I’ve come to a stark realization.
I guess the title of this post is a major giveaway. I essentially haven’t been practicing art as much as a should. It hit me today that, although I only began my art journey a couple of years ago, if I was truly motivated in growing as an artist, I should be leaps and bounds further than I already am.
This is sort of an ill-placed being posted following Thursday’s update celebrating my art improvement. But I believe that it’s necessary to talk about the lack of growth potential that came with my months of practice.
I met an incredible artist during a drawing club meeting who expertly sketched fan art of Carmen Sandiego. Her level of skill is incredible! If she had an Instagram handle, I’d share it here, but unfortunately her art lives in her sketchbook (if this changes in the near future, I’ll be sure add it here).
Now I’ve been following many artists through YouTube, Pinterest, and Instagram. These are all great platforms for finding incredible artwork, but watching someone create beautiful art in person is a completely different level of inspiring.
So I asked her about how she became so amazing at sketching.
Rather than telling me that she has been drawing since she was old enough to hold a pencil, or vaguely mentioning that she just draws a lot, she gave me a bit more detail:
While in high school, she studied faces and figures in a wide range of art styles for 4-5 hours a day. She did this for 2 years, until she burnt out—which, of course, is not where I’d like to take my art development, and hope that none of you don’t experience this over pursuing something that you love. But overall, this person was dedicated to learning and growing as an artist. She poured every once of herself into creating and improving—heck, she’s still taking the time to go over fundamentals and finds joy in growing as an artist.
Speaking with her and watching her work made me realize that I have leaps and bounds to go.
I can’t keep using my beginner status as an excuse to create sub-par art. Rather, I need to actively spend time every day to develop my skills and eye for the craft.
So consider this post a declaration of my plan to draw with intent every day. Yup, that’s right. Me. The same me who has never truly committed to anything aside from daily hygiene practices. I am going to build a daily art habit.
I’m starting with 100 days—a bold and dramatic number, because. . . why the hell not? And I’d like to invite you to take on this challenge as well. Let’s be the artists that we’ve always dreamt of becoming.
