15 November 1999
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YouCanDraw.com's Insiders Communique
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In this issue:
1) Specific Assignments for "Feature's
Mini-Series": baby steps
2) Re-committing: the Artist's Contract
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Hi everybody,
1) Taking a Second Look
Before I go any farther with the "feature by
feature" mini-series, I've been
asking myself a tough question: is anybody really
interested in doing the
assignments? It's not like anybody is under any
obligation to do them, (it's
a self-paced program). But I want to know what can I do
to make it easier
for people to do them - no matter where they are on the
learning curve - and
without getting in a "correspondence course"
situation. (That's just too
time consuming for me.)
Emailed Assignments
Part of the problem I see with e-mailing assignments is
you got to stop what
you're doing and go do them. They drop into your mailbox
unannounced, and
lay a whole 'nother guilt trip on you - "Like I need
one more thing to do!"
If there's a link you have to go to, I know how I say to
myself "I have 60
other emails to read, I can't stop right now to get back
on line, hook up to
the Lesson Library and go see what this guy is talking
about".
Of course I promise myself "I'll go back when I get
some time", but I know
how bad my track record really is.
The juggling act
People have house work, lots of other email, career and
family to
juggle...it's tough these days! However, I did promise
that drawing takes
practice. And I promised I was going to be your coach -
as much as I can be
within a self paced/limited correspondence type program.
How can I help you to keep on drawing?
I'm experimenting. So here's one thing I've come up with:
small, doable
assignments. Something anybody could do in 15 -30
minutes. I really believe
you can still learn to draw faces with just 15 minutes,
2-3 days a week over
a couple months. Will that make you a master? Probably
not in two or three
months. But you'll keep getting that exposure. The
lessons and techniques
start "stockpiling" subconsciously and at some
point, you'll feel a spark:
it'll all start making sense to you, and you'll get all
fired up about
drawing! I've seen it enough to know it can happen.
Two small drawings:
So in today's communique, I've included 2 drawings: one
is the exploded view
of what I think are the drawable parts of the ear. The
other is an ear you
get to draw - and that'll be the assignment for the week.
(And I'm going to
go through a feature at a time - as planned.)
Your Bite-sized Assignment:
For 15 - 30 minutes all you do is draw the one ear, the
"draw THIS ear" ear.
And you do that on two to three occasions this week.
That's it!
And next week you do the mirror image of the same ear.
(The ear below is a
left ear. If I can find the time, I'll send a right ear
next week.)
If you get fired up about drawing ears, you can click on
the link below and
just "go to town".
Draw this ear
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Exploded View
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Draw the ear on
the left for 15-30
minutes 3 days out of the next 5.
Always room for improvement: My
Challenge
Even if you already feel like you're an expert on drawing
ears, and you want
to say "get on with the caricatures Jeff!" and
you think I'm going on too
long about a single feature, here's my challenge: ask
your self honestly
how much do you really know about the anatomy of the ear
(or any feature
for that matter)? Might your drawing benefit if you knew
it just a little
bit better?
What if I told you that if you went through 15 to 30
minutes a day for just
three consecutive days in a row and you drew nothing but
ears for those 15 to
30 minutes, the ears you drew on your subjects would
improve 100 %? (I
mean you'll realize that kind of improvement spending
just that time once in
your life!) In the next 11 months, we got time to get
into a considerable
amount of detail folks, so take the time to get the
foundations mastered.
Your Success in the making
I want to see you all succeed - in whatever it is you do.
If drawing is
the springboard to something else, fantastic! It could
just turn into a
successful home business that may open all sorts of other
doors for you.
The fact you were motivated to join says to me you've got
the desire.
And with the desire, comes the means. You already have
the tools folks!
I got this favorite quote, I forget who wrote it, but it
goes like this:
"Genius is at first a capacity for
discipline"
So just little steps, 15 minutes, 30 minutes 5,4,3, even
2 days a week over
months, years, decades - passing through plateaus, your
skill snowballs
and before you know it, you got some mastery under your
belt! And it
feels so good.
2) Lastly, I've included a post from 15
months ago: "The Artist's
Contract". (Based On Julia Cameron's contract in her
book: The Artist's Way")
Here it is:
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Artist's Contract
I ____________________________, (your name) understand
that in learning to do
caricatures I am undertaking an intensive guided
encounter with my own
creativity. I commit myself to weekly reading,
__________(3,4,5...) weekly
drawing sessions of ____________ minutes (15, 30, 45...).
I commit myself to completing one section of a lesson
every ______ (3 days,
week, 10 days) and to the fulfillment of each weeks
tasks.
I _____________________________, (your name) further
understand that there
will be days when I think nothing I draw looks right and
that my future as a
caricaturist will be limited. On those days I promise
myself I'll accept
those uncomfortable feelings and I'll keep on drawing.
(Possibly after an
hour break, a day break, some exercise, after doing
something completely
different - or even after a good temper tantrum - but I
promise myself I'll
get back to it!)
Lastly, If I really get stuck, I'll buy Julia Cameron's
"The Artist's Way"
or something like it where I can remind myself that
learning to draw
caricatures or any art for that matter, is a passage (at
times a painful
one) to an expanded and enriched life. I'll remind myself
I deserve praise
and congratulations - not criticism - for trying.
_________________________________Signature
_________________________________Date
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Draw the ear that's within the "format", the
rectangular box,
(11111Modelearfinal.GIF), for at least 15 minutes, three
days out out of the
next seven.
If your'e getting motivated, click here and do the
assignments at:
http://ycdinsiders.digitalchainsaw.com/InsidersArtistLoft/earsmasterlinkscli
ck.htm
(You'll have to cut and paste into your browser if this
link isn't all blue)
Keep on Drawing!
Warmly,
Jeff
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