Welcome, hwdcarver, fellow St. Louisan!!! I looked at your profile. I really dig M.C. Escher.
I have been into drawing and painting since I was a kid. Wasn't it Picasso who said, "Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up."? (Ooh.. new quote for my siggy
) I was always drawing or painting something. I continued through high school and attempted an art major in college, but experienced major blockage. I do have a copy of that Julia Cameron book. Gonna have to dig it back up.
I started back up, mostly doing pencil, charcoal, but sometimes pastels or... I don't know what you call it. I call it "paper cutting" but I'm sure there is some fancy term for it... using some colored paper and cutting shapes and gluing them. Oh, boy, I sound really dumb right now. Anyway, I have done some things over the past few years that I am pretty proud of. Not gallery quality or anything, but good enough to make me believe that there is something in me, darn it! Something that could be quite incredible if I just took the time to practice and develop. Mostly animals. I started a drawing of my dog that died recently... so far so good. A close-up of his face from when he was about 5 months old and he had grabbed a branch and was running around the yard with it.
Nice to see all the talent around here. Great idea on a thread, LF.