The Power of Fear

I spent most of my life avoiding painting because I had a fear of drawing.  That fear caused me to waste a lot of time that could have been spent enjoying what I was yearning to do.  Why do we give in to our "fear voice?"  Why did I?  Although I've been painting now for a while, I avoided drawing at all costs.  I would use tracing paper, projector, light box - you name it.  All to avoid drawing.  Joe Alleman has helped me to see shapes and trust that I could draw shapes.  You see it isn't drawing a tree, a barn or a person but the shapes that all come together to make up what we think we see.  Carl Purcell also is a master who helped me see things as shapes and values.

The assignments I was given in the portrait drawing class I'm taking was to copy the shapes and values we saw of various Hollywood stars.  If I watched more movies I'd know all their names but that's another story.  The first drawing I was so insecure that I make a copy of it and did the assignment on the copy as insurance against messing up so much that I'd ruin the original.  When that drawing came together I threw caution to the wind and did the other assignments directly on the "master."    I ignored my "fear voice" (oh yes it was still shouting inside my head) and just drew.

Now I have to figure out how not to be too hard on myself for avoiding drawing all these years.  I've come to realize that mistakes are a part of the learning process and it's okay if I screw up.  WOW is that freeing.

Today's drawings.  Yes, I realize that I need to get more values down.  Yes I realize that I am new to sketching and don't have the crosshatching part down yet.  Yes, they are not perfect and that's OK!!