While many look to drawing for mindless entertainment I love that it makes me think. I am constantly challenging myself to see things in a new way, to express ideas more clearly and to create something, well…one-of-a-kind-wonderful.
Mastering a skill is always a worthwhile endeavor. To be sure, gaining expertise in drawing takes time and dedication, but with practice and effort the results are guaranteed. And what’s cool is that it’s a never-ending journey. As soon as you learn to draw the face for example, you find you want to capture the likeness, or express the texture of skin or somehow depict the soul of the model. Things you might never have known you wanted to achieve when you began to draw.
As a drawing teacher I have the joy of watching students learn to think in new ways. In a recent drawing class we drew a series of chairs and stools placed in a long line. The object was to see the relationship of one to another and to express the depth of space in the arrangement. It was one of those times when you could almost see the brains churning. Everyone was striving to see what was there rather than what they knew about the chairs. This really pushed them in a new way.
A recent article shared on Facebook confirms, in a much more scientific manner, that drawing is good for us. “Draw Yourself Happy: Drawing, Creativity and Your Brain,” by Robin Landa, 2014, refers to a number of studies that show how drawing enhances the brain. While that in itself will never be my sole motive for drawing, it’s nice to know.
One of things I’m thinking about these days is how to create larger drawings worthy of fine art exhibitions. It occurred to me to try something new: to add embroidery to my work. I used to sew a lot and I thought it might be interesting. The jury’s still out on this. I need to give it more thought and develop new experiments before I analyze the results. So I ‘ll keep thinking about it.
Love to Draw 