Last weekend, I took my friend and fellow artist Sarah to the skating rink for her ice skating lessons. She’s a jewelry artist who likes to dabble in all sorts of crafts and makes awesome cosplays.
As a ice skater, Sarah’s only been at it for a few weeks, but she looks like a natural. Not only did she remain gracefully on her feet the entire lesson, she had the most wonderful smile on her face the whole time. Even when she was struggling with movements that her instructor was showing her, she faced it with laughter and determination.
The rink was filled with equally determined six and seven year olds. I saw at least twenty kids fall hard on there knees, backs, and chests like newborn penguins.
Yet, they all had something in common. When they got over the painful shock of hitting ice, they immediately climbed back to their feet and went at it again.
It was just the inspiration I needed to take up my daily sketchbook and painting habit once more. Not only did it give me a new and challenging subject to tackle and attempt to draw, but it left me with a few nuggets of wisdom.
1) Falling is just a part of learning and more fun in groups.
2) Children are studier than they look and exude optimism that’s inspiring in small doses. They also look like rainbow marshmallows when bundled with layers of winter clothing.
3) A hot cup of coffee is just as effective as pair of gloves.
I’ll be uploading sketches from my trip to Disney World last week, as well as new ones that develop this week on both Instagram and Facebook.
This blog updates once a month, so the next blog post will be in March.
Keep chasing your dreams.