Drawing

it takes time

Life drawing class. Charcoal, circa 1990

In my formative years, I watched my naturally talented friends draw and came to believe that I would never be able to do it, or at least do it well enough to meet my own standards. By that, I mean the ability to draw or paint realistically. I wanted to be an artist with a capital A.

My art education consisted of occasional grade school class trips to the Washington, DC National Gallery of Art and two teachers who were not very good at teaching art (not to mention the one who “lost” my entire senior year portfolio—I like to think it was because it was so good she kept it.

Driven to create, I turned to crafts, which were booming in the 1970s. I did quilting, basket weaving, tole painting, macrame, and magazine page collages. It was all satisfying, but the longing to learn how to draw still lingered.

Although I was busy working, raising two, and creating three more children in the 80s, I still wanted to learn how to draw. I somehow snuck away to evening classes at the University of MD and ended up in Applied Design and later Interior Design. I can’t say that is where I learned to draw, but it is definitely where I learned to see. To draw, you not only have to know how to see, but what to see. Being immersed in the principles and elements of design, it all began to make sense. I finally knew what it meant to “see like an artist.” Everything changed when one of my instructors commented on one of my first drawing assignments, saying I had a very strong drawing style.

The pivotal drawing assignment in APDS 101, 1983

“I have a style?” was my first reaction. Her comment changed everything. Rather than aiming for perfection in realistic drawing, I realized I should aim for my own style. I found a local art teacher and even took a life drawing class at a local art center. I finally realized that I could draw and paint realistically.

My first oil painting, done in a private lesson, 1993

But here’s the thing. It takes me a really, really long time to do it. And during those crowded, tumultuous years, I needed something more immediate. I wanted instant gratification—something I could do on a moment’s notice, in a houseful of kids, in fragments of time. That is why, during the January ice storm of 2001, I began making small fabric collages with photos and quotes called Fragments.

Now, a few days shy of 72, my life is still full and busy, but now it is of my own making. There is still so much I want to do, learn, and create. Just knowing that I can draw and paint realistically is enough for now. It’s a skill in my back pocket that I can pull out if and when the time is right. I am inching into that right time now.

If there is something you have been wanting to learn how to do but fear you’ll fail, do it. Learning a new skill takes time; some skills take more time than others, but knowing that you tried just might be enough if you can fulfill a dream or a goal.

Quotes of the Week

I’d gone through life believing in the strength and competence of others;
never in my own. Now, dazzled, I discovered that my capacities were real.
It was like finding a fortune in the lining of an old coat.
Joan Mills

I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it.
Pablo Picasso

You can fly when you decide you can.
 Og Mandino