I need new genes

Every family has it's role call of abilities. Aunt Edith may bake the flakiest pie. Cousin Tara has perfect pitch. Grandpa built the house he and Grandma live in - literally, by himself. Sis is who you go to in an emergency because she always remains calm. In my family, you go to Joe for medical questions (he's a doctor), Ella for cookie recipies, Mom for holiday cooking and my sister for "quick and cheap" meals. Dad was the go-to computer guy - the family Dilbert, if you will. (i assumed the end-user part of his role after his death in '97) We had a friend or family member for pretty much anything issue you would need help or information on from boiler repair to anesthesiology complications. My own little niche was lumped under the title: The Artistic One Sounds nice, doesn't it? Sounds as if I can produce drawings or decorator tips or sculptures or something, right? Well, I appear to have gotten the position by default (i.e. i'm the only one who can draw something marginally better than a crooked stick figure). I've always maintained that I either want to win first place or third - never second. With second place, there's always that question of, "if I had done such-and-so, could i have won? did i screw it up?" (or maybe that's just me being overcritical again) So it is with art. I have a number of truly artistic friends and, let me tell you, there's nothing like going to gallery to view their work to make you realize how much you really do suck at art. My protraits look like victims of radiation poisoning. Clay becomes figures that a two-year-old might accomplish. I've seen better paintings in elementary schools. What really gets my goat, though, is that there does seem to be some sort of spark of creative ability in there somewhere. I can visualize, but can't seem to make that picture-in-the-head come into being. As a result, I flit from artform to artform, never really giving any of them enough time to become proficient. (i'm not including performing arts - just visual) Hence, my project for the next year or so. Every month, I will choose one form of creative expression. I will research, read, practice and focus one only one form. I'll be starting it on April 1st (no fooling) with drawing. Simple drawing and composition. I figure it's a good place to start before trying anything else. Besides, paper and pencils/charcoal/etc. are not as expensive as, say, stone sculpturing or oil painting. So that's it. One year to research and find some sort of artistic expression that I'm good at, or at least, could be good at with further study and practice. Wish me luck!