I Suck at Drawing

I forgot to mention in my last post another primary reason I became a writer:

I suck at drawing.

Like any kid, I drew a lot (I still have many of those today) and did a lot of drawing up until only a few years ago.

Like a lot of girls 12 to 18 I decided I wanted to really draw. Maybe I could become an artist! My dad's pretty good at drawing. He draws with good perspective and shading. I've known from the start that I'm terrible at that, which is why I my medium gravitated toward the anime/manga style. It was cartoony enough that I didn't have to worry about too much realism, but was still realistic enough that I could produce the results I wanted.

This was one of the last drawings I made, back in 2009:

Noodle arms!

I was 22.

No, seriously.

Here's a second, from a year later:

Tell me that's not an awesome sock in your face right there.

Compare with this:

A drawing by MPsai of Deviant Art (her page found Here) when she was 20 years old.

I've always been frustrated with my drawing skills. No matter how much I drew I never got any better. It reached a point where I would just stare at a blank piece of paper (or, sometimes, have a couple of lines) and just start crying. I wasn't good at anything, I had no skills, I would never be good at it.

I wasn't having fun anymore.

Still, I had these ideas. these awesome ideas. I wanted them to pop out of my head and onto the paper. People would look at them and go "Whoa." I have Stupid Hands though, and never managed to fully create them with a pencil.

I was, however, creating them with a keyboard.

It took me a long time to realize it, and it was a slow transition from drawing to writing (most of which I tried to blend by making comics) but I started to notice that I could make those pictures in my head into stories, and it wasn't hard at all. In fact, it was one of the easiest things I have ever done and, after working on it, I've been incredibly happy.

That was it, that was that special something I was missing the whole time.

I think the wolf girl was the last drawing I ever actually tried to do well on. I've since made some others, but I've been much happier after shrugging my shoulders and admitting I'll never surpass the skill of a 14 year old girl.

So, can't draw? Try writing. You might find yourself in a similar situation.