Hydrate.

My war with detail, part One:

For years I haven’t wanted to draw anything that’s hard.

Like, detailed.

Why? It’s hard!

At the prospect of sketching a tree or a stovetop or a wrinkled blouse I have shaken an inner fist and shouted, “No! Good art does not need to be fastidiously made! Good art can be spontaneous! Freeform! Sloppy even! I rebel against these realism tastes!”

Which is all valid. But it’s also another way of saying, “I feel lazy.”

So, recently I got sick of not trying to draw hard things. I had four days without paints this weekend, just pencils. I decided to look at an object, REALLY look. Like, SLOWLY. At each and every part of the thing. And to try drawing

Pretty happy with the result.

And for not that much effort.

And bringing much more satisfaction.

There might be a lesson here. :)