In a comment to yesterday’s post, Ginny wrote,
I have to hand it to you; I can’t even draw a stick man. And you have represented joy with just a few strokes!
The truth is I spent months thinking about how to draw this one.
I searched for countless pictures of people weeding and tried to simplify the ones I liked best. I kept playing with it off and on and it gradually evolved.
They say anyone can learn to draw — it just takes patience, practice, and the willingness to keep looking closely. It’s like the old joke,
How many therapists does it take to change a light bulb?
Only one, but the light bulb has to really want to change.
I’ve gone through the Klutz book Drawing for the Artistically Undiscovered twice, and I believe in its advice:
…you will find yourself frequently unsatisfied with your efforts. Our recommendation? So what. Take a fearless experimental approach. Wield your pen or pencil with spirit and take bold chances. Your successes will shine all the brighter and the rest—nothing but necessary steps to greatness….
Around here we honor mistakes and botched details. Please make many.
The second time I went through the book was in 2022, and I just looked at it again. One of my favorite assignments was to fill in the Chomp-Chomp tree:
This is what I ended up with:
It was inspired by Zoe, of course,
I had forgotten all about it, but it still makes me laugh.
July 13, 2026
I have a huge grin on my face and can’t stop grinning.. this is my kind of doodling.. muah to sweet Zoe. since I started drawing and coloring by number, I found myself yesterday staring at a man on CNN. the light was hitting his face perfectly to show shading. If the phone had been close by I would have taken a photo and tried drawing his face and shading. trying to draw is like taking photos, the more you do it the better you get and the more we understand it
Thanks. 🙂
the advice in that book is so true. I’m not often satisfied with what I draw but I do it anyway.
The main thing is to have fun doing it. That keeps us playing and learning. 🙂
One of my favorite ofZoe’s expressions, and I love the Klutz books!
🙂
Zoe is a cutie! Me do, I have zero drawing ability.
I have to say that it was very interesting to learn you spent a lot of time figuring out how to draw – I think that is a great quality.
I tried to fix my comments I hope you can leave one tomorrow.
I’ll keep trying. 🙂