Some days, I try drawing something as I envision it and quickly realize I need to shift gears.
In the waning days of February, I had a vision for a March 1 card that had both a lion and a lamb to reference the old saying about March coming in like a lion and going out like a lamb. Of course, down here in South Florida, we seem to be back in swampy summer.
I tried drawing a lion, and realized I had drawn him too big:
Then I tried to just draw his head.
And then I got lost in self-loathing about how I had no skills at all. How could I draw lions that looked so much like jack-o-lanterns or strange suns?
I realized that I wasn't sure what a real lion would look like, so I did a search for images. And then I tried to draw what I saw:
Then I drew a lamb--without looking at images of lambs. I was less pleased with the lamb, but I had already spent way too much time on the project. When I googled lamb images, I came up with lamb chops. I did get a sense of the ears.
When I look back at these lion images, I'm astounded. I drew them all, and not across an expanse of time. I drew them in about 15 minutes.
Here I might end with a meditation on the importance of learning to see, to look at images and copy what I see, not what I expect to see. But some days, I've sketched solely from imagination, and been delighted with those sketches. Some days, I see what is there and change it for the better. Some days, I couldn't draw what I see, not for love, not for money.
I am happy to have a variety of creative practices, particularly ones that can be done when I don't have vast expanses of time. To throw a pot on a wheel takes more than 15 minutes. To sketch a lion three times can be done in 15 minutes.
To master the ability to sketch a lion--that will likely take a lifetime.
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