Stinkin' little worthy goal!

The first art class I ever took was a drawing class.  I can still hear my art instructor Steve Phillips say, "You see it and then you draw it."  I think I muttered something along the lines of  "Some people have better eye sight than others."  He also insisted that we actually draw daily.  Each of us had a sketch book and a huge drawing pad that we had to fill because the more we drew the better we'd get.  He was right.

I drew all sorts of things, but I really found myself loving drawing people.  From time to time I'll take out the sketch book and see pictures of children from the emergency shelter I worked at or of kids at church.  I even drew Paul McCartney & John Lennon...and you could actually tell it was Paul McCartney & John Lennon!  But, like so many others I let life get in the way and I stopped drawing.  What I could once do fairly well is now pretty bad. 

Last night I watched several videos by Danny Gregory of "Everyday Matters" fame.  If you're not an artist he won't be famous to you.  Outside his art, Gregory is probably best known for his encouraging nature.  I like that.  I think everyone needs a "Barnabas" in their lives and for struggling wanna-be-artists he's it.  The very basic idea to get a person back on track is to draw one simple sketch every single day. 


His supply list is comprised of two things.  The sketchbook must be sewn bound.  That's because he knows we are notorious about hating what we do and ripping it to shreds.  He looks at this simple daily drawing exercise as a journey where we can see our growth, so no tearing up our work!  If a page is torn from a bound sketchbook it's not a clean tear; the evidence of a torn missing page is always there. Tonight I purchased my first Moleskine (mol-a-skeen'-a).  It's a nifty little Italian sketch book used by artists for over 200 years.  They're nothing fancy but very well made.   The second item on the supply list is a pen.  No pencils are allowed because we are to learn to "commit" to the line.  It takes away the urge to hurry through and supposedly makes us take the time to consider shapes before the pen hits the paper.  It doesn't have to be expensive or fancy, but waterproof is better. 

I'm supposed to photograph and upload my daily sketches, but I doubt I do that.  I'm not one for embarrassment if I can help it :o)  Right now, I'm just hoping to follow through on the goal of one drawing a day.  Such a little goal, but a worthy one.