Head Drawing - Give it 5 years

It is weird when you go to draw.  You never know how you are going to do.  When I walk into the Bikram studio I am not sure if I am going to have a day when I am flexible and feel light or I am going to be unflexible and heavy with out any balance.  When I go to draw sometimes I am tired and distracted and I go still crank out a good drawing or I can be full of life and rested (like last night) and not hit my best.

Here is my latest picture of Kwante.  I think I was a little heavy handed with it.  It doesn't have the ethereal quality of some of my other drawings.  Rick worked with me on nose and mouth.  He didn't have any criticism about the shape of the eyes so hopefully my work with Vanderpoehl is helping me with that.  I noticed the guy drawing next to me had a less rigid drawing.  But one woman in the class came up and said I had a dead on likeness that made me feel good.

What  I did notice yesterday is that I am comfortable with the charcoal pencil in my hand.  For so many years I felt awkward holding that damned pencil.  Now I am ok with it.  I guess it is like Ted said to me yesterday at Bikram Studio City when I complained about my shoulder hurting during the poses and my knees (I didn't even talk to him about how my feet don't feel good at all) anyway he said if you practice 5 years your body will change.  I was thinking how I did practice 5 years and my body did change and I stopped and now how I have to do those five years all over again.  First that made me sad and now I realize what's 5 years of yoga - I was going to do that anyway.

It has taken me about 4 years to get comfortable with the charcoal pencil.  Maybe I will feel even better after five.