I want to learn how to draw…I mean I really want to learn. It’s something I’ve wanted for a long time, but for some reason I’m afraid. Sounds silly, but I’m afraid of being a miserable failure at it. Sure, I took the required classes through high school, but unfortunately I didn’t really enjoy them and I don’t think what I produced was very good. At this point, I certainly don’t remember anything I may have been taught.
Whenever something comes up requiring a tad bit of drawing I….conveniently fade into the woodwork so someone else can be assigned. See…silly, right? I think my problem is that my personal expectations far exceed what they should be. I’m expecting that I’ll draw what actually looks like something, when in fact, it’ll look like a really bad Picasso (no offense meant to Picasso).
What I’m not afraid of is over-preparing…you know what I mean. If I’m going to do this, I need ALL the supplies to do it right first…never mind that I really don’t even know what supplies I need or what half this crap even does! So, I end up with a beautiful collection of pens, pencils, pastels, paints, paper…you know, all the “P” you need…except PLUCK to actually tackle my desire to draw.
First Step – Get a Coach
I shared my tale of woe with one of my former residents when I worked at a retirement community. He was one of my amazing artists in residence, and did pencil drawing, painting, sculpting, woodcarving…you know, the multi-talented type. Beautiful 
stuff! He offered to get me started, found a picture of a bluebird, and actually drew me an outline to get going. He gave me a bit of coaching to start, and then I left the company. I’ve worked at that drawing for a long time, adding a pencil stroke here and there. I’m now to the point of it actually looking like a bird, feathers and all…not bad, really. Now it’s time to give it some color…
And I’m scared to death…I’m afraid I’ll ruin it!!
Part of me really wonders if I have no eye for it. Do my eyes not connect with my hand? Or my brain doesn’t connect to my eye or my hand. Maybe I’m just a putz about this whole thing and I should dive right in.
I have three boards out on Pinterest – Artist in Hiding,Doodle Dandy, and Card Art. I’ve collected pins for quite some time as inspiration (or pinspiration), in the hopes at some time I’ll get my guts up and actually try some of it. In the meantime, I have the best selection of “Ps” on the planet, ready for me to dive right in…I must be ready when the art fairy arrives!
