Putting The Quest to Rest

 November 29, 2024

   I'm about halfway thru my inventory of the 94 sketchbooks I have filled in the past four decades. It is overwhelming in some aspects—so much effort expended for what, exactly?

Daily Revised Whip Out:

"The Cacti Prisoner"

   Here are random notes from this blog during the quest, from November 21, 2005 to August 31, 2009:

   Harvey Mackay had a thought provoking column today (he's syndicated but I read him in the Arizona Republic). It was on the concept that it takes about "10,000 hours of practice to attain true mastery." This is so amazing, since I am in the process of doing 10,000 bad drawings (I just finished my 7,610th sketch this afternoon). This is from Malcolm Gladwell's new book, "Outliers," which I have some problems with, but nonetheless, the concept of 10,000 applying to all forms of mastery is a nice touch in terms of what I'm practicing. Gee, I wonder what else he has to say about this?

"Practice isn't the thing you do once you're good. It's the thing you do that makes you good."

—Malcolm Gladwell

Daily Revised Whip Out:

"Honkytonk Sue Rearing Up"

"I have little interest in teaching you what I know. I wish to stimulate you to tell me what you know."

—Robert Henri, master art instructor and artist

Daily Whip Outs:

"Real McCoy Sequence"

  Since I've started my quest, and, in an odd serendipity, I've read that Malcolm Gladwell, the author of Outliers, has postulated that the magic number of hours needed for mastering a particular field is "10,000 hours." He reckons Bill Gates had that much computer time logged when he launched Microsoft and the Beatles had that much playing time together before they conquered America.

Daily Whip Outs: "Tom Horn Studies"

   During my quest I have tried to do my daily sketches no matter where I have been, so I have sketches done in New York City, Georgia, Wichita, and New Mexico, and also sketches done in Mexico, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala and Peru. (some of those pretty amazing sketches later)

    The only significant time I missed sketching was when I had a heart attack, playing Wipeout at a band reunion in Kingman in March of 2008. I missed about five days, but got right back on it, and was soon up to speed again.

Daily Whip Outs: "Crazy Legs Crazy Dog"

   I had several thoughts and concerns: would my drawing skills improve? How much? Would there be a breakthrough moment?

   In terms of learning anything on the quest, for my money, no one has said it better than Cassius Clay.

“Champions aren't made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them—a desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have the skill, and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill.”

—Mohammed Ali