The Life of William Blake
1767
My mother always admired my ability to paint. And this year she says it had spiked up more
than ever, at the very age of ten, and with that she enrolled me at Henry Pars's drawing school. I
am really excited about that place because while I was growing I didn’t necessarily have a proper
education. It was more like me listening to my mother talking and talking and talking about stuff
that I don’t even care about. After I was a little more mature, I started finding the Bible pretty
interesting. It influenced me on my drawings, my colour choices, and some say even my dreams…
Once I turned ten, I started seeing weird dreams. Mother called them “visions”. I even once
saw God’s head appear in a window, but of course that was earlier, when I was four. There was
also one where I saw the prophet Ezekiel under a tree and had a vision of "a tree filled with
angels.” I feel like I will be under the effect of these for a long time.
1767
As I spend my years at Henry Pars's drawing school I started enjoying sketching the
human figure by copying them from plaster casts of ancient statues. At first it was, this concept,
was new for me. Some actually called me crazy because of my dreams, or rather as my mother
likes to call them “visions”. I think that is understandable, it is not like every single person sees
these every single day, or even night. But you see the thing is I know I am not crazy. I know what I
saw was unpredictable and unusual, but I did see it; with my own two eyes. I know they are real.
Sometimes I think that people are just saying these things because they are jealous.
1771
As I wrote out the date for this entry I realised how long it had been. Well, I doubt it matters
now, what time has passed is already gone. Anyway, I have some great news. First of all I started
apprenticing with an engraver. I think it might be a present from God for my fourteenth birthday,
because it is such an amazing opportunity. My master is the engraver to the London Society of
Antiquaries. We do a lot to together, but our time together mostly consists of me doing the little
stuff. I can’t say I am sad though, I feel like this might just shape my future.
Oh, and also I am being sent to Westminster Abbey to make drawings of tombs and
monuments. I hear that there is a great variety of gothic art there. If I like it there it, it might be the
start of something totally new for me, and my life.
1771
Today I started collecting prints of famous artists who have “fallen out of fashion”. I fail to
understand how someone can just “fall out of fashion”. These artists are perfectly creative, and
their art is just as unique as anyone else’s. I have some of the very cool ones too including Durer,
Raphael and Michelangelo. I know these are not the original ones but they look just as good.
I feel like people who endeavour to raise up a style against Rafael, Michelangelo, and the
Antique are just working for nothing. Their styles are just so… I can’t even find a word to describe.
They are all just so different, amazing, and eccentric. I’m sure one they will again rise into fashion,
and everybody will love them. And their names will live forever. i wish to be like them too when I
grow up. i want to remembered too. Because I think forgotten lives are wasted lives.
