This summer I thought I’d try to write, read a book, and draw a little picture everyday. I love art, but I don’t feel super confident about what I can do. I take a long time to sketch because I try to make it perfect; except there is no such thing… so all I really end up doing is using a lot of time. I thought practice more. The 3E motto: Practice Makes Progress popped into my head. My daily drawing goals were to practice contour drawing – to speed myself up a bit – and to try to find a way to put light into my pictures to make them more 3-D.
Here’s some of the drawings I’ve done so far. After working in a little sketch book for a while I thought of putting them in my calendar. The first two days were fine, but the third one – the second hummingbird – made me feel like quitting. I thought about getting a new calendar and throwing this one out. (“Silly! That’s what learning is – making mistakes. My class knows that. I should too.”) and about covering it up with white stickers. Finally my Mrs. Eaves side won. Check it out. I didn’t want to make a unicorn-hummingbird. But I did! I’ll be trying again…and again…and again.
Do you have a summer goal? Maybe you’re practicing to so you can swim out to the deep dock. Do you have a surfing goal? Maybe you’re trying to write poems, a story or a series even. Are you trying something at camp? Maybe you hope to grow vegetables to enter in a fair. Maybe you’ll invent a new cupcake recipe. If you’re working toward something, make a post, or leave a comment and tell us how it’s going. Summer is a fun time to give different things a try. Hope to hear from you!