If you love art, you probably like nothing more than browsing at an exhibition; then perhaps, enthusing with friends that evening about what you saw. Maybe you even indulge in buying the occasional artwork.

But . . . making it? Something about the idea of creating our own art makes even the most devoted art enthusiasts apprehensive. "I couldn't do that," we find ourselves saying. Why do we feel so self-conscious about expressing ourselves artistically?

"There's such a gulf between going to a museum and actually attempting art yourself," says Andy Boerger, a commercial illustrator and art teacher. "But it needn't be like that. Even if trying your hand at drawing or painting only makes you a better appreciator of art, that's great."