I have a friend who, while awaiting her mother in a professional office one day, found herself face to face with one of her mother’s colleagues.
Because my friend felt nervous in this place where she was so clearly ‘out-of-place’, she stood abruptly, thinking, “this man must be wondering who I am and what I’m doing here”.
More calmly, she reasoned, “I will introduce myself”, though because of her nervousness, when my friend spoke to the man, what she intended to say is not what came out.
“Who are you and what are you doing here?” she demanded (!!) and upon hearing her own voice, she realized her mouth had not said what she had wanted it to say.
There was a miscommunication between her brain and her tongue and her kindly intentions (of introducing herself) were completely lost in translation.
And this is how it is with art, as well.
Seeing an object and getting a drawing of that object onto paper or canvas is complicated.
An image that is fantastic in my head does not always look so great on paper because the message of how to draw the Fantastic Image gets muddied and confused as it travels from my brain to my hand.
And so I need to practice. I need to teach myself to look more closely at what is around me, to study the details, to look at the shapes and to see their size and proportion as they relate to other objects and shapes around them. I think, “what am I missing?” and find ways to see more.
One way to ‘see more’ is by drawing in a way that is out of the ordinary. Sometimes I draw upside-down. Sometimes I paint objects backwards. This week I did a series of three small drawings, ending the series with one drawn with my left hand.
I’m far less proficient drawing with my left hand than with my right, but I find myself looking, seeing and thinking in much greater detail when I work with my left hand.
Take a look at the (shaky) care with which I created the left handed drawing to the left and then try it yourself.
Make a drawing and remember, perfection is not the intent; it’s about seeing things differently and creating something from nothing.
Give it a try, even if you think you’re the least arty person on earth, and tell me what happens! I’ll be watching for photos of your work in my inbox~
