I have been blessed to be a person who can look at something and be able to recreate it pretty easily.  When I create something and it usually turns out well.  I am able to draw a selected genre of images well and am adept at brush stroking many lettering fonts.  I am not bragging, I am stating a simple fact.  Living this paradigm has left me a bit surprised as my art grows in the direction of two dimensional works. I find myself surprised by the amount of work that I have to put in to most of the two dimensional art pieces.  I have to graph the image, graph the painting surface and then finally draw the image out so that I can paint it.  I am still working on “seeing” the image so I study the image from time to time.  All of this preparation threatens to derail my interest, I have a medically short attention span that I constantly work to manage through behavioral modification tools that I have in my tool box. I have worked, over the last several years, to develop sketching skills, skills that would allow me to quickly capture an image, a scene, a mood.  As I said earlier, I can draw however sketching continues to challenge me.  I have developed a habit of sketching when I travel and during my grandson’s weekly guitar lessons. Recently I was preparing for a coming art class.  I had selected some images to use for reference and decided to experiment with different mediums that I had not worked with.

To my utter amazement, the quick sketch captured the essence of the image that I was looking at.  With much gladness, I realized that my increased practicing was paying off.  I will hold this near and dear as I continue on this wonderful, creative journey that I am on.