birthday card for Shirley

Recently someone commented on my Flickr site that they would like to learn to draw and asked if I could tell them my experience. I thought what I wrote might help someone else . . . .

In 2005, I was afraid to even try to draw again. While growing up, I drew all the time, but had not done so since and now I was 51. But a friend asked me to come with her to a small watercolor class. I had never tried watercolor but felt this was actually from the Lord --- that He was gently leading me back into art. Otherwise, how would this friend have ever known I was once interested in it?

I played around for a couple of years but without much direction. Then I found so many sketchers and painters on Flickr . . . . and then found the Everyday Matters (EDM) group and their weekly drawing challenge. One day in May 2007, I bought a sketchbook and did my first sketch. Then a second one. For a long time, I simply did the EDM challenge list, one drawing at a time. Eventually that gave me confidence and I began to post them on-line (shaking in my boots as I did so!)

This is like learning to play an instrument or driving a car or even learning to write your own name (which is just a line drawn) . . . . the more you DO IT, the more confidence you gain and the more comfortable you become. I never think I'm as good as I want to be, but I think that is a universal feeling. Just keep striving to be better. As you do, your own personal style just sort of "happens" and you grow.