My Creative Workout

Build a Creative Habit

Rediscovering the Joy of Drawing

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Drawing in My Sketchbook


I developed an interest in drawing when I was a child. On most Saturday mornings before dawn, while the rest of my family was asleep, I could be found in front of the television with paper and pencil watching a show called “The Nature World of Captain Bob.” This was an instructional drawing show that was broadcast on a local channel in the Boston area back in the seventies and eighties (yes…a long time ago).

Each week Captain Bob would pick a subject from nature and teach the viewers how to draw it. At the same time he would teach you everything you would ever want to know about that particular animal. It was amazing how he could turn simple lines and shapes into amazing life-like drawings. It wasn’t long before I was committed to learning how to do this myself. I would tune in each week to see which animal Captain Bob was going to draw next. By the end of each show, I would compare my drawing to Captain Bob’s. Most of the time my drawing was way off the mark. But I would still work on it after each show ended. Over time, I was able to come much closer to the realism that he was able to capture.

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Getting the Train Back on the Tracks

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Shell

Trying to develop and nurture a creative habit really becomes a challenge when life throws curve balls at you that require most of your time, energy and focus in order to deal with. I know for me it’s really hard to get back any sense of creative flow when a family or financial hardship comes up that has to be dealt with. I find that whatever momentum I’ve built up drawing, writing, and taking pictures soon disappears. Before I know it, my camera and sketchbook are gathering dust and I haven’t written a single sentence for myself in weeks, or sometimes even months.

We all have different types of challenges that inevitably come up no matter how much prevention we practice. Sometimes we really have to drop everything and take care of what’s urgent. Life’s emergencies have to be dealt with. The key is to not let these situations totally derail us. I find that I consistently struggle with this challenge time and time again. Too often, I allow myself to fall into the common trap of escaping into television, websites, social media, etc. for much too long. Before I know it, I find myself buried in that deep creative rut that becomes so hard to climb out of.

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