Since I was very young, I have always had an appreciation of charcoal drawings. I think that it started with an art class actually. We were studying techniques for depicting light and shadows, and so charcoal pencil drawings were the most natural way to do it. When I first used charcoal pencils, I thought they were more than a little bit awkward. I was used to writing with a good bit of pressure, but you couldn't do that with charcoal portraits. Charcoal drawing demanded a delicate touch. Rather than just constructing a line, you were drawing with the edge of the pencil. To get the proper shading techniques, you needed precise control over the angle and the amount of pressure that you used – no small task for a beginning artist.
Nonetheless, I stuck with charcoal drawing and pretty soon I was starting to get pretty good at it. Of course, charcoal drawing was not my passion in life immediately. I was deeply involved in ceramics, and I thought I would make my future as an art professional in that medium. As time went on, however, my ceramic works stagnated. My charcoal drawings, on the other hand, continued to improve. By the time I enrolled in college, I had established a small, part-time business making charcoal portraits from photographs. Before I even sent in my first application to art school, I had made hundreds of dollars off of charcoal drawings.
The problem was that my craft was outpacing my creativity. I could draw charcoal drawings with stunning realism and make it look easy, but I couldn't think of anything more to draw. I was having very few dreams – my traditional source of inspiration – and my life was rather bland. As a matter of fact, it seemed like I was drying up. I decided that I had to take a drastic measure. I bought all the charcoal pencils that I needed and locked myself up in my room for a solid week. I did not come out except to get Chinese takeout, and spent the rest of my time frantically composing charcoal sketches. By the end of the week, my floor was literally covered with charcoal drawings. I was exhausted, but I had done it. I had broken through whatever had been blocking my creativity. I can not tell you what a relief that was! Since that point, I have never had any shortage of inspiration.
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