Need to release this reflections before the internet slows down.
Last week here in MAPAC, I have two choices of modules to attend: ecology or artwork. I chose the latter. For the record, the last time I pushed a pencil and a paintbrush was when I was ten years old.
This week, I have an erratic schedule because of my part-time teaching load, spiritual direction to Ateneo (more on that next post), and this art module. Anyway, I’m not a teenager anymore having problems with managing time so I just let it flow. While I’m doing the art module, I can’t help but to recall the book I read which I just read halfway since I don’t like it (and I gave it away as a gift to the girl I courted before. Hehe!). In that book, I saw two portraits: before and after. The author was no artist but she tried to attend a sketching class in her free time (Maybe it’s because of her Happiness Project). Now I realized that I did like that part of the book: the before and after sketching. Before, decades ago, I was a kid who draws a lot. Until now, I still draw but they still look childish (in a nice way perhaps). In our artwork, we did not just draw but painted and colored as well and I’ll just focus on the drawing part though I enjoyed the coloring and painting part. Going back to the before and after part, I might borrow the idea and practice sketching again in my free time. Gonna buy some lumograph and sketchpad and off I go.
So to answer my question, to survive attempt in drawing a portrait means just drawing. Do not complain you are not a good artist. Every chess grandmaster started out as noobs. Or the other way around will do: complain also. Be angry with your attempt and complain you are not an artist so you will fuel your desire to be better and practice more. Or to paraphrase the hooky song from Walk the Moon, just shut up and draw. Desire and practice and you will succeed in your own way.
Br. Allen 