9/28/11, F-C Pitt Artist Pen, water-soluble pencil, Moleskine sketchbook |
At the age of 52, after a lifetime of saying “I can’t draw,” I started drawing. Or I should say I again “started” drawing as I had every year for the previous five years or so, usually around January as a new year’s resolution to “learn to draw.” I’ve read countless books on drawing (including Betty Edwards’ Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain twice and Danny Gregory’s The Creative License five times), and taken several classes. Each time, a few weeks into the process, I got frustrated and gave up. As a mixed-media artist, a writer my whole life, and a generally creative person, I thought my lack of drawing skills was holding me back, not just from artistic expression but also from more creativity.
I was wrong. It wasn’t my inability to draw that was holding me back. It was my belief in my inability to draw. I decided to change that belief. This blog is about what happens when a belief changes.
(In July 2020, I talked about my path to drawing on the Erasable Podcast.)