OK. So I haven't quit altogether, but I did quit my first project. I think that I was too ambitious. At least that is what I am telling myself so that I do not feel like such a loser. Ironically, I thought that I was easing myself into drawing.
When I was in high school, my friend Angie was in art class. Once she had this art project where she sectioned off a picture in a grid. Then she created the same grid to exact proportion on a blank sheet. Next, she replicated the picture square for square instead of trying to copy the picture free hand as a whole.
I thought this would be a great exercise to begin my journey as a visual artist. Every time that I have ever attempted to draw something, the one thing that always eluded me was proportion. The grid exercise seemed like the perfect way to tackle this. I thought it would free my mind from the overwhelming idea of the whole, and allow me to focus on drawing bit by bit. I still think that it will.
The problem: I chose a drawing of Obama from the cover of this week's New Yorker. Big Mistake! I underestimated its complexity -- from the subtle use of non-colors to the fact that it is a portrait.
Because I thought I would start with the hardest part as a way of testing my potential, I began the grid project with the square that had one of his eyes. Turns out that the eyes were not really all that hard. It was the dark shading of his ruffle shirt that did me in.
Originally, I wanted to start my foray into drawing as simply as possible so that I would avoid being overwhelmed. Instead I did just the opposite -- which I now realize I do in many other areas of my life. I have a tendency toward overestimating my own potential. I mean, there is nothing wrong with aiming high. But, in my efforts to aim high, I have a pattern of putting the first step of the ladder to far out of my reach, thereby failing before I can even begin.
For most of my life, I have accused myself of not having follow through. Right now -- because of this project -- because I made a creative effort -- I am learning that maybe my problem is not the follow through. Maybe the problem is that, to often, I try to start at the end instead of the beginning. This could be a result of my impatience. Or, perhaps I do not have a realistic view of my own capabilities. I don't know. What I do know is that when starting a project, the most important thing is how you start.
Aim big, start small = following through.
What does this mean for my grid project? As a means to work on my follow through as well as to experience a small victory that may motivate me to continue creating, I will find a simpler picture to use as a start/practice/whatever. Then I am going to find a book on teaching yourself how to draw and start with Chapter 1.
The easy part: The offending part:
Original;
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