I was inspired by a newsletter I received from Scout Wilkins a gorgeous soul who’s web statement reads “embark on your grandest adventure, clear the doubt & follow your heart”…what a message!
The title of the newsletter was “The Massive Power of your Language” – the premise of the article was that our unconscious mind is listening and when we use negative self talk it becomes a self fulfilling prophesy…nothing new to anybody I’m sure.
It was a wonderful story that she shared that made me smile…
I can’t draw. There’s a fun one to start with, because it reminds me of a story I heard one time, about the small son of a college art professor. The boy asked his dad one day, “What do you do for work?” And his father replied, “I teach people to draw.”
The boy’s jaw dropped and he said, “You mean they forget?”
In life we have choice. By saying over and over “I can’t draw” you are choosing to make that belief a reality. You may in fact not be particularly pleased with your drawing skills, but believe it or not it is a perfectly teachable skill. Yes there are some delightfully talented individuals who have the most wonderful imaginations to create gorgeous lands and characters for us to enjoy…but on the whole, drawing skills can be taught…the imagination bit…well that’s up to you!
Why not be like a child…have you ever seen a really young child who has ‘forgotten’ how to create marks on the page? Even the most disjointed figure is proudly presented to you to discuss and enjoy together. Most children are not self conscious or judgemental of their artwork, they simply remember to create, draw, be in the moment and relax.
Your task is to do the same. Set yourself a drawing challenge. Pick an animal or item that you know well, and draw 10 versions of it, use different media, draw on different medium, draw different sizes, try and draw with your eyes closed, try and draw without taking your pen off the page, try and draw in lots of small tiny lines….relax…be…do…and enjoy!
You might even invite your child to join you…that would be fun! Let them see you enjoying yourself and not judging your work – be a positive self talk role model.