Creative Impulse

After reviewing my massive holiday photo collection, I realised that vivid memories were those that I hadn't bother to photograph. Throughout my trip, I was caught up in framing buildings and landmarks in the camera viewfinder.

I regretted lugging along a DSLR which was a real pain to carry in my slingover bag. Plus, it was too big to take discreet photos of street life - handsome frenchmen in suits rushing to their workplace every morning, frenchwomen strolling along with their "tou-tou", kissing couples, a group of adorable french kids in an art gallery excursion, etc. I really regret not capturing the essence of Paris. Instead, I snapped mostly architectural and scenery shots but they were good photos.

For years, I've bought various sketchbooks which remained empty until today. I've never really sat down and commit myself to start drawing. Yeah, I didn't believe in having an artistic side. Although, a drawing impulse will pop up every now and then where I find myself browsing for hours through art books in bookshops. Still, I've never stopped dreaming and talking about art.

On my last day in France, I flew from Nice to Paris and had to wait 3 hours at the Gare du Nord station to catch the Eurostar train back to London. The Eurostar platform was on a higher level from the TGV platform and there wasn't a single bench. So I had to order from the cafe on the Eurostar platform, just so I could sit down and wait for the next 3 hours.

After 2 cups of hot chocolate and a baguette cheese sandwich, I was bored from reading the french Elle magazine from cover to cover. I got up and leaned on the banister to people-watch. Soon, I found myself admiring the steel pillar in front of me.

It was my last day in France and my right wrist was suffering from phototaking fatigue. And I was fed up of attaching the 200mm lens to the DSLR before taking a photo. So, I decided to heck it and start drawing the pillar. It was my first drawing attempt since secondary school. I'm very pleased with my drawing. Not bad, eh? :)

After 2 weeks of massive art-gazing in France, how could I possibly not be compelled to draw? Seeing works of Degas, Monet, Renoir, Picasso, Leonardo Da Vinci, Van Gogh, Rodin, Matisse left me buzzing with a strong creative will.

When I got back, I decided 'enough is enough'. Life is too short to not live a rich, creative life and most importantly, life is too short to not do the things I had to do.

So last week, I went bookhunting for a basic instructional book on drawing. However, in sheer serendipity, I found the VERY book that'd teach and guide me the basics of keeping a drawing journal - The Creative License by Danny Gregory.

Danny Gregory is a self-taught artist who illustrates gorgeous images of everyday life. He has an uncanny knack of transforming mundane objects into interesting pieces of drawings. I like the way he writes, too- witty, funny and real. To know more about Danny, click on these links his webpage - dannygregory.com and a brief interview (plus a peek at one of his books) in an online magazine.

In the meantime, I'm going to take teeny, weeny, baby steps to fill up those sketchbooks that have been sitting on my bookshelf for years.

*tou-tou - doggy