What does learning to dance in a year have to do with learning to draw or paint? A lot, I think.
From Jason Kottke’s blog, I was introduced to this time compressed video of Karen Cheng learning to dance over the course of a year.
She made the decision it was what she wanted to do and she devoted herself to it, saying: “I practiced everywhere. At bus stops. In line at the grocery store. At work — Using the mouse with my right hand and practicing drills with my left hand.”
As Kottke points out, the more interesting thing is that she applied the same approach to changing careers, teaching herself to become a graphic designer by searching out the necessary resources, and devoting herself to it until she was able to leave her job at Microsoft for a position with a design firm.
I’m reminded of the aphorisms “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” and “Make progress each day, even if it is by the thickness of a single sheet of paper.”
I’ll step aside now before I start to sound like a Nike commercial.
For a relevant subject, and some resources for learning to draw, see my previous post: Learning to draw: where to go from here.
[Note: the image above is not an embedded video, please use the links below.]
