Showing posts with label confidence. Show all posts
Showing posts with label confidence. Show all posts

Monday, August 9, 2021

You Have To Start Somewhere

I had to start somewhere.  

A Natural drawing talent was not one of my gifts.  

I struggled with a desire for perfection, which is the usual enemy of growing, or a least putting work out there.  The younger me was stupid enough to compare my drawings to masters of the craft.  

Sketches from riding DART Rail Service


But, drawing is like a marathon.  Your ultimate competitor is yourself.  Also, you have to keep drawing.




watercolor exercise
date forgotten
title not considered

 
sketch during lecture
i was listening, really
Done a few years ago
 

Eventually, a drawing emerges.  It dawns on you that you that there is more to art than perfection.  

ink with brush on paper
done a few months later


Friday, August 6, 2021

Thoughts on Appearance

Confidence in myself is not easy to acquire.   It never has been for me.  I am not outgoing and my physical appearance is average.  

Appearance does matter in life.  It's harder to ignore this in the age of social media; but, its been around forever.  The king will attract the best looking girl in the kingdom, etc.  

Nothing stands out about me visually.  It sucks when I am trying to sell a piece, or get attention on social media, and I am dismissed imeadiately because I don't look the part.  But, that is a marketing issue, not art. I can be coldly analytical about that. There are ways around such annoyances.

About the only thing, right now, that I seem to have confidence in is my ability to draw and paint.  Im not perfect; but, I still have time to correct that little detail.  

 Artist's "see" more than most people; and, that is because they force themselves to look at what is there, or it comes naturally to them. Thus, this sensitivity to appearance. 

What does this have to do with confidence?  Well, I don't actually see a connection between confidence and appearance.  One's appearance can make social interactions easier, but that is about it.  

Alex
Ink on paper. 
4 by 6 inch 
A cat appears confident.   Why?   We are probably projecting onto cats how we wish to be.  Not afraid to jump from couch to chair, always fighting back, and not afraid to ask for what they want.  Fearless little predators, perhaps that is what we want to be.

Perhaps, confidence is simply people who have either mastered their fears, or are oblivious to their surroundings and the stuff that could hurt them.  How can you tell the difference?  Generally, one is a child and the other is a grown up.  

Something to think about, anyway.




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