Proof That Nobody Is Born an Expert

Not Even Me

Nobody is born an expert. I’ll never understand why humans are reluctant to try things because they might mess up. Of course you will. That’s a given. You’re human. There’s a learning curve, experience, and trial and error to go through. Tiger Woods wasn’t a pro golfer the moment he held his first golf club. Kobe wasn’t a mega NBA basketball star the first time he stepped foot on a basketball court. And Michelangelo wasn’t a master artist when he first started either.

Over the past several months, I’ve addressed topics regarding getting over artistic insecurities, improving your drawing skills, and drawing every day. Each of those ties back to one main truth…we all have to start somewhere. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Every artist was first an amateur.”

Before & After

Now I’m a firm believer in before and after photos, photos which show (hopefully) an improvement and movement closer to a goal. If you follow any of my other social media, you may have seen a before and after fitness pic or two. I post one every year. But the hardest for me to publicly post was that first year when I started out.

Before and after – fitness 2011-2016.

The before pic was tough to show everyone because it was the most out of shape I had ever been. But there was also triumph in the after pic, especially when shown side by side with the before. Before and afters are the most powerful visual indicators of how you’re doing.

So today I’m going to go out on a limb and show you before pics of my artwork. I get comments all the time about the quality of my work now and sometimes the things people say make it seem like I have just always drawn the way I currently do.

As if I popped out of the womb able to draw like this!

Trust me when I say that my drawings as a kid looked like any other kid’s drawings. But drawing was something that I did almost every day. I practiced. A LOT! And when other kids became self-aware enough to be shy or embarrassed about their work, I didn’t stop like they did. I continued drawing, and that is the key.

My Humble Beginnings

So without further ado, here are my before pics. This little slide show video consists of some first grade school work where we had to draw a picture illustrating a given sentence. This work was from 1975. I was in the first grade.

My school work, 1975, 1st grade.

The next image is from a year later, 1976, 2^nd grade. Now here’s a prime example of what happens when you work at something every day. There is already a pretty remarkable improvement from the year before.

More school work, 1976, 2nd grade.

I’m not sure what year this little project came from, but I just thought it was interesting because it was a combination of drawing and using fabric for the clothing. And let me just apologize to my mom and dad…apparently fashion sense doesn’t kick in until later.

Another school art project, date unknown.

So there you have it, my humble beginnings as an artist and proof that nobody is born an expert. If you want to improve your skills, you must practice every day, consistently and seriously. And I’m not talking about just doodling. I mean really practicing. Study your craft, analyze your work, learn from your mistakes, identify how to improve, and make the necessary adjustments. If you stick with it, you will improve. The only way you can truly fail is if you quit.

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Further Reading:

How Artists See

Five Tips to Improve Your Drawing Skills

Another Tip to Improve Drawing Skills

How I Got Past My Artistic Insecurities