😨 fear of the empty page
You know those people (maybe you are one of them) who have a journal they carry with them and in addition to their writing, they make little drawings of what they observe. A coffee cup. A street performer. Trees. Birds. Buildings. All the little things that capture one's attention day to day.
I've always wanted to do that, but I've never had the courage to try.
Last week, I dusted off a dog-eared book from the book shelf (literally chewed on by my blue heeler) and began re-reading Dare to Sketch: A Guide to Drawing on the Go, by Felix Scheinberger.
What an excellent book! It's not necessarily a "how to" book, although there are helpful tips, but a book of encouragement for the reticent artist. I found it uplifting because the author included sketches that looked like something I could do. They weren't perfect. There were squiggles, and scribbles, and wonky faces. I can draw wonky faces!
Dare to Sketch, by Felix Scheinberger (with my notecard sketch in the corner)
Don't get me wrong, Felix is an incredible artist and his illustrations in the book are beautiful. But, I really appreciate his emphasis on embracing mistakes as part of the process. Getting over the need for everything to be perfect, or look "just right." At the beginning of the book, Felix addresses the "fear of the empty page."
How should you begin? More important, how should you begin without ruining your beautiful new book with an initial mistake?
I have had this EXACT thought, when faced with a new page. What if I mess up, and ruin the "whole" thing? Why even bother? Let me just tuck this notebook back on the shelf where it will remain safe from my inevitable blunders.
And the fear of starting, doesn't just apply to drawing. It happens when I face a "new post" page, try my hand at wood working, play something on the guitar, or break out a new recipe. The fear of the "empty page" is real.
His suggestion:
...begin with a deliberately bad drawing. Breaking the ice will make sketching all the easier.
He also recommends not starting at the beginning of a new book, but somewhere further in (specifically page 17), and skipping around the pages.
I don't have a notebook yet, but I used the bottom of a page in my journal to draw a quick sketch of our kitten in a box. On the blank side of a note card, I captured a glimpse out of my desk window.
Look at me. Trying something new.
Even though I'm just beginning, the blank spaces look better with my sketches. I hope to keep filling them! 𓂃✍︎
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