Encouragement

I am deeply involved in a large commission, so I do not have any new works to show, but I have been doing some thinking.

An art site in which I am active has a nifty forum in which artists are asked to submit a work from way back in the day and a recent one so that young or novice artists can be encouraged, knowing that hard work WILL help you improve, if you just keep at it.  It is also an encouragement to the artists themselves, including me.  I thought I would show my before and now.  I won’t say “after”, because I hope I continue to improve.

When I drew this colored pencil self-portrait, sometime in the late ’80’s or early ’90’s, I thought it was pretty good.  And it was, for where I was in my art at the time.

I actually did not pursue art very seriously for many years after the above portrait.  Then, I decided to do it!  I got serious and took lessons and it is amazing how quickly I improved.  This is my latest graphite portrait:

He is displayed on my site in gray scale, but I originally did him on orange paper.

This, as most of you know, is my latest portrait in pastels:

I know I have a lot of room for improvement, but I am greatly encouraged when I look back and see how far I have come.  Praise the Lord!  I would like to encourage everyone, even if you are not an artist, to keep records of your work and when you are discouraged look and see how far you have come.  It helps me to get the energy and motivation to keep going and I know it would help you.