 |
| Day 12 |
The story we often tell ourselves is that we aren't good at something. The honest truth though is that we have never even tried. How in the world can we be good without trying?
 |
| Day 17 |
A couple posts ago I wrote about my art journey this fall. At the end I shared a bit about wanting to learn to draw. I was convinced that I wasn't good at drawing, but in all honesty I hadn't tried since I was ten. Our vacation up north motivated me to try again, at the age 50. Once we were back home I had to find a way to keep trying, even without the inspiration of the place I love.
 |
| Day 15 |
I seem to do really well with 30 Day challenges. November conveniently had 30 days. I decided to do 30 Days of Drawing. I even went bold and posted my daily drawing on Instagram, hoping that a few of my friends would keep me accountable.
 |
| Day One |
It was scary in the beginning to put myself and my lack of skill out there. But somebody has to be brave and show others that even if you don't start out good, you can come a long way in 30 days with a commitment to daily practice. It wasn't a big time commitment each day. On the average I probably spent about thirty minutes per drawing. Some days I had more time and some days I was lucky if I had ten minutes. But it was the showing up every day that mattered, not how much time I had.
 |
| Day 19 |
With any project there is the dreaded middle. I would have a few really good days, and then it felt like I took three steps backwards. The above drawing was suppose to be a moody stone barn, but to me it feels like a slightly moody Caribbean stone house. Not what I was going for.
 |
| Day 14 |
I am someone who needs to have an image in front of me to draw. But I also have seven years in as a photographer, I am image driven. Besides my own photographs, which I drew from quite a bit, Pinterest is a fabulous source. Oh the rabbit holes you can fall into. I swore I would never draw people because I wasn't good at it. But...I had never tried.
 |
| Day 9 |
Some of my ladies have been drawn with the X and Y axis and reference points and some have been outlined with my Lightbox, I am completely fine with that. Seeing how far I have come in thirty days, I know I will get there with them too. We all have to start where we are and grow from there.
 |
| Day 27 |
I am also completely in love with charcoal.
Exciting News
Today, Sunday December 2, we bring Atticus home. Let the adventures begin.
Second: I was contacted this week by Dirty Footprints Studio about teaching a small segment of a summer on-line course for them. You can just image how dumbfounded I felt when I read the email. Me? Are you serious? The story I am telling myself is that I am not ready for this, I don't know how to shoot a tutorial video. But the truth is that I haven't tried yet, and until I try I don't have any right to say I can't.
The theme for this is Capturing Moments, which are to be brought to fruition in your art journal. I am looking for ideas from you, my friends, about what this theme would mean to you. I am kicking around an idea, but I would love to hear your thoughts.
12 comments:
Love this entire post.
Welcome Atticus!
Sarah, go with it and teach to online course! It should be amazing!
Atticus Day . . . Oh Happy Day . . .
And your art . . . is exceptional . . .
Loved seeing this post and some of your journal . . .
Oh my, the “can’ts” we tell ourselves and when we
step out of the can’t box . . . look what happens.
I liked your thought, “I am an image person” . . .
Sent a “spark thought” to me . . .
Perfect post today Sarah . . .
(Hope someone takes some pics of you with Atticus today!)
And YES . . . to the teaching segment . . .
Spot on! We really don't know what we can do, or even what we enjoy, until we give it a try. As I venture into my art journaling project, I hear this little voice saying "but you're a word person - keep working to develop that. You don't do art." Ummmm, I'm ignoring that voice - for now, anyway. I think I've had as much fun watching your 30 day challenge as you've had doing it. And it's amazing how much your drawing progressed in such a short time!
I'm so excited for your class. I have some ideas, but would love to hear what's kicking around in your head. At any rate - I know one course I'll be taking this summer :-)
I can't wait to see photos of Atticus - what an exciting day!
Love your new art project! I have always as long as I have been journaling wanted to be able to sketch ... alas, my best attempts have been stick people. You are inspiring me to >>>>maybe... try this. I certainly have everything I would need to do it. You have some awesome projects and I always love sharing those with you in your blog. Have a really fun day with Atticus! It was just a year ago that we got Dillon who looked very much like Atticus as a pup. At first i thought we might have made a commitment too big for us... all that chewing fun and potty training.... Ugh. Began to think I might be too old for the adventure, but wasn't long before we were both totally in love, and now can't imagine being without him. Expect your grand dog to be a bit jealous, but they will love each other before you know it! Have a fun day
Right there with you, Sarah! I have been doing this for a while too and I find that I have learned so much a Out light and color through learning to draw and paint and it shows in my photography. And my years of composition study in photography definitely helped me pick up art. I was once fortunate enough to become part of a Kim Manley Ort workshop that combined photographers, artists and writers . It started my journey because we each had to try everything - and all of our negative messaging was exposed! We could clearly see how fear just kept us from trying . It was life- changing . And , by the way, it carries over into confidence in other areas of life.
Your drawings are really wonderful!
Yesssss! Teach the course. I love Dirty Footprints Studio. And, I really appreciated how you put yourself out there - to share your beginner's hand this month. The heart you showed was inspiring.
Your drawings are wonderful, Sarah. You should definitely teach; you have so much to share. And welcome home, Atticus... you will love your new family!
I have enjoyed your drawings on Instagram and I enjoy them here again. You are absolutely right that you never know whether you are good at something if you haven't even tried.
I am convinced that you are really good at teaching that course! I believe in you, Sarah! - I had never thought that I would be a good teacher (apart from some tutoring) until I actually was asked to be a teacher for the German Language School. I was hesitant in the beginning, thinking I wouldn't be good at it. Fortunately I didn't listen to that voice but decided to give it a try. I have been doing it for several years now, and not only do I enjoy it but I get so much positive feedback that I think I'm a pretty good teacher. I wouldn't know if I hadn't tried. So yes, go for it!
How many time have I said the words I can't without even trying to see if I can? So glad you proved yourself wrong about your drawing abilities! You are artist with your charcoal and your camera! Welcome home to Atticus!
Wow this is a packed post! First congrats on the invite to teach. That is awesome and you can do it. Always say yes and then learn how to do what you need is advice I received once. Welcome adorable Atticus. I can't wait to see puppy pictures on Instagram. I did enjoy watching your drawing really develop in those 30 days. I never tried something like that...a daily dose of doing something new. But it really is amazing how much one can develop in 30 days. You are inspirational.
Your first few sentences really ring true to me. I saw your first image and even said to myself, before I read a thing, "I can't draw". I guess we really do hold onto beliefs and don't even check them out to see if those said beliefs are even true. So many ways to think about that today...
Congratulations of being asked to teach! How exciting! Capturing moments ideas...I like to go macro and find little details of my daily life, the overlooked, those things which last only a moment but are nice reminders of what happened in that day. Not necessarily needing a macro lens, just finding small things, or even odd perspectives (like feet at the dinner table) that I normally don't think about. I'm sure you will find the perfect thing to teach.
Atticus is adorable. :)
Post a Comment