Practice Makes Perfect

Graphite, Watercolour, Acrylic and Gesso on Watercolour Paper

Touched up in PhotoShop

8" x 10"

I had to wear a sweatshirt and winter vest today. I'm not impressed. I am going to miss the summer. It was fun, productive and I learned so much. Lately I have been feeling a little frustrated, with nothing in particular. I think school has been taking over my life and giving little time for me to do anything. I feel this is OK because I am concentrating on developing, and I am consciously feeling my progress. It's a sacrifice I am willing to tolerate for the time being. The latest project is for interpretive class. Thom gave us the word "Perfectionist" and gave us one week with no art-direction to do what we wanted. I chose a basketball player because I come from this background. I know what it's like to put in hours and hours of work and training. Blood, sweat and tears have never been so prevalent in my life. I wanted to show the progression of his training though my media. I started with rough pencil, cleaned it up, moved to watercolour, then acrylic, then finally polishing it up in PhotoShop. Perfection is a journey, not a destination. I wanted to illustrate a scene of concentration and dedication having things running through his head, making him make his decisions in split seconds. Repetition, practice makes perfect.

P.S. The player in the illustration is Ray Allen of the Boston Celtics, I will be watching him play November 4th, as they play Toronto in their home opener at the ACC.