Valerie says, "If you follow this blog, you probably read my last post, a few weeks ago, titled Going Beyond the Stickman. I'm happy to report that, after 3 drawing lessons, I am already beyond the stickman and definitely well beyond all my expectations!
Doing something that is completely out of your comfort zone can be both scary and humbling, especially when you're not a kid anymore. When I decided to embark in this new drawing adventure, I had no expectations other that finding another way to be 'in the moment' outside of photography. After all, my middle school art teacher strongly discouraged all art endeavors due to my "lack of artistic skills". She is probably the reason why I waited so long to pursue photography. When I think about it now, I was scarred very early by an art teacher who should never have been allowed to influence fragile young minds.
I always wanted to know if anyone could learn to draw or paint without any predisposition or innate talent. Since I could hardly draw a stickman, I thought I would test the theory myself. Could I learn simple techniques to draw three dimensional objects for example?
After three lessons with Donna Webb, a local artist, I can tell you that I never thought I would even come close to achieving the exercises pictured above. It's very basic and I may never get any better, but it's better than I thought I could ever do after a couple of lessons.
I'm convinced that anyone can learn to become a painter, a drawing artist, a musician, a photographer, etc. but what will differentiate the true artist from the amateur is an innate talent that very few people have. I can already say for sure that I am not a natural drawing artist BUT I am having so much fun, and that's all that matters!
I am looking forward to learning all about drawing perspectives next week!
What's next? Learning to the play the cello possibly..." Read more
