a 15 year old drawing

It’s June 7th, 1993 at the Magic Kingdom. I was 23, and really young. A little over a year had passed since I graduated from Parsons School of Design with a BFA in Illustration. I knew instinctively there was still so much to learn if I really wanted to call myself ‘an artist’ or find the slightest success commercially.

So I looked for more school, and was given undeniably the opportunity of a lifetime, to study with a master, Dave Passalaqua. I can still hear him, my teacher (my mentor) telling me while standing on Main Street in front of the Confectionary …

” Michele to become an artist it’ll be work, more work than you’ve ever known. It’ll be painful, and it will be nothing of what you expect. If you practice your art seriously and honestly, the art itself will tell you what kind of an artist you’re gonna be.”

click for a larger image

It’s now August 8th, 2009 and I’m still practicing. So why am I posting a drawing that’s 15 years old? I mean look at it. There’s no structure, hardly a strong design, not to mention the people in it, haha (some look downright strange and those who know, I’m missing a few hundred). For sure it’s not the best drawing I’ve ever done. There have been thousands, and I mean thousands! of drawings done since then.

But this one means something to me because there’s this tremendous amount of study in it. If there’s one thing I learned from Dave (a humorous understatement) is that without studying, and learning how to, I would have ceased to grow. Meaning consequently without knowing it becoming an artist would’ve been nothing more than a wishful dream, never getting me any closer to finding out what kind of an artist I might be, (when I grow up that is).

’till next week – michele

Can’t wait to see what’s on the horizon! I’m off tomorrow to the Magic Kingdom with Veronica, Margaret and the students of the Dalvero Academy in search for more endless possibilities!