
As anyone who has ever taken the time to learn a skill knows, the path to knowledge is not a steadily inclining one. It is not a straight path from A to B, but something meandering, more akin to a hike through the woods than a stroll down a side-walked street. There will be times when you feel like you're improving daily, pulling yourself up task by task at a brisk pace. There will be times when you feel like you've reached a plateau, simply getting by with no improvement in sight. And, of course, there will be times where you feel like your skills are actually declining, regardless of any practice it seems like all you can do is worse than before. If you've been putting a lot of time and effort into this skill, a decline like that can be so debilitating and frustrating it may actually put you off practicing even more, which of course will only lead to a further deterioration of those hard won improvements.
Many years ago, when I got my very first drawing tablet, I did a little drawing of myself holding my stylus to act as a profile picture and logo for my art business. Believe I was about 16 at the time. After about a year (and probably sooner than that!) I hated it, and didn't think it was good enough to represent me. So I drew another one. The next year was the same thing, so I updated the drawing again. Then again. Each time I redrew the image I could see how my style was changing, what new techniques I was employing and, most importantly, how I was improving.
You see, when we get caught up in the day to day of our abilities, we're often too close to see the big changes we're making over time. Sure, today maybe you struggled drawing a pose that you know you've drawn just fine before, but three years ago maybe it's not even something you would have attempted!
I know I'm not the first artist to give themselves a yearly redraw challenge, or even to redraw their profile picture frequently, I'm not blowing any minds over here. However, I will say that it has been an incredibly rewarding process for me and I highly recommend it (or something like it) to anyone out there struggling to see their growth. It's an important thing to remember, an encouraging thing. Every time you pick up that pencil, or that guitar, or sit down to your sewing machine, you are improving and growing, even if you can't see it in the moment.
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