When my Art Exploded

I know it was forever ago that I wrote the blog post When my Writing Exploded, but when I did, I promised that I would have a part two: "When my Art Exploded." It took eleven months 😬, but it's finally here! As you can see in My Artistic Journey in Pictures, my art almost did explode, just like my writing. I went from drawing two-dimensional people that were about as average as any kids', to spending hours, drawing portraits of people that I knew or had seen in movies. What happened?

You're in luck. The story surrounding it is one I love to tell.

~The Tale ~

In the spring of 2021, we had just finished watching The Lord of the Rings for the very first time. I was absolutely mesmerized by the story and the characters. But the end credits especially piqued my interest. Alan Lee, the English artist who had contributed a great deal to the movie had drawn portraits of each of the actors in character. It wasn't just his detailed, pencil style that caught my attention. I didn't just think, "Wow."

No. Inwardly, the first thing I thought was, "I'm going to draw like that someday."

Of course, I'll never be able to draw exactly like that, because I'm Autumn, not Alan Lee, and God didn't make a single person the same as another. But in essence, I was telling myself I was going to be an accomplished artist one day. I was thirteen at the time, and my art looked like this.

I loved art; I'd always drawn. I have pictures in sketchbooks dating back to when I was 6 years old. But I had never pursued art seriously. It was a fun past time, but I hadn't really made great improvement in the last couple years.

For that reason, I still wonder at the fact that I suddenly decided I was going to draw on a scale far beyond my present ability. Of course, as a Christian, I 100% believe that God was behind my sudden burst of inspiration. In fact, I shouldn't wonder if He put the thought directly into my head. Until this point, I don't think I'd ever really considered being a professional artist before.

But Alan Lee's pictures totally inspired me.

Now, the miraculous part started the next day. The very next day. My family went to Hobby Lobby, and my mom bought me a book on drawing portraits. As soon as I got home, I began working on it.

Within a few days, I had been sucked into the world of portrait art. I was drawing all the time, and the exciting thing was that I was making extremely visible progress. You saw what my art looked like not long before. In just a few days...maybe a week, my faces had depth, and while I'd clearly not mastered the happy emotion 😂 they were so much better than they had been!

My parents saw my interest in art, and signed me up for a class not long after. It was sort of a "meet-and-draw" with several older people who visited with each other, but despite the rather lax attitude regarding the "class," I made quick progress with the help of my wonderful mom.

I learned all about drawing fur, trees, houses and feathers. The book didn't focus on portraits very much, but that was okay. As soon as I had finished that week's drawing, I focused on another portrait. Of course, since my burst of inspiration had started with The Lord of the Rings, I was quick to dive into drawing portraits of its characters.

Like I said above, my art will never be like Alan Lee's simply because I am a different person, with different experiences, tastes and loves. I started out trying to imitate him, but since then I have found other things that I enjoy better. For a long time, all I did was black and white sketches like the ones in The Lord of the Rings credits. Finally, at the urging of my parents, I branched out into coloured pencil. I loved it, even though it was terrifying.

My Arwen portrait is an example of that. It was the first time I'd ever studiously copied a face, trying to make it look like its owner...while doing it in colour. I think it turned out pretty well!

So, honestly, my art really did explode, just like my writing. All it took was a single moment, and four years later, I'm still loving both the art and the writing. What do you think of my story? Has something like this ever happened to you? I'd love to know. :)