Drawing by Mark Wm Smith

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Art: A Foundation for Living

My name is Mark. I am a 56-year-old professional counselor and fiction writer. I grew up believing I would fail at anything significant I tried. In my mid-forties, the error of this belief, and the cost it exacted, became clear. I determined to overcome some of my limitations. I finished my undergraduate degree in creative writing, I finished my Masters in professional counseling, I completed a 10-year long novel writing project and I began to learn how to learn.

At various points I renewed my interest and studies of drawing. Belief that I could never draw was being replaced with the idea that learning to draw was simply a matter of persistent effort. I’ve longed to express my view of the world through visual arts and believe that drawing is the highest form. Drawing, more than any other form, shapes the creative self by combining multiple disciplines into a cohesive expression of an idea. As a counselor and therapist, it helps me understand clients from several angles to better visualize their problem and guide them toward practical resolutions. As a fiction writer, drawing reminds me of the complexity of story while helping me develop and organize that complexity into a comprehensive, entertaining experience comprised of precise moments in time.

My greatest struggle with art has been persistence and consistency. I’ve attempted numerous avenues of study, including the 5-pencil method. In each case, I find myself drifting off course or losing faith in the process. Success and failure coexist with equal potency.

I would love to learn how to accept my level of growth while improving the linearity of my growth curve. I would love to learn how to draw the people in my world, to express their beauty and to encourage their own growth through artistic representations.

Drawing Academy seems to offer a comprehensive approach toward my goal. Early lessons on tools and technique followed by a strong foundation in the core elements of translating life experiences into a skilled artistic rendering sounds like what I need to overcome my tendency to shortcut.

I don’t really want to win the Drawing Academy course. Rather, I am not in a position to pay for it at this time and I fear waiting and losing momentum on the dream.

Truth be told, people should only vote for me if a better candidate is not available. Spend your vote on someone younger, with greater capacity for a future in art.