New Channel

I've decided that I want to balance out the technical side of brain with something more artistic so I've decided to learn how to draw.

I spend the majority of the day programming in PHP and fixing Javascript bugs so I think it would be great to be able  to express myself in other ways. I bought A Natural Way to Draw. It seemed to get good reviews on Amazon and it doesn't seem to be one of those books that say “here is how to draw a duck” and “here is how to draw a person.” I want to really learn how to draw so I'm trying to avoid the get-there-quick books.

One motivation to learn to draw comes from my current work environment. Most of the non-software guys at work went to RISD so they all have some kind of talent in the arts. It's impressive some of the stuff they do and understand when it comes to art and design and I'd like to learn a little more about that.

My admiration for artistic talent definitely comes from my dad. My father has always had an artistic side of him as he use to work in advertising. He actually designed the Bojangles and Biscuitville logos, and in church he used to turn out these quick little pen sketches of people around that were really good. One of those quick sketches was of my mom's now-deceased father and it was good enough to warrant a framing and hanging in my parent's hallway. It's always been a skill I wish I had.

I don't think I have any of his natural talent, but I've always enjoyed drawing even though I've never known what I was doing. I would have enjoyed to have taken an art class or two in college, but between switching majors of two fairly time-intensive sciences, I could never manage to find the time for one. Even if I never get “good” (whatever that means), it would be a nice way to balance out the always-on, analytical portion of my brain.