Drawing is something I’ve always wanted to be good at, but never had the patience to learn. I’ve owned drawing supplies and drawing books for years, and they’ve remained untouched in my shelves. Thirty years ago, I was a child flipping through X-Men issues, fantasizing about becoming a comic book artist. Today, I’m an adult, clicking a mouse most of the day and staring at a computer screen.

For my Artist Date, I dug out my old drawing supplies and cracked open one of my drawing books. I flipped opened a blank journal, sighed and decided to spend the next hour being filled with the creative thought and inspiration Julia Cameron talks about in her book The Artist’s Way.

My drawing book displayed step-by-step examples of how to draw human figures in various poses. I selected one and picked up my pencil.

At first, I sketched out rough ovals for the head and body, followed by limbs with tiny circles for joints. Slowly, each step added more and more detail to the figure: hair, shoulders, a dress. Once the figure was completed in pencil, it was time to grab the pens. I used a medium one for the general outline, a smaller for the facial details, and a large one for the shading.

By the time it was complete, I had a nice little drawing of a shy woman. It wasn’t bad — not for my first sketch in two decades. And now that I’ve received a taste of drawing again, thanks to this assignment, it may just become another passion of mine next to writing!