Yesterday I was talking a bit about the difference in feeling between “have to do” and “just being” activities. I don’t know if other people feel the same way or make those same distinctions, but wow – I’ve been doing this since I was a kid. Cleaning my desk was a “have to do” and I spent so much more time not making any progress at all with that than I would have spent if I had just been able to go in with a happy attitude and neaten stuff up. And once art classes became electives instead of required coursework (at about age 12 or so) I was absolutely determined to NOT take art classes in school. The prospect of a teacher assigning a “have to do” art project, or teaching me “the right way” to do certain art techniques sounded nearly terrifying to me. (Which is kind of crazy, because all of my art teachers in previous years were just wonderful at encouraging creativity and exploration.)
By age 14 or so I had it all figured out. I had visions of growing up and getting some kind of good paying job, living in the cheapest little apartment in some city with a big dog (required because of course that cheap apartment would be in an unsafe area), live super cheap, save my money and then quit work as young as possible and figure out how to be an artist. How’s that for a child’s concept of “have to do” versus “just being”.
Of course life did not progress exactly according to my childhood plans – but even though the path was quite roundabout, the basic vision and values stayed the same.
Through all of those years between then and now, I did a lot of drawing – and a lot of it was very much like what I draw now. But for some reason I just always threw out everything I drew whenever my clipboard started to get too full. Being an artist was something I had penciled in for a later stage in my life – and it wasn’t until around 2005 that I started holding on to the things I drew.
Let’s continue with this tomorrow. 🙂
Here’s a slide show with my step by step slow coloring progress:
Today’s book: More Flowers For Crayons And Wide Tipped Markers
Colored with: Faber Castell Polychromos Pencils.