25 March 2011

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.

4 comments:

  1. Great story. Drawing's muscle and needs exercise. Buy some decent pencils and the thickest sketch pad you can find, draw as much as you can everyday and don't be put off by making a lot of really horrible drawings. Copy great works, read good books on perspective, composition and anatomy and learn the rules before you discard them. Look at everything!!! More than that though enjoy it. I've got dozenz of sketches of my kids and of days out with them and they mean more to me than all the photos we have.

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  2. I once asked an artist how he got to be so good and he replied 'practice, practice and more practice' I think the EDM group is a great place to start for anyone just beginning :)
    Lovely birthday card!

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