Whilst talking to my Creative Thinking students last week, I wanted to encourage them to see the need to practice and persevere with their drawing skills. Drawing and pencil work is a key element to the development of a good designer. So, in an attempt to show this in connection to my own work, I decided to scan in my first piece of work (which I kept all these years, as a reminder) when I chose to do art as a activity for my future career option. Even though I was drawing as a young child, this was the first self-initiated drawing. I actually did this piece to show the art teacher at school if I was capable of joining the class. She said I should stop doing art! Luckily for me I continued and to show (hopefully) the enormous leap of change in my artwork I have posted my latest piece underneath, as a comparison, some thirty years later on.

I hope this encourages people to see the need to keep drawing, keep practicing and to never loose heart. I am a strong believer that creativity is not a talent, and that much of the skill involved can be learnt and gained from effort.

copyright © Rob Snow 2011. All rights reserved.