While reading “How to Be an Artist” by Jerry Saltz, I felt like there were a lot of things he said that I agreed with, found interesting, or thought were relatable. One of the sections that stuck out to me would be “Lesson 5: Work, Work, Work.” The main idea he captured was that one must work hard to improve one’s craft. For example, the part where he wrote a quote about how “If you work, it will lead to something. It’s the people who do all of the work all the time who eventually catch onto things.” This stuck out to me because it reminded me of how I grew my own skills. I keep drawing and doodling when I have the time or when I’m in class and that helped to develop my drawing style. Consistently working helps you figure out patterns and the things that work best for you. That connects to the part where he writes “I have tried every way in the world to stop work-block…” I tried doing the same thing too either by using some of the resources other artist provide online (prompts, the wheel, etc.) or just doing my own thing (making a list in case my brain doesn’t brain). In addition, he wrote about how some artists even work in their sleep. I can connect with that idea in different ways. Sometimes the best ideas I would get for my art would be late at night or while I’m trying to sleep. I’m just thinking about different storylines and concepts for my work while trying to fall asleep or I have a really big idea that just spawns in during the late hours of the night. Either way, I have to wait until morning to really execute anything (cowabummer). Lastly, the part where he talked about how one guy had a dream about painting and then used it as inspiration was cool. I had something similar happen where I essentially had a dream where I was playing through an entire video game plot. When I woke up I found it so cool that I wrote it down and expanded on it. Will I ever do anything with it? Who knows.