Learning to Draw

By -
oi vey. what can i say?

I cannot draw. Not the way I would like to draw. Unfortunately most of my family and my closest friends have raw natural ability which leaves me feeling both completely inadequate and awed in equal measures.

Two of these friends are now instrumental in helping to prove (to me) that I can actually draw (paint, execute) images that don't make me want to rage and spit.

Michelle, she also teaches Faith home ec and is the art teacher at the school, is giving drawing lessons every tuesday morn. As she says it is a 'Learn to See' course and not an actual 'learn to draw' course. There is much talk about left and right brain....needless to say I am extremely LEFT brained but have learnt so much in just 3 lessons. She has given me a 'money-back guarantee' so am guessing she really does have the magic bullet! ;-)


This is wrong on so many levels but I still love my little  'Avatar' girl


 Flowrs (formerly my trailrunning buddy of 2012 and now turned 'almost full-time selling artist') is spending time with me teaching me to paint using acrylics and other mediums. Both these women are phenomenal artists with extremely different styles and points of view. I am so fortunate to have them sharing their knowledge with me.

my first acrylic/neocolours creation

I also have artists in my family....my mom AND my stepmom are both artists. I have grown up with it in my space but it is not a raw talent - it is a skill I am going to have to LEARN and work HARD to develop.



I am also taking an acrylics course online which requires daily time and practice - YouTube is a beautiful thing and so many talented people share freely with the world.

Here is the thing : there are many, many things I want to learn to do. It may sound hardcore but I have decided to spend only 3 months pouring my time and energy into drawing/painting and seeing if I can produce ANYTHING that satisfies the restlessness in me. I do NOT want to be a selling artist - I simply want to see if I can find joy in executing images in my head. I do not want to go through life saying I CANT until I have really tried.

If my frustration is still peaking at the end of my 'trial' I will move on to other lurking passions and go from there. It sounds clinical but there you go - Left Brain Mel is in the house!

Comments

Valkyrie said…
It really is all about training your eyes and not your hands :)
August 7, 2013 at 9:12 PM
Ordinarylife said…
I fully agree that it is all about learning to see and not about learning to draw. I tell anybody that they can learn how to do it. I was told at primary school by my art teacher not to do art as a subject in high school as I showed no talent... what ever! Luckily I had a fantastic art teacher in Std 6, and although I did not end up doing it as a subject she did give me the confidence to continue drawing. I however cannot draw things out my head. I need to copy something, even if its a person in front of me.
August 7, 2013 at 10:10 PM
Ordinarylife said…
Ps. I think your painting is stunning!
August 7, 2013 at 10:11 PM
allie. said…
I think you totally underestimate yourself -
I'm with Ordinarylife: your acrylic/neo-whatevers painting is wonderful.
How can you not see that!?
August 7, 2013 at 10:21 PM
Anonymous said…
Hosh posh - what's this can't draw stuff? Have to agree with Allie & Ordinarylife here - not only is it wonderful but just putting it out there is flippen brave!
August 7, 2013 at 10:30 PM
Anonymous said…
Don't think you'll have to practice for too long ... your acrylic is gorgeous.
August 8, 2013 at 6:43 AM
ANNE said…
I can already see a confidence - that painting is GOOD! Enjoy!
August 8, 2013 at 7:52 AM
Unknown said…
Love the acrylic! Just enjoy :-))
August 8, 2013 at 9:12 AM
Marleen Swart said…
I think you did a great job. Better than most individuals and guts you have too. Sit nie sommer in enige iemand se broek om te doen wat jy doen nie.
August 8, 2013 at 10:22 AM
Unknown said…
I'm so proud of you for sharing this post. You are so creative my friend and the fact that you see it in your head is huge! I was like ordinaryLife, I always need a refer until this past 2 years... my challenge was to draw without a reference and just work with whatever comes. You are doing both! Good for you... your drawings are good and the more you practice - the better you will become! Proud of YOU!
August 12, 2013 at 10:58 AM
Lynette Jacobs said…
It is wonderful that you took the step Mel. You are doing good, don't be so hard on yourself. I can't draw...but boy can I throw mixed media on a canvas :-P
August 14, 2013 at 2:37 PM
Julia said…
I LOVE it. You are brave to step out of your comfort zone with this stuff. I wouldn't even try!
September 2, 2013 at 8:01 PM
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