I'm getting a lot better at drawing, and registered for my third quarter of the same art class

 I can see that I'm improving as an artist, or somebody drawing from observation in my drawing book. Earlier this book we drew self-portraits and my piece looked a lot like me. Which is not to say it was perfect: my face looked skewed, there were some interesting choices made on all sides, but those were just minor considerations. There's a clear pattern: one can learn to see patterns in the natural world, identify what's important and what's not, and use the essence of those images to create a copy of them as art. And it doesn't have to be an inborn skill, one can be taught it. Four or five months ago I wondered if I could be taught art at all, or if it was just silly desire to do something new. I can tell confidently that art -- drawing specifically -- is possible to teach.

My next goal is to keep taking this class. Registered for the summer version of it, the third iteration of the same course. We'll see how far we'll get by repeating this course, and once there's a decent level of comfort, 'graduate' to a class where I'll be able to draw human figures. Figure drawing classes will be useful because my eventual goal is to not draw naturalistic drawings but stick figures. But to draw those figures one must have a good understanding of how real people work, and how actual drawings are done, so one understands the process of distillation and representation. Might even take that class over the summer, we shall see how the yoga schedule turns out.

I'm excited!