I'm tired of telling myself that I can't draw. I spend time looking at art and drawings and all my inner critic has to say about it is, "you could never do that!" It was enlightening for me to see the Passport To Paris exhibit at the Denver Art Museum last week because there was a drawing room set up that included sketches, sketchbook pages, drawings from artists whose finished paintings are usually all that I see. When I see a finished painting it is easy to imagine that an artist just stood there and quickly created the masterpiece. That might be true for some artists - past, present and future. But for many, getting art out and onto a canvas or page is not that simple. Seeing that these artists spent time sketching, doodling, practicing their ability to see and then expressing their vision on a page was important to me. It reminded me that sometimes it just begins with a pen and a piece of paper and some practice. So this morning I ignored my inner critic (even though it was really LOUD and tried every trick in the book to distract me) and I picked up a pen and a sketchbook and looked at Buddy and decided to draw. I see Buddy in my sketch - I can feel his spirit in the simple line drawing. Today I took time to prove myself wrong. I can draw. All it takes is a pen and some paper and some time and patience. And I can keep drawing. And it will help me see and experience my world on a whole different level. This morning I see Buddy differently and I am happy to say that I started my day off showing myself how wrong I was.
1 comment:
Yes! You can draw. I think we have to remember that drawing is not like taking a photograph which will create or copy the scene exactly. Drawing, while it can be very precise, doesn't have to be. It is basically creating from scratch what we see and allowing us to add or delete whatever we like. Drawing can be simple or detailed. And like most hobbies, as we practice we can go from the simple to the detailed or stop anywhere along the way that we are most comfortable or that we want to take in another direction. Like the painter who needs only to roughly sketch the scene before the paint is added as opposed to the artist that needs the detail such as for instance someone creating a pen and ink drawing of your home.
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