Pencil Drawing and Motivation.

I like to do pencil drawings. It is especially fun when I draw with my kids. We’ll all pick a picture and talk about what we’re drawing. I’m self taught so I try to teach them what I know about shading and drawing what you see. The point is to spend time together doing something creative.

As far as talent is concerned, I have none. I am not able to draw a scene from my mind. I am only able to draw exactly what I see. I have no illusions about this.

I did this from a picture of a dragonfly.

I did this from a book on drawing dragons (which is an awesome book that I will shamelessly plug on Amazon)

DragonArt
The amount of focus and energy it takes for me to divert my mind to drawing is immense. Of course it might be like trying to run when you’re out of shape (like I’m also doing now). I might be able to work faster if I draw more. With everything else, it is a question of competing interests. If I draw more, I’ll play games less or I’ll work less or I’ll do something else less.

Remember how I said that I draw with my kids? That is a real motivator to draw more. Plus, I need to get it through my thick head that drawing is better than gaming because you’re left with something you can enjoy forever. I’ve been playing with pencils for a dozen years. It is great to go back and look at how I’ve made progress (even if it is meager). You can’t do that with a video game.

My latest project is a famous artist’s self portrait. It is one of the most ambitious pencil drawings I’ve undertaken. It is going to take weeks to finish at my pace.

Tags: art, books on drawing dragons, creativity, motivation, Pencil Drawing