Catching Up

Drawing every day, I have not only been learning how to draw better, but I have also been learning a bit about myself.

February 12, 2016

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

February 13, 2016 

In the past, I have only created art when I felt like it.  I had to be in the mood to draw, or paint, or do one of the many crafts I enjoy.  I had, and still have, a lot of resistance to the act of creating.  This is mostly due to my fears and judgement of the potential outcome of any creative project.  Will it be good enough for the time I spent on it?  How will it compare to other artist’s work?  Will it look childish and awkward?  Well, very often, my drawings and paintings do not look as I had in mind when I started the piece and I am frequently disappointed in the outcome.

The point, I have discovered, is that I need to make myself draw anyway.  It is obvious in my mind that is the only way I will improve, but, my anxiety often keeps me from actually putting pen, pencil, or paint to paper.  By making this commitment to myself to draw every day and to post on Instagram, and here on my blog, I am forced to draw sometimes when I am tired, when I am distracted by life, when I just don’t feel much like drawing.  Most the time though, once I begin the drawing, I lose myself in the lines, the shape, the form of whatever I am drawing at the moment.  My daily drawing becomes a meditation in seeing – a practice, not a product.

February 14, 2016

February 15, 2016

February 16, 2016

February 17, 2016

February 18, 2016

February 19, 2016

February 20, 2016

Like most things in life, it is the tiny little acts we do each day that make the most difference, not larger gestures.  Each drawing is a tiny step forward in my journey as an artist and in my soul journey as well.  That thought helps me to stay committed to this practice.