D–is for Draw This

     Once upon a time (at least 2007-2012, but I don't know for sure when it began) there was a blog entitled "Draw This". It was a place where a few people who had an interest in art could share their artistic endeavors, whether painting or drawing or crafting or photography.  "Sticky", "animal", "sharp", "insect", and "bumpy" are just a few of the weekly topics posted by the moderator and left open to interpretation by the artists.

     I'm pretty sure that "insect" was the first topic I posted under.  I shared a photo I took of a baby praying mantis, one of dozens and dozens that had hatched out from our pasture-cut Christmas tree one year, after being in our warm living room for the season!

     I finally got up the nerve to post a pencil drawing.

     That whale, and many of the subsequent drawings, were rather coloring book style with their dark outlines and one-tone, if any, shading.  I kept trying, though, and in 2009 I took a drawing class, which helped quite a bit if I do say so!  I never got it posted on the "Draw This" blog, but here's one of the drawings I did for that class.

     Sadly, interest and time to keep up dwindled, so that eventually no one was posting, and finally the entire blog was removed.

     But, in addition to encouraging me to keep working at my hobby, another good thing about that blog was the connections from it.  I feel like I would know Wanda, Priscilla, Rachel and "New York Martha" if I saw them on the street, just from keeping up with their own blogs.  I only wish a few more (Oregon, Minnesota) had kept their blogs going.

     Time will tell if I ever get back to drawing on my own.  Here's hoping!