Stay with work that still matters

Put two drawings on the table: one from earlier in your practice and one from this week. Use the same subject, viewing angle and time limit so the comparison means something. Now look closely. Are the proportions more accurate? Do the angles match the object? You wanted to know whether anything was changing. Give that question a fair examination through the work itself.

A demanding new subject can make you feel back at the beginning. Comparing it with an easier old drawing tells an incomplete story. Choose a repeatable task and a few visible criteria that matter to your goal. Keep the dated examples. You may see improvement, the same problem or mixed results. Take the actual evidence seriously enough to let it correct your first impression.

Also account for the life around the work. Perhaps caring for a relative has reduced your practice time, yet you have maintained an ability you value. That can be a meaningful result. Perhaps you have invested considerable effort and the comparison shows little change. Both deserve an honest name. Respect the effort you gave while examining what it produced. You need that clarity to choose well.

Set a realistic review point and decide what evidence you will consider then. At that point, choose deliberately: continue a worthwhile commitment, seek informed guidance, adjust its demands or pursue a different aim. Your time matters. Your ambition deserves an honest account of where that time is going. Put the work in view. Face what it shows. Then bring your full attention to the decision the evidence supports.

Put the work side by side. See clearly. Choose your next commitment.