Frugal Fun: Drawing
I have liked to doodle all my life and I remember fondly my first red Bic flair marker. I drew Johnny Storm from the Fantastic Four on every piece of paper I could get my hands on. He is the character that can turn into a human flame and fly around. I don’t know how good it was, but while that Bic lasted, I enjoyed drawing Johnny flying around everywhere.
Later on, my drawing stilted as it does for most people. Other tasks get priority and that drawing skill lies dormant and for most never reignites again. Luckily for me, I started it up again when I became a Dad. It took some work, and some childlike fascination to get past all the bad stick figures. Persistence got rewarded as something clicked and I started to like what I drew.
As the girls got older, drawing fell to the wayside again. However its a very good pastime to get yourself more mindful- and it can be hours of fun for the cheap. Here’s some tips:
- It minimally requires some paper and pencils
- start with some scenes that you find tranquil-trees, cottage in the woods, geometric shapes, animals, anything
- practice makes better – doodle during gaps at work, play, or on line at the grocer’s.
- the library has plenty of drawing books to teach, inspire, imitate.
- Drawspace is a great online resource.
- after some time with drawing you notice that you see things differently
- start simple, in small increments you may be amazed at what you can accomplish
- Mark Kistler’s Draw Squad is a great introduction to drawing
Enjoy!
