Back to the Basics

I enrolled in a "Travel Journal" class.  I'm not sure if I actually read what the class was about before I signed up.   I think I saw "travel" and "journal" and decided that was for me!   I didn't realize until the first class that we weren't making a journal to use in our travels, but we were going to put journaling into practice.  In public places.  In front of other people. 

Everyone who knows me understands that I am not a shy person...however, I cringe if anyone watches me draw.  I think it is the perfectionist in me; fearful that a judgement will be made before I am properly finished, self critiqued, approved for public opinion, and framed!  Perhaps that's a bit of an exaggeration...  However, I have accidentally put myself outside of my comfort zone by signing up for this class.  I believe this will be a good thing! 

Lately, as I have gotten older I have found that fears creep up.  My antidote has been to not only face them, but to face them over and over again until I am no longer afraid.  First it was driving through tunnels on road trips.  Bridges were fine, but I was certain I was going to crash into the walls while driving through one of those mountain tunnels on our springtime road trips.  So every year I planned the route with the most tunnels.  And it worked!  I no longer get that "itchy" feeling of confinement when I drive through a tunnel.

Pressure canning is a recent fear that I have overcome.  I started slowly by helping my husband while he was at home, in the house, and specifically in the kitchen.  Then I allowed him to go outside while I kept an eye on the canner happily hissing away.  Finally, I completed a batch of soup from start to finish while he was 45 minutes away for 24 hours!  Success! 

I hate power tools, so my first baby step was to take a class to learn to solder.  I realize that a solder gun is far from a power tool....but this fear is so big, I figure I'll need about a million baby steps before I head out to use the chop saw!

Back to the sketching...

We started some basic drawing techniques that I hadn't used since college; basic contour drawing, blind contour drawing, a bit of perspective, and shading.  I had hated contour drawing in college, but really loved it in this class.  I felt it loosen me up and it filled me with excitement to see how much I had missed having a pen/pencil in my hand.  I am also excited that we have homework!  I don't ever remember being excited about homework in the past...