Okay, well, technically, I
erased it. Weird, I know, but I saw it in a video. Cover the entire page with graphite, smudge it around on the page with a paper towel, then erase all of the light spots (and add in a few darks). About halfway into the first eye (which incidentally was my starting point) I started to think "oh, no...why did I think I could do this??" Barely into it, I began to doubt that I have the skills to complete a decent drawing! I mean why should I think that I can? I have no formal training! I'm a music teacher!! Still, I kept going. Lucky for her, I did, or she'd be a blob of graphite with one eye!
A couple of things I picked up from the experience:
1. Those insecure feelings will come. They always do. I've got a lot of unfinished projects that testify to this truth. Today, however, I have one drawing that emphatically shouts: "Keep drawing! It's totally worth it!"
2. It's really quite amazing what a little erasing can do. This drawing started as a dark, scary blob of graphite on a piece of paper. Perhaps a bit like my life...which often feels like a dark, scary blob of "what am I doing?" But what if the Lord is in the business of erasing? What if I can hang on just one more day, sit still, and let Him remove just one more bit of ugly? As a serious perfectionist, hell-bent on being flawless in my own power (read: exhausted), that actually sounds quite lovely. Man, am I glad I kept drawing!
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29 Faces: Face #3
Graphite on paper |
