Think You Can't Draw? Think Again...
In my work as an artist, creative coach and surface pattern designer, I hear this all the time.
When people meet me and learn my story of transformation from corporate drone to thriving artist, they are generally intrigued. However, when I get to the part about how much fun surface pattern design is, they stop me and say: “Oh, that sounds amazing, but I can’t draw.”
I beg to differ. I hadn’t picked up a pencil or any type of drawing tool in over 40 years. Everyone can draw but many of us have this inner voice that tells us we can’t. We have this crazy notion that our drawings will be “bad” because they won’t look like a Michelangelo sketch. Of course, they won’t! They will start out looking like your handwriting more than anything else.
My goal in this blog post is twofold: First, to bust through the five most common limiting beliefs about making art, and second, to share a sketching demo with you that everyone can do. I hope this will encourage you to take out a pen and follow along.
As an extra incentive, I’ve created a downloadable cheat sheet for you. It’s a step by step guide that shows you how to draw each flower and sprig. Please follow along and post your final drawing on Instagram with the hashtag #flowerswithanne.
Before we get started, I want you to know that you are not alone. We all have different levels of road blocks and obstacles that we put in front of ourselves when it comes to many things, especially art. Maybe an art teacher in school told you that you had no talent. Maybe your family discouraged art as a career or side gig because they thought you’d never make any money at it. Or maybe you didn’t believe in yourself and took another path. My tag line is: It’s Never Too Late To Create.” I’m living this every day.
Let’s begin by transforming the five most common limiting beliefs about art and creativity into positive affirmations. Write the quotes in your journal. Create a set of pretty greeting cards with them and share them with your friends. Or post them on your fridge or bulletin board so they are accessible and available to you whenever you need them.
#1 Artists are born not made
It’s true that some people have innate talent like perfect pitch, or the ability to decorate a room, or put together the perfect outfit. But if you really engage with them and learn their story, nine times out of ten you’ll discover that they work really, really hard at their craft. Malcolm Gladwell says it best in his book, The Tipping Point: “Practice isn’t the thing you do once you’re good. It’s the thing you do that makes you good.”
Practice, in and of itself, is extremely powerful. When you’re practicing, you have lower expectations, which is a very good thing. Sometimes it’s hard to get started on an art project because you have those voices in your head saying: “It’s not going to be any good.” If you sit down for a practice session, that voice goes away. Practice isn’t meant to create something perfect. The whole point is to gain insight through repetition which is very freeing.
#2 I could never do that
What’s “that”, anyway? The belief that your sketches won’t look like a Michelangelo drawing or a Picasso abstract? Of course, they won’t. Even Picasso didn’t start as an abstract painter. If you look at his early drawings, they are very childish looking. And I don’t mean that in a negative way. They are unique to him and you can see his unique style in them and how that same “hand” shows up in his later abstract works. It’s really beautiful and amazing to study his evolution as an artist.
Our abilities evolve with time and effort and repetition. For sure, you have to want to engage in the activity to begin with, but if you have the interest, you can do it. Try to remember not to fall into the comparison trap. Your beginning will look completely different from someone else’s middle or end.
Repeat after me: “My sketches are unique to me just as my handwriting is unique to me.”
#3 What’s the point
This limiting belief is really a bummer. Art and creativity are good for so many things. In fact, Lisa Congdon recently wrote that “Art is Survival.” Like her, I discovered art late in life. Much, much later than Lisa! Lisa found art at 31. I found art at 58. True story: I had recently been laid off from my fancy corporate job and I was floundering. I’d worked in a corporate environment my entire life and my whole identity was associated with everything that comes with an “important”, high paying job.
While I had enjoyed art projects like knitting and embroidery at a very young age when my family was living in Europe, I never considered myself particularly “artistic”. I had periodic passions like the piano. So much so that my Mum famously asked me to stop practicing because I was driving her nuts! But nothing really stuck until I discovered surface pattern design at the age of 58. The combination of doing art by hand and then digitizing it in the computer is perfect for me. And it all begins with drawing. The point is what you decide to make it.
#4 It’s all been done before
This limiting belief stops you before you have even started. It drops you straight into the comparison trap because subconsciously you’re essentially saying that anything you create can’t possibly be unique. I don’t believe that at all. Everyone has to start somewhere and you don’t need to go to art school to begin. However, it’s great to know that one of the lessons taught in most art schools is copying! Not to sell as your own but to learn technique and get more practice.
Sketching is very relaxing and it helps me manage my mood swings. As many of you know, my Mum passed away a few months ago and I miss her every day. When that feeling of sadness and depression starts to descend upon me, I take out my sketch pad, light a scented candle, and start sketching. Time seems to disappear and my mind shifts to focus on what’s right in front of me.
#5 I’m afraid of failing
Who isn’t afraid of failing? Only really arrogant people, or people with zero self-awareness don’t fear failure at some stage. The thing is, we can do hard things. It takes practice to get better at anything. Remember those piano lessons? Sometimes they may have been really tedious, but you did eventually master Fur Elise, right?
I love this quote by Michael Jordan who said: “I’ve missed more shots than I’ve made. I succeed because I fail.” I hope this resonates with you for a couple of reasons. It reflects the reality that in a basketball game, the players take a ton of shots that they miss. And that’s expected and totally normal. We need to embrace that philosophy when one of our sketches doesn’t turn out exactly as planned. Nothing in art is a “failure”. Everything is an experiment and a journey to the next thing or something else.
The most important thing is: don’t give up! Keep at it. Practice makes perfect and repetition can be very freeing.
Let’s dive into the sketching tutorial now and embrace this positive affirmation: Make it fun!
Remember,
It’s Never Too Late to Create
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MEET ANNE
Hi…I’m Anne!
My creative inspiration comes from a lifetime of observation. I grew up in Paris on the Place St. Sulpice and walked to school through the Luxembourg gardens. And that was only the beginning… Learn more by watching the video on my About page.
