<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!-- If you are running a bot please visit this policy page outlining rules you must respect. http://www.livejournal.com/bots/ -->
<feed xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:lj="http://www.livejournal.com">
  <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:myartjourney</id>
  <title>My Art Journey</title>
  <subtitle>The First Step's The Hardest</subtitle>
  <author>
    <name>myartjourney</name>
  </author>
  <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://myartjourney.livejournal.com/"/>
  <link rel="self" type="text/xml" href="http://myartjourney.livejournal.com/data/atom"/>
  <updated>2007-10-06T13:45:08Z</updated>
  <lj:journal userid="13845328" username="myartjourney" type="personal"/>
  <link rel="service.feed" type="application/x.atom+xml" href="http://myartjourney.livejournal.com/data/atom" title="My Art Journey"/>
  <link rel="hub" href="http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/"/>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:myartjourney:876</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://myartjourney.livejournal.com/876.html"/>
    <link rel="self" type="text/xml" href="http://myartjourney.livejournal.com/data/atom/?itemid=876"/>
    <title>Supplies</title>
    <published>2007-10-06T13:45:08Z</published>
    <updated>2007-10-06T13:45:08Z</updated>
    <content type="html">&amp;nbsp;I've been stocking supplies, waiting for the chance to actually sit down and attempt lessons from a book.&amp;nbsp; So far, I've spent $2 on a sketch book, $9 on a basic pencil set, $1.50 on erasers, and $1 on pencil boxes.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And I haven't had time to sit down and attempt anything.&amp;nbsp; In fact, we moved my computer the other day, and now I don't know where the sketch book is.&amp;nbsp; :-/&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Maybe tonight, I will find it, and start my journey.</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:myartjourney:636</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://myartjourney.livejournal.com/636.html"/>
    <link rel="self" type="text/xml" href="http://myartjourney.livejournal.com/data/atom/?itemid=636"/>
    <title>The beginning</title>
    <published>2007-09-18T22:28:50Z</published>
    <updated>2007-09-18T22:28:50Z</updated>
    <category term="background"/>
    <category term="art"/>
    <category term="beginning"/>
    <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;When I was a child, I drew all the time.&amp;nbsp; Almost always, it was the same thing: a strip of green grass, a strip of blue sky, a slice of yellow sun (always on the left), and flowers, alternating loopy daisies and jagged tulips.&amp;nbsp; A fluffy cloud, an "M" or "V" bird.&amp;nbsp; My icon represents these early pictures.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I would draw on the back of assignment sheets, in my notebooks, ON my notebooks, on scrap paper, on chalkboards, wherever I could find the space to scribble, I would draw.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Then, around high school, I stopped.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In junior high, I drew doll ideas, dress ideas, almost anything I thought about, I would try to put onto paper.&amp;nbsp; Yes, they were crude, out of proportion, and childish, but they were mine.&amp;nbsp; I actually won a ribbon at the Arts Festival in seventh grade.&amp;nbsp; But after that, nothing.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I don't know exactly why&amp;nbsp;I stopped.&amp;nbsp; I don't remember any harsh criticism, any "Why are you even bothering," comments, nothing that stands out.&amp;nbsp; I just stopped.&amp;nbsp; I started to draw once more, in senior year.&amp;nbsp; I drew a portrait of Johnny Yong Bosch, who played Adam, the Black Power Ranger, from a magazine portrait.&amp;nbsp; And it wasn't bad.&amp;nbsp; But after that, nothing.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Now, I'm thirty years old, and trying to figure out if there's anything left.&amp;nbsp; I still get the urge to sketch, but it's stomped down by something telling me, "You can't draw."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But I used to.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And I want to see if I can again.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;To this end, I've downloaded a number of drawing books off Wowio.&amp;nbsp; I'm going to get an inexpensive sketch book, some mechanical pencils, and a good eraser.&amp;nbsp; And I'm going to see if I can't silence that inner critic, and draw.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I plan to document my progress here, with a digital camera and some commentary.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So, I take the first step.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Art, here I come.&lt;/p&gt;</content>
  </entry>
</feed>
