Hi my name is Gord. I am 50 (my gawd - a half century!!!).
I am coming back to the visual arts after a 15 year absence (no I wasn’t doing a life sentence, I became a business programmer/analyst - hey wait a minute - that was a life sentence;)
Anyways, I have been enjoying DSG for awhile - such a great community. Its is also wonderful to follow all of the great work in the various galleries.
I wrote the following in the Art Discussion Forum - (Thread “What do you suck at as an artist, and how are you going to fix it” by Lunatique) - it pretty well sums things up at the moment:
At the moment I suck at most things - in particular - life drawing. I made a career change 15 years ago and became a software developer (I could live the life of a starving artist - but after my first child, I felt it was unfair to expect my family to do so).
This last year I began drawing again. I thought it would be like getting back on a bicycle (once you’ve learnt it you never forget) - no such luck! I would say that drawing after a 15 year absence, is more analogous to relearning skills and knowledge, after having had a stroke.
The muscle memory, the mental imprint of how to draw a figure - the cumulated knowledge of 15 years of intense life drawing workshops - all gone, faded away into oblivion! Things which were once done with ease are now done with awkwardness and enormous effort - like slugging through mud.
The solution is to suck it up, and start over. I have found the DSG to be very useful in this respect, but what I really need, is to get back in front of a live model - there is no substitute. I think drawing is something that you always have to keep sharp. I would say never walk away from it - even for a short period of time, if you want improve or even maintain your skills.
Looking at drawings of those who are totally on top of their game is breathtaking. It is like watching a world class prize fighter in the ring. The are nimble, quick, mobile and devastatingly accurate. They can discern in a split second when their pencil should deliver a jab, uppercut, or right-cross to the drawing surface and then deliver the goods.
Man what I would do, to be able to get into that ring!
Gord
Sketch on…