I’ve always wanted to do this

In the basement last night was found an old ArtBin – a tackle box for art supplies. In that bin was most of the left half of this photo. About 35 pencils, an x-acto knife, some black and white pastel sticks, a dip pen and nibs, some ink and my original college ID card.

Some of the pencils were drafting pencils, and I used those a lot in school. But most were drawing pencils, and I don’t remember using them much.

I went through everything and cleaned it up (pastels are a mess on a good day), sorted them into bundles of similar grades, and merged the old and new collections of stuff. I shouldn’t have to buy another pencil until … actually, I don’t know how long they last for me. Too long, at this point; I need to draw more.

And I remember now loving art class in high school, but always being afraid I wasn’t good enough. I’ve always loved going to art supply stores, and have had a long-standing fascination with pens. I can get lost in an office supply store just as easily as an art store.

I admire the quality of line some people can get from a simple pen or pencil. I look at the tools imagining what I could do with them, if I were only good enough. I look at comics and wonder at the skill it takes to get a smooth, curving line of varying thickness that looks like it just happened. Mine get jiggly because I have to go too slow, and it shows. I can get the smoothness and variation, but not if I expect the line to go where I want it.

So I realized last night that I’ve always wanted to do this. I just never put any effort into it, and spent a lot of time ignoring the desire.

I’m going to my local art museum on my next free Saturday. My wife and kids will come with, and she’ll take them to a kids class for an hour or so while I sit and draw from what I find in the museum.

I will also be trying to keep up with the Everyday Matters Weekly Drawing Challenge and possibly Illustration Friday.

Everyday Matters is from Danny Gregory (in by blogroll). It’s a loose, no-pressure weekly suggestion of what to draw. There’s a mailing list for related discussion. I’m on it, but rarely read it; I’m a bit burned out on e-mail lately.

Illustration Friday is similar, but rather than the direct “draw a shoe” of Everyday Matters, it’s more interpretive. Their prompts are things like “song,” or “alone,” or “winter.”

I really have always wanted to do this. How wierd to just be figuring that out.

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