I Still Hate Perspective

Now that I’m spending time in the studio every day, I’m re-visiting a lot of different media, supplies, and methods for drawing and painting. One of the most valuable resources for me has always been Matt Fussell’s site, The Virtual Instructor. This was one of the first online art sites I discovered when I began learning to draw, and his teaching methods really “clicked” for me. It is a subscription site, but for anyone interested in learning to draw or paint — or for anyone looking to improve their existing art skills — a membership is, in my opinion, well worth the price.

After finding the site and joining it years ago, one of the first courses I took was “The Secrets to Drawing”. This course taught me the “elements of art”. I was so pleased and proud to feel I was actually an art student and that I was actually learning something! It was “Lesson 11” in the course that inspired my “Bowl of Apples” — the colored pencil drawing that, in turn, inspired me to start this blog. So, when I say that I’m here today because of “The Virtual Instructor”, I speak in truth. Without Matt’s teaching — both through his courses and the live programs he offers — I would never have become an artist.

I know I still have some drawing ability, and some painting ability. Most of all, I know I’m still a creative individual. At the same time, I also know that the art skills I developed were mediocre at best, never great, and those skills have surely diminished from lack of use. So, just as I did all those years ago, I’m turning to The Virtual Instructor and the awesome art courses available there.

In many ways, though, it’s a lot more challenging this time around. Yes, I still have a few expectations to deal with. When I took the course back in 2016, I had absolutely no expectations. Well, not true. I really expected to fail. I was astonished, to say the least, when I actually saw myself making progress.

This time around, although I try to put myself back into a “beginner’s mindset”, I really can’t. I’m not an absolute beginner now. I do have expectations and that nagging thought that I should do better now. But I don’t think I can “out-do” my original performance in the course. I also find that I don’t really want to repeat the same drawings. I don’t want to draw another bowl of apples. I don’t want to attempt another sea turtle drawing.

This was the “Sea Turtle” I completed in 2016, another of the projects from The Secrets to Drawing.

I was so proud of this colored pencil drawing! This was the first time, I think, that I looked at a piece of art I’d done and thought “This is actually good. I actually am an artist.”

Repeating the project would not bring those same feelings, so while I’m watching the lessons, I don’t think I want to try doing the same drawings again. Maybe I’ll find something similar to work on.

One thing has definitely not changed. I still hate perspective. The last three lessons I’ve covered have been on that important topic. First, one-point perspective, then two-point, and today I’m going over three-point. But it’s hopeless. Really. Truly. Absolutely hopeless.

I’ve done enough drawing and painting at this point to know that:

• I will never be good at perspective.
• Yes, perspective is an important aspect of art.
• But, for my purposes, perspective is not as important as it could be.

I laughed a little as I was watching one of the course videos that pointed out that we should never mix perspectives. Tell that to Paul Cezanne, I thought to myself. He was known for “wonky, mixed perspectives” in his still life paintings.

In my own art — which for the most part has come to focus on landscape oil painting — perspective is important, but not as crucial as it would be if I were doing urban landscapes or architectural drawings.

I know enough about perspective to “get by” in my landscapes, and if I do end up with something a bit wonky, I’ll just say I was influenced by Cezanne!

Coming back to the studio after a very long hiatus is interesting. It’s challenging in many ways, yet I can approach the process with a bit of “artistic common sense” now. I know my strengths and I definitely know my weaknesses. I know much more about who I am as an artist now. Although I’m “warming up” with lots of playful watercolor exercises, I’m really looking forward to getting back to my oil painting. I dream of painting skies and clouds, rivers, trees, grassy hillsides… all the things in nature I love.

What it all means is that I’m not going to stress myself out over perspective. I did that in the past. If you go through old posts on this blog, you’ll find so many “failed perspective drawings” and read of so many headaches and frustrations! I’m not going to put myself through that again.

I still hate perspective. I’m still not good at it, but what difference does it really make? For me, right now, it doesn’t make much difference at all!