Wednesday 16 February 2011

Good at drawing...

'Good at drawing' - yes that has been my downfall.

Why oh why couldn't I have been 'good at surgery 'or 'good at house conveyancing'. Even, 'good at sticking bits of pipe together so that water can pass through them' would have been a more serviceable path to tread than drawing.

The problem began at junior school where I was always introduced as ‘Andrew, he’s good at drawing’ by my teachers. The headmaster even arranged for me to have my picture taken by the local paper - ‘The Thame Gazette’ – holding one of my ‘good drawings’, a pencil drawing of a peregrine falcon. They even wrote short article about my incredible drawing ability.

It wasn’t even a very good drawing, but it furthered the legend that I was - and you know what happens when you begin to believe your own publicity.

After that my fate was sealed. I spent most of my time drawing this and drawing that, sketching here and sketching there. My Saturdays were spent painting, my evenings were spent painting, it simply became what I did in most of my spare time and I’d find any excuse to draw. Everyone encouraged me to draw and ‘oohed’ and ‘aahed’ at my dexterity with a pencil, they even commented on how good I was at colouring-in; no going over the lines for me, and blocks of colour were nowhere to be seen as I subtly shaded inside the outline drawing of a young deer. I came from a drawing family you see - my uncle Charlie could draw, cousin Leslie could draw, even my Mum could draw the most intricate paisley pattern shapes freehand.

And so it went on. At secondary school I did pretty well at any subject where drawings could be included along with my written work – history, geography, biology, even chemistry; nobody could draw a vacuum flask as well as me and my retorts were to be marvelled at. Unfortunately subjects where drawing was unimportant, like maths, held no interest for me, so I didn’t really try very hard. My school exercise books were littered with comments like ‘excellent diagrams’ and ‘extremely good drawings of a dissected frog’. I once spent a whole week of evenings on a drawing of the Acropolis and then about thirty minutes writing the essay to go along with it. I got an ‘A’ and my history teacher (Primo) commented ‘the best drawing I have ever seen from one of my pupils’ – no mention of the scrappy, rushed, badly spelt essay though.

Each year I won the art prize, after school trips my drawings and paintings were exhibited in the hall on parent’s evenings, I illustrated the school magazine. Yes, I was good at drawing and after taking my art ‘A’ level it seemed only natural to go to college to study art. So I did. After that (give or take a slight change in direction from fine art to graphics) I worked in the graphics industry as a designer for a number of years, then as a manager of designers and artists, and on and on until I arrived where I am today - kind of nowhere - and all because I was ‘good at drawing’.

These days I wonder if I'm good at anything at all, I'm not even sure if I ever was. I keep telling myself to get out my brushes and paints and take it out on the canvas – I’m building up to it and some day soon who knows.

I'm thinking of trying a bird painting, but it won’t be a peregrine falcon. After all, look where that got me.

9 comments:

  1. Phil Morgan commented on Facebook:
    You're the best drawer I know.

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  2. Colin Tickle commented on Facebook:
    You've still not splashed oil paints on canvas in the style of that abstract water shot I took yet. We could agree a price... a commission and the first picture for our new dining room, when it's finished. As.for talent, my job is one that will soon be done by kids instead of a paper round. My family tree is littered with artists but that skill bypassed me. If you're any good with a bigger brush, the aforementioned room needs painting ;o)

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  3. You should be happy that you're blessed with a wonderful talent;that I'm sure has also given you great pleasure over the years (doodling/ capturing forever a beautiful setting/happy memory)... not everyone is .. :O)
    I haven't been able to work for over 3 years and have lost all confidence and I don't have a talent (I am at my happiest pottering in the garden/tending my pots and keeping the plants alive) - I even envy Caroline having trained as a nurse and having a job for a lifetime (we will always be short of nurses) ... Everyone tells us to turn the negatives into positives (just pick up a magazine and see how many tell you the secret of positive thinking/how to be happy. They've even made a science out of that.
    Why can't life/happiness be as simple as when we were infants (not a care in the world); because we make life too complicated and are never happy with what we have got and learn that there is more (advertising - just look at what we need/want every time you turn on the telly/flick through a magazine...).
    I watched Kevin McCloud in the slums of India. They had hardly any material possessions/ sanitation - but how I would love to have just a tiny part of that community spirit/pride/Happiness.
    But I'm being negative - must turn that into a positive ...
    Little Sis

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  4. Richard Shore commented on Facebook:
    "I'll teach you how to be rubbish at drawing if you like. Although to be honest, I'm not sure how I do it, just a natural talent I guess."

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  5. David Bell commented on Facebook.
    David wrote "Know what you mean - spent 4 years at the Regional College of Art in Bradford and finished up in a job I never liked; selling ads and managing people for Thomson's and Yell"

    ReplyDelete
  6. Della Jayne Roberts commented on Facebook: Strange how many people end up in jobs that make them miserable ... must be wonderful to have a talent that you can use (and be happy doing it ) and have an end product for others to enjoy/make them happy. :O)
    7 hours ago · Like

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  7. I've always wanted to have a skill like singing or playing an instrument or being able to speak another language but I wasn't blessed. Although it may not feel like it, you are blessed with your skill, you have it regardless of what life thros at you, it can't be taken away.

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  8. Kevin Burke commented on Facebook:
    Andy your skills are management, you can take those skills anywhere, from a company selling door stops to acompany selling advertising.... matters not a jot you excell at art, you are a management professional. push and you will get.

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  9. Ay least your good ay something.

    ReplyDelete