I didn't think I was that stupid, but I had to ask more questions than the younger coworkers in my class. It was irritating when one of the 20-year-olds laughed at me when I asked how to print out a screenshot. Well sorreeeey, I didn't grow up using computers. Serves me right though. I remember years ago making fun of an older lady in my work unit for how she had to stop and look over her cheaters to see the computer screen.
Well, the system is now up and running. It turned out that it wasn't that painful. No one even turned in their retirement papers.
So it's possible to master new things when you're no longer a young pup. I tried to think of what I've learned since being in my 50s. It was a stretch, but I did come up with a couple of things. For one, I discovered and started using the tabs at the end of the aluminum foil roll. Why doesn't anyone know about these? They're there to hold the roll in place so when you go to pull out a sheet of tin foil or plastic wrap the whole roll doesn't get yanked out and you end up with three feet of crumpled mess. How annoying is that? If you've never used these little guys before, go to your kitchen right now and pull out the tin foil. See those tabs. Push them in. Your life is going to be infinitely better from here on in, trust me.
I've also earned how to properly fold a fitted sheet. It took practicing using a YouTube video, but I finally mastered it.
My last post was about how I was learning how to draw again. Other than doodling the backs of people's heads on the bulletin during church, I hadn't drawn since college. My daughter encouraged me to start up with my art again. I was intimidated. I didn't think I'd be very good and wouldn't stick with it. My first sketches were pretty rudimentary. I began drawing using photographs of people in magazines for reference. That way it wouldn't matter if the drawing looked like the person or not. But when I drew Morgan Freeman and it actually looked like him and not Bill Cosby, I was pleased. I set out to continue to get better.
From YouTube I've learned about using grids. Before I start a new picture, I painstakingly pencil out a grid on my paper and place another one over the photo. It's time consuming and tedious, but it's made a world of difference in getting proportion right, essential in drawing realistic faces. I somehow feel like a fraud because I don't draw fluidly and effortlessly, but I found out that most of the great masters used grids. You better believe that when Michelangelo painted The Creation of Adam on the Sistine Chapel's ceiling, he used a grid. Leonardo da Vinci regularly used grids and mathematical solutions in his drawings. So I guess if Michelangelo and da Vinci used a ruler, I can too.
Several have told me they wished they had my artistic ability. Ha! Truth is, drawing is like anything else. It takes years of practice to become skilled at anything (becoming good at playing piano, singing, writing or whatever). It's not necessarily raw talent. It takes instruction, time and practice. A lot of time. My drawings take at least six to eight hours, and I do much erasing and starting over. Even though I love the process and it is immeasurably rewarding, it's still work.
I think I am a better artist now at this age than when I was younger. I have the advantage of a lifetime of gaining perspective. I can see things that I didn't see before. With the help of my cheaters, of course.
Well, the system is now up and running. It turned out that it wasn't that painful. No one even turned in their retirement papers.
So it's possible to master new things when you're no longer a young pup. I tried to think of what I've learned since being in my 50s. It was a stretch, but I did come up with a couple of things. For one, I discovered and started using the tabs at the end of the aluminum foil roll. Why doesn't anyone know about these? They're there to hold the roll in place so when you go to pull out a sheet of tin foil or plastic wrap the whole roll doesn't get yanked out and you end up with three feet of crumpled mess. How annoying is that? If you've never used these little guys before, go to your kitchen right now and pull out the tin foil. See those tabs. Push them in. Your life is going to be infinitely better from here on in, trust me.
I've also earned how to properly fold a fitted sheet. It took practicing using a YouTube video, but I finally mastered it.
From YouTube I've learned about using grids. Before I start a new picture, I painstakingly pencil out a grid on my paper and place another one over the photo. It's time consuming and tedious, but it's made a world of difference in getting proportion right, essential in drawing realistic faces. I somehow feel like a fraud because I don't draw fluidly and effortlessly, but I found out that most of the great masters used grids. You better believe that when Michelangelo painted The Creation of Adam on the Sistine Chapel's ceiling, he used a grid. Leonardo da Vinci regularly used grids and mathematical solutions in his drawings. So I guess if Michelangelo and da Vinci used a ruler, I can too.
Several have told me they wished they had my artistic ability. Ha! Truth is, drawing is like anything else. It takes years of practice to become skilled at anything (becoming good at playing piano, singing, writing or whatever). It's not necessarily raw talent. It takes instruction, time and practice. A lot of time. My drawings take at least six to eight hours, and I do much erasing and starting over. Even though I love the process and it is immeasurably rewarding, it's still work.
I think I am a better artist now at this age than when I was younger. I have the advantage of a lifetime of gaining perspective. I can see things that I didn't see before. With the help of my cheaters, of course.
