I was told once, when I was 13, that I wasn’t creative, and all the art supplies in the world wouldn’t give me the ability to art. This, from my year seven art teacher. I wasn’t exactly a confident child to start with, and that just shattered any belief I had in my abilities. So art went by the wayside. I can’t art. I would follow bloggers who were amazing painters, or drawers, or sculptors, who could turn their hand to and medium and be fabulous, and I was envious as all get out, as I stuck to the crafts I knew I could do, and tried a few of the easier ones, but never venturing much into art territory - mixed media was as close as I got.
Then, for my birthday, my parents gave me a set of charcoal pencils, and so I bit the bullet and pulled up a reference photo, and got to drawing.
It was so much fun, and despite my husband not quite convinced the face I drew was actually our son, I pushed on. My biggest issue was that I attempted too small a scale for the medium, so I printed out a new photo, and using a grid, started outlining a full-page-sized drawing.
While still not entirely matching the source photo, it was closer than my first attempt, and I am totally smitten with the charcoals. The way they smudge and shade, and you can almost see the picture come to life as you work. Completely in love, and I am so glad I took the chance to try them. Dear art teacher who thinks I suck, turns out, I can actually sort of do stuff as long as you don’t expect perfect. And what a wonderful freeing feeling that is.
Do you have a creative outlet you are too scared to try? I’d like to encourage you this weekend to treat yourself to half an hour of you-time to forget everything you’ve told yourself and go for it! And come back and show me, and we can encourage each other in our baby steps.
I'm a wife and mama who loves to craft. I love creating, and have never met a hobby I didn't like, though my main vices of choice are quilting and sewing, photography & memory keeping, knitting and crochet, art, and creative writing. I blog my eclectic crafting journey at http://thebarefootcrafter.com, and you can find me on most social media at @barefootcrafter
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I hear you. My home ec teacher told me I was hopeless and I would NEVER learn to sew. Well you know what? BITE ME home ec teacher. Don’t ever listen to anyone who says you can’t - unless of course it will kill you if you try. Your sketching is beautiful - keep it up.
Skipper recently posted..Dear Vice-Principal
ha! mine did too!
Actually Amy recently posted..30 Quilt Blocks in 30 Days for my 30th Birthday!
SKIP! Long time no talk! Hope you and the family are well. What is it with these teachers wanting to drag kids down instead of lifting them up?
My year 8 art teacher told me the same thing. She ever told me in year 10 that she didn’t like the fact that she had to give me a B for a mixed media assignment because she still believed that I shouldn’t be getting a grade like that for art. When teachers give negative feedback like that it does crumble your confidence. I’m glad you were able to overcome the negative thoughts because you’re one creative lady who shouldn’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
I wonder, if it wasn’t for your art teacher and her negativity, would you still have became an accountant?
Actually Amy recently posted..30 Quilt Blocks in 30 Days for my 30th Birthday!
Have you never heard the term “creative accounting”? Haha
Bahaha!
Actually Amy recently posted..30 Quilt Blocks in 30 Days for my 30th Birthday!
Don’t you wish that at the end of each school year a teacher had to sit down and watch a video of every negative thing they said to a student that year? Some would be quite long and thankfully others would be virtually non-existent. Great job! So proud of you for breaking free.