Thursday, January 6, 2011

Being and Becoming and Artist

I am an artist. Sometimes I feel it takes a certain amount of gall or hubris for me to introduce myself that way.

I am confident in what I do and the work I produce as an artist. I love textiles,  dyeing, stitching and printing, photgoraphy and even digital editing. Yet, I have always had a deep desire to be able to draw well - especially the human figure.

My hidden insecurity comes because I know I have such a very long way to go with my drawing skills. 

Soar III by Lyric Kinard
Notice I didn't say that I can't draw. (Here comes my soapbox lecture.) Too often when the outcome isn't perfect the first time we try something we give up and say "I can't." We must give ourselves TIME and PERMISSION to learn. 

We must also DO THE WORK. You know how to read right? It takes a lot of time and effort to learn to read but it can be done. People, even very young children, do it all the time. The same applies to becoming an artist and learning to draw. 

I'm determined to learn to draw the human figure. So this year, as part of the sketchbook challenge I'm going to draw a lot of people. I'm going to draw at least one face every day. I'll post them on my blog every Friday and over the course of the year we'll see what happens.

A few recommendations:
The Structure of Man by Riven Phoenix