First lesson, and we’re already jabbing at a sore spot. Word of the week is “Mileage”, and mileage apparently goes hand in hand with making mistakes. That, right there, is one of the main reasons why I’ve been sitting in the same creative spot for years.
I generally try to be a go-with-the-flow sort of person, but I also have a decidedly more rigid side (curiously, rigid-me has a strong overlap with creative-me). I cannot recall how many notebooks I had to throw out because at some point I needed to rewrite something, thereby tainting everything I had written up until then. Speaking of mortal sins, I shudder at the thought of having to switch to a ballpoint pen after showing-not-telling that a fountain pen is the one to be used in a particular notebook.
Then there’s sketchbooks. I have quite a few sitting on a shelf untouched because I am afraid to actually use them. I mean, suppose I do a sketch and then determine the sketchbook is more suited for practicing perspective or studying anatomy, then what? And what if I do a sketch and next time I get the itch I don’t have that particular sketchbook handy? Progress that is not documented within the same container upsets the system.
Writing this down puts it all into perspective; staring my hangups in the face takes away some of the power they have over me. Baring my butt online is admitting to the world, but mostly to myself, that I am stuck and want to break out of this rut. Nuff time wasted.
Instructor Patrick gave us permission (bordering on an order) to make mistakes. I guess for this course I’m taking a walk on the wild side, allowing myself the latitude of imperfect hand-drawn lines.
It does help that I bought a sketchbook specifically for this course, so it’ll be glued to my person for the duration; the system stays calm. Another plus: if I finish the course before filling all the pages, I will have no choice but to do the follow up. So in this case, I’m making my OCD work for me.
Jezzen