5 Minutes A Day
Artwork and story from Jessica Hamor
Hello, my name is Jessica Hamor. I’m a Washington state resident and have lived in and around the Seattle area my whole life. I work in the heart of downtown at the historic Pike Place Market with a large community of artists and craft makers. I have been married over a decade now and have 2 older cats. One who is content to sleep all day, the other constantly plotting his escape to the great outdoors. Currently, my husband and I are in the process of becoming crafters at Pike Place Market selling leather belts with hand drawn Polynesian tribal designs embossed directly onto the cowhide.
Drawing has had a lifelong influence on me. I started drawing the moment I was able to hold a pen, quickly stick figure horses along with cats were plastered onto the refrigerator door. When I was a teenager drawing turned into an outlet, someplace I could go to process the turmoil of trying to understand the world. When I turned 18 the realities of adulthood along with leaving the house settled in. After a decade my pencils and sketchbooks had all collected dust, long neglected.
The motivation and discipline to continue what I enjoyed so much as a child got pushed aside for the hustle of “an adults life”. I told myself I didn’t have time to draw every day, or worse, I don’t want to. I was just going to wait until I felt like drawing, or until it was that perfect Sunday off work and the sun was shining. Then I would draw. But months always turned into years, and I would only draw on some rainy day. It was about a year ago I really had a hard look at this mentality and decided to make a change. The days, such as after work, are the most important days to draw. When it’s the last thing you want to do because of whatever convenient excuse at the time. So, I wrote a note on a sticky pad and placed it above my desk. It reads “5 minutes a day”. Over the past year minutes have turned to hours, and every day I draw I record it in a planner.
Since redeveloping a habit of drawing consistently I have started to focus again on some of the basic fundamentals of drawing. Currently I have started to focus on human anatomy starting with the skull, from here I was going to continue with the skeletal structure and muscles. Alongside human anatomy I would like to start working on perspective. This subject has been a real struggle in the past but is crucial to growing as an artist. For Christmas this year I bought myself an anatomical skull replica, which then became the subject of my submission.
I have looked around at online courses offered to students and like how Drawing Academy structures their learning process. Other online drawing courses I have looked into have a wealth of information but no clear path for study. It’s good for someone who wants more continuing education. What I like the most about drawing academy is the straightforward start here approach that accommodates beginners and people looking to get back into art to start expanding their knowledge. You know which videos to watch first so that you can build upon what you learned in previous videos. I also like that there is an option for correspondence where you can get feedback on your assignments and the assignments are tailored so the student is getting the opportunity to grow in areas that need the most work.
I would like to win the drawing competition so that I can start watching the videos to become familiar with the material offered here. Having access to the Drawing Academys videos will give me a more in-depth idea of how the information will be structured and presented for future study in the life drawing academy courses and/or painting courses. I have been considering the correspondence program for some time now and feel the opportunity to go over the material before signing up for the more personalized program would help me decide to move forward with the correspondence program.
A vote for my art will help me in obtaining my goals as an artist at this time. Currently I am in need of art instruction that can challenge my skills and help me grow as an artist. Winning the Drawing Academy competition will move me forward in this direction. One of the major challenges I have had recently is simply finding good instruction. There are so many wonderful videos online and on youtube, but there is so much information out there it is hard to start anywhere meaningful. This will not be the case with Drawing Academy. I will have focus and direction to help guide me with self study before deciding on tutors in the future.
Hello Jessica,
Reading your post right now and am agreeing on every word you have said. Your post replicates me righr down to the last word. Keep up on this coarse and you will notice a real big difference in the basics and how much detail there is in the basics before you can assign yourself to the next step. Good Luck and have enjoyed your post.