how I try to paint
- Take a watercolour class a year ago
- Think about drawing a lot
- Doodle in meetings. Daydream about drawing in work.
- When you get home, sit on the sofa and watch TV. Scroll on your phone. Think about drawing while you're doing this.
- Talk about drawing with your friends. Admire their ability to say they will do a drawing exercise, then do it.
- While you're walking outside, take notice of things and think "that would be a nice painting" and "how would I mix that colour? How would I paint how that looks, where the light falls on her face?"
- Scroll through photos you've taken and consider how it would feel to draw them, how you would draw that line or that shape.
- Think about a life drawing class you took two years ago. While you look at your boyfriends face, consider how the parts are sized in relation to each other, how you would draw it, paying attention to the distance in-between the eye and nose, which the instructor said was crucial.
- Try to remember to really look at things, and not draw what your mind assumes should be there.
- Put out all your materials and copy a photograph from a Martin Parr book. Feel dissatisfied in your efforts, but also pleased and relieved.
I wrote this for the latest bearblog carnival topic, although I realised afterwards it doesn't really fit the brief, being more a stream of consciousness reflection on how I struggle to work on some hobbies (but can take some heart from the fact that every step you take towards improving at something does change you and your outlook).
Anyway, please forgive my interpretation, and thanks Moose for the prompt and inspiration :)