I have never been much of an artist, but drawing has always been something I wish I did more. When I heard about the Drop-In Drawing Disco being held at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts, I immediately signed up and couldn’t wait for the day to finally come. When it did, it was not a disappointment.

Dots make Lines make Shapes make Art

Disco and drawing are two things I am trying to get into, so this event seemed like a match made in heaven for me. I sat down and was greeted by an incredibly friendly and helpful host, who did everything he could to make sure we felt safe and comfortable. After his short presentation, which did teach me some valuable lessons — including this mantra: “Dots make Lines make Shapes make Art!” — we went straight into drawing. It was a completely free-form event. There were some activities prepared for us if we wanted, but you could also bring your own drawings and work on those. We were encouraged to talk to the people around us, but not forced at all. It was such a welcoming and lovely environment that made me feel comfortable, even though I had been stressing all day about what I was going to draw.

I’m So Excited

The activity I participated in was to listen to the music and draw something that came to mind during that song. The first song on the playlist was “I’m So Excited” by the Pointer Sisters. It made me think of someone standing at the front of a speedboat in the most beautiful weather, holding their arms out and feeling the cool sea breeze wash over them. I was planning on just doing a quick sketch of the speedboat, but my first attempt did not pan out at all, and then the next song came on, “Dancing Queen” by ABBA.

At this point, I was planning on moving on, but I was stuck on the idea of a boat, so I embraced the free-form nature of the event and revised my original vision. I drew my boat and then started looking around the room. I saw something that made me think of dinosaurs, and I was off to the races.

Be Proud of Your Art

My drawing is that of a child who has just discovered what happens when you touch a pencil to paper, but I am still proud of it nonetheless! I had an original idea that morphed and changed into something that was incredibly fun to draw. It made me feel for the first time in my life that I could kind of draw what I wanted to. A big part of my comfort with my drawing came from the environment that fostered it. I was around a bunch of people that were there for the same reason as I was — to draw. I was comforted by that thought.

Every artist has to start somewhere, and even though I do not see myself attempting to further my artistic capabilities in this way anytime soon, I felt comfortable and confident that if I put the time and work in, I could actually get better. Something that everyone should feel when it comes to art. “Good art” is such a relative term, and as long as you look at something you created and feel good about it, who is anyone to tell you it’s bad?

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