My college professor once told me if I wanted to write well, then not only write every day, but read every day.  Reading is as important as writing, she explained, because it exposes you to what is good.  Study how accomplished writers compose their sentences, hear their voices, examine their styles.  Every book became my teacher, and every writer could teach me something if I paid attention.  Read a book, practice what you learned, and get better.  Today I no longer write.  I know my writing is far from the quality it was when I wrote everyday, but I didn't forget the lesson, and I apply it to my artwork every day.

I spend each morning with the easel, and each evening with a book, or magazine, or website, all of which contain pictures I can look at.  Some pictures inspire me to work harder, try harder; some do not, but from all of them I can learn something. 

Maybe not so strangely, I learn a great deal from photographs.  I've come to believe what I try capturing with a pencil is not so different from what a photographer tries capturing with a camera.  When I see beautiful ways a camera can capture light and tone, I think of ways to better capture light and tone on paper.  Just like reading, looking at pictures teaches much about how to make a picture.

But sometimes the work is so good it's intimidating.  I had a chance to see for myself a photograph by Philip-Lorca diCorcia at Quality Pictures, a gallery here in Portland.  Quality Pictures hasn't been open long, but their focus is largely photography, an artform long neglected in Portland, and as their name suggests, the works on display are consistently excellent.  One of those pieces is a photograph by diCorcia, which, as I understand, is in the gallery owner's collection.  It's a compelling piece, shot on the streets of Tokyo, exquisitely lit and powerful in its size.  As an artist, I admire such work greatly, then feel that gnawing insecurity that I can never produce anything close to that good.

On the other hand, while it is true that such talent does not exist in most of us, it doesn't mean I can't apply whatever simple talents I do have to their fullest.  It's about learning what is good and why it's good, the lesson on reading all over again, that makes a craftsman better, and such images definitely make me want to practice more and be better.