I am having angst!  I am beginning to worry that I may not actually have what it takes to stand up in this art world…
Deep breathe… mentally slap myself… move forward…
One of the things that cause my self-doubt is when I look at other peoples’ work.  Then my biggest enemy becomes “Comparison”.
Last night I went to my first Dr Sketchy life drawing session and it was the first life drawing session since, I don’t remember when.
It was fabulous – actual burlesque queens, 4 of them, in costume and stunningly beautiful hair and make-up!  We were in a small room with a large bed in the middle – we were so close we could touch them!
When the drawing started I found that I was so out of practice that a 5 minute pose felt like 1 minute… and I realised the value of drawing exercises.
Looking around the room I saw a lot of seasoned life drawing artists – producing amazing pieces of art.  Some of them were so quick they were able to capture minute details in their subjects, even adding things and making a comic-styled story out of a single image!
I began to feel inadequate… but then remembered that I have only been doing this for a short time, I haven’t done life drawing in months and these artists whose work I admired have probably been to university and studied graphic design and other artsy stuff.
Deep breathe… mentally slap myself… move forward…
I am pretty much self-taught and am proud of what I was able to capture in my 5 minute drawings.

So… I am still working hard at not comparing myself to other artists.  I think it is inevitable that I will still do that every now and then, but I am getting better at recognising my own talents and appreciating others skills for what they are.
I’m Ok… and I’m ok with being ok.