Aging hasn’t brought me wisdom, merely a new (and often fleeting) freedom to try new ventures. When the app Paper appeared last month, my spouse even had a bamboo stylus to lend. No excuses. I like it so much that I might (finally) read Betty Edward’s book, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, and take a course. Or ten. And then practice, of course, as my sibling reminded me.
Bonnie writes, when I asked how she knew just where to end a line or curve,
“…practice, practice, practice. And being paid to draw eight hours a day for eight years at the Denver Post, followed by twenty hours a day as a freelancer…”
Plus, Bonnie majored in art at college.
But before college, I have memories of Bonnie, very, very young, drawing while spread out on the floor. Age four or five? Clearly genes and aptitude play a large role in talent, not merely practice. While that missing gene or aptitude has held me back from trying in the past, why not just play now?
Bonnie drew this for me when I asked for help conveying a desire to travel, yet feeling old memories of maternal restrictions:

© Illustration by Bonnie Timmons, on iPad and using Paper app
And then my first attempts (while not at the level of my sibling nor David Hockney using the iPad nor the remarkable Katy Gilmore), what the heck, eh?

Nearsighted and off-kilter
Lookee here for real artists using Paper.
Speaking of real artists, I’ve read laments by ‘real photographers’ about digital cameras and Instagram and iphone cameras and apps, and how so many photos look similar now, lacking the composition and attention to detail. I’ve allowed those laments to affect me. I wonder if genuine artists who’ve studied art and painting and trained for years will soon lament iOS apps similarly? Does doubt keep you from trying new things?










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