Sketchbook Tour

Welcome to Draw Tip Tuesday! 

I love the French language. I have this dream of speaking French fluently. And yes, one can dream, but perhaps I could make the dream come true! So now, I have French lessons. And it's going so slow! I am making so many mistakes and sometimes I am completely frustrated about the steep learning curve. Especially if the only practice I get is on Duolingo and one hour of French conversation class twice a month.  

But I do know that if I keep going, I will get better and become more confident - and once I am in France, I get to apply everything I've learned, I'll still make a lot of mistakes but people will understand me, inspite of that.

I need to embrace the wonkiness. Just like I've learned to embrace the wonkiness when drawing. Even better, I now love the drawings that are wonky best! 

If you can envision yourself drawing smoothly and with confidence, that’s great, and it’s an achievable goal. But let’s start at the beginning: there are no shortcuts or tricks. Just do it, and do it a lot. Learn to love the process, though, and not expect things to be amazing when you just start out.  
Be playful and experiment.
When experimenting, it’s not about the result, it’s about discovery. And wow, is there a lot to discover in your creative journey! 

Every artist, no matter how skilled and highly regarded they may be, is in a learning process. Don’t compare your first steps with the middle of someone else’s journey. Be inspired by someone else’s work, but remember that they are where they are now because they went through a long process, probably one involving a ton of imperfect drawings that you don’t see.  

You are exactly where you need to be now, and the more you draw, the more you evolve. Try everything, challenge yourself, or make it easy for yourself, whatever seems right at the time – you decide how to nourish and practice your creativity.

In the sketchbook I'm showing in this video, you can see a few drawings I've done during in-person workshops. I have some great workshops scheduled, so if you'd like to learn from me in person: check out my workshop schedule here. 

Sketchbook shown in this video: Hahnemühle Nostalgie sketchbook, size A4, landscape