024

Tracking morning sky this November with quick thumbnails of light outside the window. Definitely dark, cold, and hard to get up! open.substack.com/pub/illustra... #writer #documentlife

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A Cowen @oamyoamy.bsky.social · 10/11/2024

Week 45 in my illustrated journal for this year. #illustrateyourweek prompts #art #illustratedjournal

Illustrated journal pAGE showing portrait and text

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