The Art of Playing Part II

     I am laughing at myself as I write this. Because once upon a time, several years ago, I wrote a blog post somewhere about how I had come to value art instruction, and the skills I had learned from my two years of art classes in high school. I wrote that I needed more art classes cuz I was getting frustrated with my work and wanted someone to SHOW me how to do it.

    I take it all back. Well most of it. I DID learn some useful stuff in my high school art classes. Basics like  to draw what you see, where to draw a shadow, proportions, perspective and all that good stuff that did bump me up a bit in the skills department. (Altho, honestly, I think the most useful think I learned was how to draw curls of ribbon! lol)
   
    But before I took those classes, I LOVED drawing. I loved the process and I loved the results. I would experiment & play with new media & try different things. 

    After I took classes, art wasn’t like that anymore.  Art was SERIOUS BUSINESS & stressful. I had to have a reference photo, and sketch out the proportions, erase the same lines over and over and usually end up hating the end result. I couldn’t just sit down and draw from my imagination anymore. I couldn’t just grab my crayolas & whatever else I could find. I had to have the RIGHT tools. I had to do things the RIGHT way. I was embarrassed by the drawings I had done before- which I had loved when I did them! 

    This started a cycle where I would get disgusted with myself and put away my sketchbook for months, and a few times, even years at a time.

    I stopped doing “real” drawings again a year and a half ago. I have stuck to writing & doodling in my notebooks. I was at my friend Sara’s house working in our Smash*books & I showed her something I had done. She told me she thought it was cool how I liked my own pages. Which got me thinking about all this. I DO usually like my pages.. and even if I don't like the end result- I still liked doing them. My notebooks are still FUN. My art teacher never saw my notebooks, they are not SERIOUS BUSINESS and I was never taught the “right” way to do them. They were my place where I could still play & experiment & enjoy the process.  I want to bring that same energy back to the rest of my art.

     This is the first drawing I’ve done in ages. I love her. I did it without a reference photo (except for the pocket watch) & used watercolours, coloured pencils (crayolas even!), gel pens & probably some other stuff I’m forgetting. And oh yeah- it was fun. :D

her fins, eyes & webbing in her hands sparkle :)