I want to be a better artist

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Story and artwork from Andrew Barton

I live in London and at an early age I was drawn to the arts in particular crafts and performance. I loved the feeling of creating something whether it was music, stories or art and I spent lots of my time practicing these disciplines. Since it was craft including sculpture, sewing which I enjoyed the most, my drawing skills got severely left behind and I would rarely practice it.

Being thrown into a highly science-focused academic school at an early age also hindered my artistic progress as the arts were not valued as much as subjects such as mathematical or chemistry. This caused my progress across all disciplines to plateau since I would not have the time to practice regularly. Even when I did have time to practice, I would usually choose to go for music/crafts since these were disciplines I was more comfortable with and better at. Now I find myself barely being able to draw despite it being something I would love to be able to do! I tried to progress in my drawing skills with regular practice however I found that I was not progressing as much as I would have liked. Perhaps this is because I was copying from photographs, something that after after watching your videos, I have realised is not very useful.

I nearly gave up and told myself that drawing was a natural talent that I just did not have. This was until I came across one of your videos “How to self-assess your drawing skills” which motivated me to keep going and made me realise that drawing is a skills that anybody can learn – all it takes is hard work and training, something I am willing to put in! I am excited by the prospect of becoming a better artist!