We recently connected with Gabriela Handal and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Gabriela thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

I learned how to draw by doing it. I’ve drawn at changing intensities throughout my life, with it being a sort of leisurely thing in my childhood and youth, studying art during my undergraduate degree and then a super-concentrated intense drawing study during my graduate degree.
The time during which my skill advanced the most, was during the graduate degree because I chose a good school after having done the pertinent research, based on what I wanted, which was drawing the figure and studying anatomy.
What this lifetime experience shows is investing focused time on a skill or interest, will polish and refine said skill or interest, regardless of whether it’s self-directed study or in an educational program.
What gets in the way of focusing on self-directed study is myself.

Gabriela, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a visual artist and my main medium is drawing with graphite or charcoal over paper. When I decided I wanted to be a professional artist, I started submitting my work to enough art calls that some of them started accepting my work into their art galleries and shows.
My offerings are thoughtfully and lovingly made drawings of the human body and portrait.
For the longest time and right up to the present, we have had a torridly twisted relationship with our bodies and our nature. My drawings soothe this relationship by showing how beautiful and worthy of admiration, respect and reverence our bodies are.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

My goal is to understand Mother Nature’s design and show the result of my study in my drawings. Nature is the fuel which lights the fire of my curiosity, and it’s also the impetus behind every time I take up a new surface to work on.
Whether I reach understanding is not entirely relevant, what is most exciting is embarking in the path to reach Nature’s ideal.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I find the journey of making a drawing and finishing it deeply rewarding. Each time, taking up the challenge of wanting to develop an idea on paper, the constant problem solving with mark making and every single aesthetic decision results in a very meaningful pilgrimage.

Contact Info:

• Website: gabrielahandal.com
• Instagram: @gabrielahandal
• Youtube: @GabrielaHandalArt
• Other: Blog: https://arttalkandotherstuff.blogspot.com/

Image Credits
The picture of me was taken by my husband with his cellphone and the drawings were all made by me and then scanned by me in my home scanner.