My first sketchbook...and it's not great.

Today I want to take you back in time to 2004 and show you the first sketchbook I worked in as an adult when I was returning to art making after giving it up at school. It's not beautiful, it's re-assuringly bad! I don’t think I’ve ever shown anyone this sketchbook and I’m reticent about sharing it now if I’m honest.. There is something a little exposing and vulnerable in showing you my first faltering art steps and sharing it so publicly... I remember how bewildering and frustrating I found art making back then, I didn’t have the skills or knowledge to make art that looked like the art I wanted to make. I used to be good at art as a child and then coming back to it as an adult, it seemed to me that I couldn’t do it anymore, that I had lost that part of me and finding it didn’t seem very easy. I wanted to make beautiful abstract art but I just had no idea what to do...and yet I find it so wonderful to look back and see that themes and threads carry forward and that a lot of the things I was interested in then are still part of my art making today. I share this sketchbook to hopefully encourage you and show that when we are first starting out we don't make master-pieces it takes time to gather skills and find our art making style and voice. xx #startasketchbook #mixedmediasketchbook #sketchbooks Useful links: 🎨 Helen Wells’s art blog: https://helenwellsartist.com/blog ❤️ Online classes:https://helenwellsartist.com/online-classes 💌 Email newsletter sign up: https://helenwellsartist.com/studio-notes