“You can, you should, and if you’re brave enough to start, you will.”
– Stephen King –
Once we fully embrace compassion and acceptance, courage won’t be too far behind. We will understand ourselves, our journey and we will be more than willing to ride the courage train the rest of the way. So what does courage look like? How will you know it is here? That you are ready?
Short answer: When you start rolling your eyes at everyone else’s advice.
You Know the Advice I Speak Of
The videos that tell you what you are doing wrong, and how to fix it. The long winded answers to simple questions by self professed “fine artists”. This same thing happens in the programming world. But “I want to draw, where do I start” does not need judgment. It does not need the passive aggressive view of anything. It needs compassion and acceptance. A pencil, a sketchbook, and a willingness to just do might also be helpful.
If you find yourself experiencing compassion and acceptance of others who are just starting out and of those who have the courage to embrace their own journey. Know that you are well on your way to a non-cookie-cutter-artist world!
Your Mission, Should You Decide to Accept:
If your ran through the how-to draw book last week what did you learn? Did you notice how hard it was to follow someone else’s lines? Their pattern of thought? Did you have to fight the urge to do it your way? If so, that’s great! Let’s take that idea one step further.
Redraw all those images WITHOUT using the authors step-by-step instructions. Cover all the images except the final, or use your finished drawings as your starting point. Do it your way this time. Bonus points if draw a few freehand versions and add a little bit of you to your page. You don’t have to redraw them all, but I encourage it.
Need some Hollywood inspiration? Try these movies:
- Office Space
- Forgetting Sarah Marshall
- Shaun of the Dead
- The Shawshank Redemption
- Princess Bride
- Braveheart
- The Malibu Bikini Shop – I know, bear with me on this one
Until Next Time
Remember: you are well on your way to a non-cookie-cutter-artist world!
See you next week.