Exploring Art
Why do you draw? Or...why don't you?
I have always really enjoyed drawing. Primarily horses, but eventually I added fine ladies in pretty dresses to my repertoire. In college, I doodled in my (extensive) handwritten notes. Sometimes I’d end up with full page illustrations. They weren’t amazing high art or anything, but they made me happy. Kept me sane in a time of extreme mental and emotional stress (I went to an intense school).
After college, I realized I wasn’t drawing much because I was no longer sitting in lectures. I decided I wanted to get back into it. I bought a book of Da Vinci’s sketches and a sketch book, then sternly told myself that this sketchbook was FREE GAME. It was OKAY to use it. I could sketch on a page—anything I wanted, for as long as I wanted, stop when I wanted and then start a new page. I told myself I didn’t have to finish a drawing before moving on to another one, and that I could come back any time, or not. This is excruciatingly difficult to convince oneself of. But it was vital to me taking up art again. The freedom to mess up, make “mistakes,” or—perhaps more importantly—make something sub par, is so important. For everyone, not just artists.
You don’t have to be perfect all the time. You can derive joy from smearing color on a page, it doesn’t have to look like anything in particular when you’re done. For me, it is about enjoying the process.
I don’t have the discipline or inclination to be a photo-realistic artist. I have been to many art museums and seen some oil paints so fine they looked like photographs. But as I stood looking at this incredible feat of artistry…I realized I wasn’t that interested in creating something that could just be a photograph.
While, yes, I do sell my art, I ultimately make art just because I like to. I would be making art even if there weren’t print on demand platforms or people didn’t occasionally ask me to paint things for them. I suppose I’m saying that if you think you might enjoy smearing color or charcoal on paper, you should try it. Give yourself permission to do something purely for enjoyment. You never know where it might lead, and it doesn’t have to lead to side hustle. It could just lead to a bit of peace inside.
Mature Me Who Nods Along To the Point of Your Post: Yes, yes, drawing is a creative outlet and it doesn't depend on your skill level to benefit from it.
Actual Me Looking at Your Pictures: WELL IF I COULD DRAW LIKE THAT I'D DO IT MORE OFTEN
I love your animals. I know you're not striving for realism per se, but they look so alive!
I used to draw--sketch really. I did it almost as much as I wrote in jr high and high school. I fell out of both in college. While I've picked writing back up, I haven't done the same with drawing. One day I hope. In the meantime, I have fun combining different colors with my kids while they color.