12/4/10

Failure is a good start

Garbage: Tea Bag Envelope
If you think your drawing is a failure, this is a good beginning. You have taught yourself what it is you do not want to be doing. Keep drawing and that failed attempt goes away.

If, on the other hand, you dwell on the drawing you did not like and do not continue to draw, you are letting it eat you. You are giving failure all the power. Keep drawing and take back the power.

I think this plastic cup sketch, from and earlier post, is a failure because it is very boring. I wondered about it, now I realize, it is two separate drawings of one cup and nothing fun is happening. The cup is transparent but who would know.

That 2 cup drawing is a very poor composition. Uh-Oh, the 'C' word. Composition, one of the words that makes How-To-Draw books scary. Composition just means how you arrange things. A good composition attracts the viewer, the listener, the reader . . .
Transparent Cups #2
And, BTW, an uneven number of objects makes a better composition. I have to keep reminding myself.

Observing parrots at the hotel on Maui
The moving subject again. I hope you are practicing the moving subject. It helps you simplify your shapes.

We all have failures, no matter how advanced we are. This is how we learn. The seamstress cuts in the wrong place and ruins the expensive cloth. Whatever the practice, we stumble. 

Failing does not indicate you should terminate doing the things you love or need to do. It is your opportunity to start over and do it differently.

Draw something poorly, on purpose. Study it. Think of why it is awful then draw the thing again, and again.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Yahoo! I am so excited for your new site. I have been adding to my sketch journal and to my wreck this journal. Some I like and some I do not. However, I am enjoying it all. I had some Yogi tea this morning and was just thinking about drawing it. My tag said: Happiness is nothing but total relaxation. I love those messages! Have a great day today! xoxo