The top picture was taken by my mom while the bottom picture was a picture that I found somewhere on the internet when I decided that I wanted to sketch that day. Both of the sketches were drawn by me.
This weekend, I took the time to clean out my room at my parent's house so that moving into my apartment this weekend could be as efficient as possible. While cleaning out my desk at my parent's house, I ran into a couple of sketches that I had done previously. I was amazed at the different skill level represented between the two sketches. Both of them are far from perfect and I can definitely see areas where they could be improved, but you can also see that one is done by a better artist. The one of the bottom has better shading and is less choppy. Her nose is still a bit crooked, and her eyes aren't drawn right on the line, but in the top one, her forehead is drawn too small and the pencil strokes are much more individual rather than united. In the top one, the sketch is drawn with her face too wide. The texture of the top girl's shirt are drawn too dramatically, so they appear more as stripes than as wrinkles.
A lot of people have asked me how I have become reached my current skill level at sketching, and my response is always the same. I practiced. This was abundantly clear to me while I looked through my old artwork this weekend. I have some pretty terrible sketches that I did when I was younger. The thing is, if I had never drawn those terrible ones, I would never have been able to draw the better ones. If I had given up and been frustrated with my inability to draw more than sticks with circles to represent a tree when I was 5, I would never have been able to paint a tree on my wall when I was 16.
This is applicable to many areas of life. I was not naturally good at very much when I came out of the womb. I could do the normal baby things pretty well, like sleeping, eating, and pooping. I was not born with an inherent knowledge of Calculus or how to sketch people. But I did work at those skills. I practiced. I pursued that knowledge. I ran after them, wanting to become good at them and become one of the best at those things.
I also have to make a very intentional effort to follow God. Just as I was not born with an inherent knowledge of math, I was not born with natural wisdom. God is teaching it to me every day as I make an effort to learn what it means to be wise. I have to work for it. God is pursuing me, and all I have to do is turn around and ignore the distractions in my life. I am learning what it means to live a life of faith.
"Persistently perfect practice procures perfect progress."~Mark Marshall
Only through consistently continuing on this journey of faith will I become better at following God. Only by the grace of God will I be able to continue on this journey of hope and growth in my spiritual life.
But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen
2 Peter 2:18
Living in Reckless Abandonment for Jesucristo,
Jo
No comments:
Post a Comment