Happy Tuesday! We’re almost halfway there 😉
I finally sat down to do a Skillshare class and decided on “One-Line Drawing: Cultivate Calm & Creativity with On-Trend Illustrations”. Could definitely do with some calm!
Obviously, the contents of the course can’t really be shared here, but my final results and my impressions can! Keep in mind, it’s not a review of the course, simply my experience.
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We are first provided with a worksheet, which I hadn’t done in years. Yes, thinking I was above that. Turns out, I’m really not! I struggled with some of the exercises, though sometimes in part because the teacher is right-handed, like most people out there, and I’m not. Trying to follow her lead on some exercises was a bit of a challenge, from the starting point to the side loops curled, although ultimately rewarding.
Some of the doodles felt oddly nice, as they flowed easily under my pen. And still, I made the conscious decision to gravitate more towards those that gave me trouble. After all, doing the things I’m already comfortable with is no way to progress!
Early on, the teacher recommended that we pay attention to how our body felt as we drew, and it surprised me to realize how tense I was. Focused, yes, but my jaw and my hands especially were tight. Becoming aware of it I could ease that, but as soon as I zoned into the drawing away, tension would return. Perhaps more regular practice might help?
One of the symptoms of that tightness is – and come to think of it, has always been – putting too much pressure on my drawing tool. Attempts to alleviate that consciously doesn’t work very well with being in a state of flow, so I resorted to holding my pencil from the end rather than the tip, which helped the pressure, but left me unhappy with the quality of the result.
Either way, practicing was still actually fun, despite the repetitiveness and occasional annoyance of still not getting a loop or a curve right. Which is why I moved on from trying to attain a satisfactory (to my hopes) result with drawing myosotis,
And on to a more lily-like shape :
Having to draw a shape repeatedly, and then all over again when it turned out I wasn’t starting it from the same point as in the actual drawing, was a nice challenge! I will probably practice more in the coming days (and perhaps weeks) as this has been unexpectedly pleasant to do, even as I remained tense. I’d chosen the course because it wasn’t a technique I was familiar with, and to be quite honest, because it was fairly short. But I’m glad I did 🙂
Have you done anything outside of your comfort zone lately? How did it go?
A gently courageous week to you!