Thoughts on drawing - Michaela Anderson

Drawing has always been interesting for me because of how dynamic my view of it. I relate to many artists in the sense that one minute I can love my art, and the next I can hate it; but I've always been surprised by how easily my view of it can change. I believe drawing, and in extension, art, will always be an integral part of my identity, and that my perspective of it will always be changing--and that that's a good thing.

While it may be vain or potentially shallow, one of my favorite parts personally of drawing is how it can be such a comforting thing. It allows me to retreat from anxieties and stresses by simply sitting down and drawing what I want. Drawing has always been a consistent, stable thing for me that I can rely on it to always be there. While I can't consistently draw well, I can always draw, and that's something precious to me.

However, something I've always struggled with when it comes to drawing is originality. The unfortunate side effect of drawing being a comforting thing is that I usually resort to drawing that which is comfortable to me. Which means, in turn, a stagnation of originality--being too afraid to try new and potentially 'ugly' or 'uncomfortable' ideas. This is something that's been plaguing me my entire artistic career, but I hope I'll continue my efforts to resist the urge to resort to the comfortable and the well known, and try new things, because that's an important facet of creativity that drawing encourages.

Shifting topics a bit, my favorite thing to see in art is energy. Energy, dynamic poses, and expressiveness all appeal to me.


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I've kept a small collection of art that appeals to me in a personal blog, and I've always been looking for how to capture the energy I find so appealing.


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I'm still searching for just what I find appealing in art in hopes of better understanding my own tastes and therefore artistic goals.


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Even past art, I find inspiration in photography, environments. Since those aren't "drawings," I won't include them, but I won't discredit the inspiration I draw from them.

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Another huge inspiration for me is music. I'll play a song on loop just for the artistic inspiration it gives me--before long, I'll end up having played it over 20 times.


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While it can be difficult for me not to get envious over other artist's talents, I very much value collecting and appreciating art that stands out to me to dissect what it is I like about it.

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These have been just a few select examples from art that's stood out to me--While it's widely varied, I hope that I can find the common thread between my interests.

In conclusion, art and drawing are both very important to me, and I will hold them dear most likely for the rest of my life. I hope that I can continue to improve my technical skills, but most importantly, improve my creative skills and gain the confidence to do original work that matters to me, and hopefully others as well.