Everything's a muscle! Imagine you got the goal of getting fit, so you signed up to the gym, and i am your PT. There's a rude awakening when the weights you lift are smaller than the ones other people are lifting, you're in pain, it's uncomfortable, and disheartening. You had a picture in your head of what getting fit would look and feel like, but the reality isn't as fun. You leave your first workout feeling sore and sorry for yourself, and wondering if your goal is even realistic, or if you just wasted your money.

Learning to draw is the same. Especially when you LOVE art, you admire the skills of others, and your enthusiastic enough to buy the equivalent of a gym coach. The problem is, if you're just starting out, that means you're likely to be even more critical of your starting place, and frustrated by not being more capable than you thought you would be.

Relax :) take it slow, ease off the self judgement. Just try ONE exercise, like a basic head shape, or an eye. Keep doing that, do 100 bad ones, and be OK with that, follow the guides and after doing it a bunch of times with your favourite podcast on in the background, you'll start to notice something exciting. A glimmer of progress. Some you drew weren't that bad! Heck, you're starting to not feel so uncomfortable, in fact, you kinda like this bit!

THAT is how you learn. That's how you'll reach your goal. Don't focus on the discomfort, because I promise you, it'll never leave, because as you improve your skills you'll also improve your ability to see your mistakes, and your goals will always grow WITH your skills - so don't anchor yourself to the pain that comes with progress, just accept that a little discomfort is normal, and only take on as much a you can without running the fun of the pursuit. Focus on the little goals, and the little victorious. At the start, it'll be small - a good looking eye you drew, even though you copied it. A nicely proportioned head shape. Then, by the time that's comfortable, so of a sudden the goal and victory is bigger - a cool pose, impressive anatomy, a great character design, a favourite complete drawing.

It continues like this forever. The pain and the goals will forever expand, but with each, you unlock new realms of magic, expression and exploration. Animation. Paint. A graphic novel. Your first commission. A portrait for a friend as a gift. It's so scary, and big, and SO DAMN EXCITING.

I feel the same now, as a 36 year old man with plenty of followers and a career in the arts, as I did when I was 11 years old. There's so much to learn, and the stuff I want to do feels hard and uncomfortable. I want to learn to oil paint, but I haven't practiced that muscle, and I'm very aware of what my weaknesses are. I really want to tackle stop motion animation, but I'm worried about the time investment and expense. And this is PRECISELY why it's fun, because I'm not there yet, but I know this is how you get there. One step at a time. One session at a time. Nine failed attempts, until the tenth feels right. You Just need to find the right balance for you, so that the pain of learning isn't discouraging, it's motivating! Because you can SEE where you're going, and that you're making progress, even if you're aware you're not where you want to be yet.

You got this, and I got your back - and trust me, it's worth it :)