Journal 7: Drawing Every Day (Hopefully)

If there’s one thing that I think is a major drawback and problem of mine, it is drawing. I don’t draw enough. It’s intimidating to stare at a blank page and try to start something. I always feel like as if I’m going to mess up and the crispness of the sheet of paper would be ruined. To change that, I’ve started to keep a sketchbook, where I will attempt to draw every day. It can be in any medium, any subject. As long as I pick up a pencil and start making marks on the page, I will have succeeded. I feel like last year my art really took to a standstill and halted in progress and motivation for various reasons. I didn’t really see any improvement and just felt bland and uninterested in everything I worked on. I think the only way to improve on your art skills really is to just draw more. I never really took the time to do lots of sketches or anything like that, which I think set me back in terms of proportions and just experience. It made me scared to start anything new because I would have an image in mind of what I wanted the piece to look like, and while it might evolve as I worked on the piece, if what I had on the canvas or paper wasn’t matching up with what I was picturing in my head, I would just want to quit and I would be scared of continuing on with the piece. I think by drawing every day it will help to develop my style and kind of hone in on what I gravitate towards more and make it easier for me to start pieces.