#draw at work

[nhkman]

[violet-thepony]

You are not born with the instant "talent" to draw.

“I’ll never be as good as…” “I’ll never be talented like…”

Stop saying that. Listen. Art is NOT something people are just naturally gifted with. I did not pop outta the womb with the talent to draw. Being an artist takes years and years of practice, childhood days spent tracing over lion king scenes and attempts at mimicking anime. Internet searches of “how to draw eyes” and “how to draw hands”. Hours watching birds fly across my windows and googling random flying creatures. And you never ever EVER start off great. Never. We are all born with the ability to draw. But it is ultimately your choice over whether you want to take advantage of the ability or neglect it. It won’t take advantage of itself.

The only reason I am “gifted” is because despite my situations (foster care, homelessness, sickness, loneliness, depression, abuse) I would ALWAYS draw. It is a painful process. Forcing yourself to get the pose right. Looking at other more popular artists and feeling like you aren’t good enough. Weeks with art block and feeling like you haven’t made a fully satisfying drawing in months. Disappointingly noticing the tiniest of improvements and wanting to quit. So please do not say you’ll never be as good as me. What I have did not happen overnight.

As a matter of fact? 

If I stopped drawing completely when I was 8, I would NOT be as good as I am now. I would still have the same level of art because within the 10 years in between, I did not practice or anything. It won’t get better on its own. And you won’t magically learn how to do things. You need to teach yourself. I don’t care how much limited time you have, or where you are (I would even go to the local library and study art while living in homeless shelters godammit. Sometimes check out a few books and bring them back. You have no excuse.) Art is something you nurture. If you don’t feed it, it won’t grow. Simple.

As for being gifted? As for talent? 

That is something you DEVELOP. you don’t look at a baby and say “your daughter is going to be a talented artist!” Talent is when you’ve done something so godamn much to the point that it becomes EASY. once you are no longer struggling to draw a cat and it comes out believable, you have talent. I’ve drawn wings so fucking much over and over and over and over. And have spent days hating the way i drew them, starting over, studying anatomy, banging my head on the wall, watching how to train your dragon, watching birds. The viola! I finally developed wings that are easy for me to draw! I can draw them no problem because I’ve been doing it so much. So now I have some kind of “talent” with wings. 

 Art is what YOU make it. You want to put your energy into crying about not being good instead of actually TRYING to be good? Fine, your choice. But just don’t whine when you realize you can’t draw wings as great as someone who’s been drawing them all their lives.

“...As you develop, you will start to have fun. And even begin to learn to love the process... not just the results. Before you know it... talent will sneak up on you.” -Illustrator Will Terrell