Trying to learn any new skill that you've never had much contact with can be challenging and frustrating. This semester I'm taking an introductory drawing class at my university. I was most excited for this course as summer came closer and closer to an end. When we received a list of supplies on the first day, I immediately went out and bought everything needed. We began drawing on the next meeting period and I was instantly overwhelmed. Our professor had us starting out with gesture drawings. They were really boring still life arrangements of boxes and vases, but we had to draw everything so quickly. "Don't worry if it's not perfect, just get all the items onto your paper!" she would say to us as she gave us less than a minute to draw. I'm a perfectionist and telling me not to worry about making things as perfect as possible is like telling me to go jump off a building. It's not gonna happen.
There was a day in class where I became so agitated that I couldn't draw this stupid set of boxes just right. I wanted to walk out and cry. None of it was making any sense to me. The fact that we had begun to use Mondrian lines wasn't helping at all and confused me even more. I know I needed listen to the advice my professor was giving despite the fact that she wears platform flip flops and a toe ring, which makes me really uncomfortable, but I felt like something just wasn't clicking in my brain. Yesterday was when I finally had that "I got it!" moment. We were presented with how to use triangulation in terms of an object's spatial relation to another. I found it much simpler to shift my drawing and make changes as needed that way.
Here's what I ended up with yesterday (that funny thing in the bottom left is the table). Some of the angle lines didn't get onto paper because I was using a measuring stick, but some of them are there. This certainly isn't the greatest drawing but it's such an improvement from last week. I have to say, I'm pretty proud of myself. I'm glad that I was able to overcome feeling lost every time I'd stand at an easel. Now I cannot wait to get back to class to see what we'll be doing next!
One of my favorite things about Europe is that there's street art nearly everywhere you turn. If a building has walls, chances are almost every easily accessible inch will be touched by spray paint. The summer after my senior year of high school I was lucky enough to travel overseas and visit France and Spain. 
A lot of my fellow classmates on the trip complained about how they thought all the graffiti looked run down and dirty. But art isn't supposed to be aesthetically pleasing to everyone. There's so much freedom in the world of art and I doubt the last thing on someone's mind while they're creating a piece is whether or not the public majority is going to like it. And that's just the thing. Artists realize that not everyone will like their work; they mostly create it for their own pleasure. If someone says, "I didn't like that," then oh well. Art isn't about being good, it's about the artist themselves. It's kind of a selfish discipline in that sense. It's about their feelings, their time and hard work, their effort, and their message. Art can make you happy, make you cringe, make you confused, and can make you uncomfortable. That's the beauty of it - it can be everything. 
One thing that I love about street art is that anyone can do it. It can be as easy as spraying paint over a stencil. I think a common misconception that people have about art is that what you create has to be some sort of a masterpiece. Clearly, that's not the case. Street art also gives you the freedom to do whatever you want - wheat pastes even allow you to steal someone else's images and bring it to the public eye.
What I admire the most about street artists is that they're willing to take their work to the public. Some will even risk their lives just to get a piece out there. I think it's simply amazing that individuals will live and die for their craft. That's not something everyone would do. There's certainly no way I'd put my life on the line to capture a photo. The fact that someone would is outstanding. 
Not only are artists risking their lives and safety, but they're also risking have to face consequences for breaking the law. Street artists are gutsy. They have a sort of "no fear, no shame" outlook. Almost every piece of graffiti is going to be seen by someone. Street art is one of the best ways to make your art and name known. Instead of taking someone to look at art in a museum, the art is brought to them. And not everyone wants to openly display their art to be seen and criticized by such a large audience. It truly is admirable that these individuals take their art and throw it in peoples' faces, forcing them to look at it whether or not they want to. 
And for all you art history buffs, here's a new rendition of Napoleon Bonaparte Crossing the Alps by Jacques Louis David in which his horse has been replaced by a moped. 
I encourage everyone to look at street art as something much more than urban eyesores. Hopefully, after reading this post maybe you'll look at in a new light if you had felt negatively about it previously. I understand that not everyone is going to enjoy street art, but I think people could at least appreciate it. It's been one of my goals for quite some time to dabble in this field, and I think that once the weather starts to warms up I'll do some experimenting... :)
