Sketch Love

"I got a little bit longer...I got a ways to go..."

Once in a while you hear a song lyric that really resonates with you.  That's how I feel about this lyric from Grouplove's hit song "Ways to Go".  Whenever I hear it, I always get motivated to keep improving my design and illustration skills, one sketch at a time.

Starting my first year of college, I had already done some sewing, but everything on the design side of things was new to me.  I'd never really considered myself as much of a drawer.  In fact, I always believed that people who were good artists were born with the innate ability to draw well.  My fashion design professor at the time, Malcolm Pearcey, taught us that it's just the opposite.  He said that anyone who is willing to put in the time and effort can become a good artist.  To this day, I consider this to be one of the most important things I learned at college because I continue to apply this theory of "practice" to many other areas of my life as well.


First Year Sketch

I thought it would be fun (albeit a little embarrassing) to compare a sketch from my first week at college to a I did in my final year (in first year, I always used to draw sunglasses on my figures because I was scared of drawing eyes).  Even though I still feel like I have a ways to go with my illustrations, I think you will agree that I made quite a bit of progress in those three years.

Third Year Sketch

Click to hear Grouplove's hit song Ways to Go