Recently I spent some time at a local hospital demonstrating drawing and encouraging others to pick up a pen or pencil and join me. Over and over again the response was, “Oh, I can’t draw!” and they’d scurry away. Because I didn’t have the opportunity then to convince them otherwise, allow me to expound a few moments on this topic. Everyone can draw. Really!! What people are saying when they insist they can’t draw is that they are not comfortable with their attempts to draw. And, that they don’t know how to draw something that fulfills their (perhaps misguided) expectation of what a drawing should be.
Ask any young child if they can draw and they will enthusiastically answer “Yes!” Kindergartners love drawing, they enjoy the process and delight in their results. Somewhere around third grade, children begin to compare their work with others and decide they cannot draw. Unfortunately there is rarely anyone available to show them that drawing is about the uniqueness of individual expression, it’s about the pure joy of making marks and shapes. Above all, it’s a skill that can be learned at any age as certainly as one can learn to play the piano.
More and more adults are rediscovering the joy of drawing. In doing so they are not only learning to value their own unique expressions, they are learning to bring out their personal creative energy. They’re having fun and finding fulfillment. There’s no doubt it takes some time and effort. If you haven’t drawn since you were in grade school, chances are you may think your drawings look like a child’s. (That’s not necessarily a bad thing.) Take a class, get a book, ready my blog from the beginning, work at it regularly and you will soon see progress. Yes! You CAN draw!
Love to Draw 