Exercise

So suddenly I got the urge to draw something so I went to Youtube and turned on a Michael Jackson video; "Black or White". When I figure draw I try to look for dynamic poses so one place I can always count on to find these kinds of poses is anything Michael Jackson. The man has his issues (as do the rest of us... although not quite like his) but he can sing and dance, I'll give him that.

At any rate, after drawing a few figure drawings I came to a very sobering and immediate conclusion that I had been avoiding for some time now: my drafting skills have gone to shit.

Most people have this misconception that drawing is something that you're either born with or you're not, so most people that can't draw just leave it at that and live with it... I was never one of those people. Since childhood I was always baffled by people who could draw and immensely jealous of people with that particular skill, especially since I did not possess it. However, where most people would shrug and move on, I, being the stubborn person I am, never quite learned to deal with it, so in middle school I made attempts at drawing; they were all terrible.

However, despite being told that you're either born with it or you're not, I kept at it and slowly got better, determined to do what I thought then as the impossible. (I must thank several friends for the continued encouragement). Recently, as I reached college, I learned that what I had been previously told was a lie. Drawing is a craft, you can learn it. Sure, natural ability helps, but drawing is like a muscle, in order for it to be of any use you must use it and exercise it for it to get stronger, much like anything else we're expected to do. Exercising your drafting abilities, much like exercising anything else, is a painful and often unrewarding process, being forced to look at your own flaws and shortcommings constantly is something that tires easily and so, even though I love drawing, my drawing has fallen by the wayside these past few months.

So earlier, when I picked up my steadily filling notebook and did some figure drawings I was surprised and pained by just how much my drafting skills had slipped. This was clearly a sign, I need to draw more.

Maybe if I'm feeling up to it I'll scan in my figure drawings in later for all to see and laugh at.