APOLOGIES AND A THOUGHT

Firstly...I must apologise for a long absence from this blog......it has been down to what has been called "a temporary disability" which is still with me, and I may not be back on form for a little while.

In the meantime, I have an important thought I just want to share.

I recently gave some advice to someone about a painting.  I commented that the drawing needed some refinement...the shapes were wrong, wrong for proportion, wrong for shape.  So the object in question simply did not "read" as it should.

The response given was "I cannot draw things in correct proportions or shapes.....sorry...I just cannot do it".

MY response was.......  Oh yes you can.  When you say the phrase "I cannot", what you are saying is "I will not".  It is as simple and straightforward as that.

When I was a student, my drawings were often out of proportion.  I was told by a tutor "Jackie, you will never be able to draw with accuracy, so you might as well resort to distortion".          !!!

This infuriated me, and I resolved to work harder at getting things right.  I knew I could "resort to distortion" at any time.........but to do so IN PLACE of getting things right?   Not for me.  I knew I had to work harder at measuring and comparing.  So I did.

It was not easy.  For ages, my drawings were stiff, and looked laboured.  I found measuring tedious and difficult.  BUT eventually, miraculously to me,  my facility to "see" better began to improve.  I found the drawings becoming stronger, better for accuracy, more fluent.  I will always have to double-check measurements;  I do not always hit total accuracy and perfect proportions right off - I avoid doing portraits for this very reason.  (I feel a portrait which is too "fiddled with" loses spontaneity, so I'd rather try something else.)  But I have certainly surprised myself by NOT having to resort to distortion! 

I do recognise that sometimes, we need to accept certain limitations - - and at this moment in my life, I am having to do just that as my body presents me with challenges - but rather than produce failures as a result, I am teaching myself to overcome disability and adjust my methods of being creative.

If you want to draw and paint, and recognise that you are WEAK in certain areas - and that is all it is, weakness, not inability - then be prepared to grit your teeth, and put in the work to become stronger.  You will never regret it.

ok getting off my soapbox now..........................