There are secrets hiding in this journal cover I made a few years ago: I was having a lot of trouble drawing hair, arms and hands, and was completely out of practice with my lettering. 

If you look back at some of my earlier collages, you will see a lot of bald heads, as well as hats, circles, found objects, etc, sitting where the hair should be. You will also see arms, hands and letters cut from magazines and pasted on. People thought I was being creative, which is true I suppose, but not in the way they assumed. The creativity was born from a lack of ability. 

Eventually I learned how to draw the arms and hands. I got back into practice with my lettering, and as of this writing, I am continuing to learn how to “style” hair. But, here is the interesting part, I still use a lot of my old work-arounds because they are really fun to do, and I like the way they look. They made me a better artist then, and they make me a better artist now.

If you want to make art, please don’t let not knowing how to draw stop you. Just start wherever you are, and figure things out as you go along. You might surprise yourself with what you can do, and develop your own unique way style as you learn. 

Happy art making! xo