I recently decided to take a drawing class from one of those Continuing Education schools that I love so much. My last drawing experience reaches back 15+ years to Freshman year of High School, and all I can really remember drawing is my saddle shoes. So I figured, why not? This could be fun.

Well, when was the last time you actually sat down to draw something other then a doodle? Sitting down to draw a scene or fruit or a self portrait is quite an experience. For me, it started off fun, then moved to challenging, then extremely challenging, then frustration set in, then self doubt started to fill my brain and then I started thinking, "what the heck am I doing in this class?"

Right about the time I wanted to rip up my drawing, it all started to come together. The fruit was no longer free floating with nothing to sit on. The random squares and lines formed buildings. All of a sudden right before my eyes there became an existing representation of the scene I had chosen. It was amazing how quickly this seemingly big mess turned into something recognizable with a few strokes of the pencil. Whats more, I could see parts of myself in this drawing. With the rough edges and the scattered lines, it was unique and it was me.

For the next three weeks when I went to class, it usually started the same way with confusion and frustration. But as the weeks went on, those things didn't hang around nearly as long as the first time and the drawings got progressively better.

I would recommend anyone take up a new hobby whenever the mood strikes you. It sure beats watching tv. You get to meet new people. You get to experience something new. And if your really lucky you can learn a little something out about yourself.

Sometimes starting something new can be frustrating, but if keep moving forward whats on the other side is well worth the effort.