When is your best not your best?

Sketching in a sketchbook has never been easy for me. I have this thing about making it look really good. However a lot of the time it doesn't and so I don't want anyone to see it.  I  need to get over the feeling that everything has to be a masterpiece. I am not saying I create masterpieces, it's just that I hate to show art that I  feel is not my best work. Which really isn't true, I have shown a lot of my art that I wouldn't even claim nowadays...just kidding.. well maybe not. :-)
What is my best? What do I compare it to? I remember a drawing I did in the 6th grade of the Mona Lisa. I was so proud of it and everyone thought it was awesome ( I was the class artist, don't you know?) I really had done my best. But was it my all time best piece of art? I don't think so. I should dig it up, and post it. It is really bad.
It was probably my best at the time though.

Writing in my blog today is an exercise for me to stop thinking everything I do needs to be my best. Learning and practicing does not mean perfection. So I am being brave and posting a sketch that isn't great. I have to tell myself it's ok to expose my art in such a ruthless fashion. It doesn't have to be great, it's JUST A SKETCH Cathy, get over it!

I also have a hang up about sketching people when I am out and about. I don't want them to wonder why I keep looking and staring at them. So when I did the sketch of this kid, I figured out something really cool. I was in my studio and decided to take a break from my day job (wink, wink) and do a sketch. When I am painting I like to listen to music or TV, and recently NETFLIX! It's the most awesome invention! I can watch it off my computer. So I was watching/listening to a show on netflix when I decided I ought to sketch something. Then the phone rang so I paused the show. After the phone call, I looked back at my computer and on the show there was this kid playing chess with his dad. Here is the cool part... because the show was paused I thought to myself, hey, I could sketch that guy! He wasn't moving and he doesn't know I am staring at him.

So I saw, I sketched and I am proud to say it is not my best.