"I believe that we learn by practice. Whether it means to learn to dance by practicing dancing or to learn to live by practicing living, the principles are the same. In each, it is the performance of a dedicated precise set of acts, physical or intellectual, from which comes the shape of an achievement, a sense of one's being, a satisfaction of spirit. One becomes, in some area, an athlete of God. Practice means to perform, over and over again in the face of all obstacles, some act of vision, of faith, of desire. Practice is a means of inviting the perfection desired." - Martha Graham
Meet Owen. He was a fellow student in a drawing class I took last month at the Knoxville Art and Crafts Center. As you can see, he much preferred modeling to drawing. He was an interesting fellow, but he is not the point of my drawing on post. The point- practice what you preach! And, practice, practice, practice. I'm a big believer that anyone can learn to draw. Yes, even you who are skeptically shaking your head right now and would likely say something about stick figures if we were having this conversation in person. It's like training for a marathon or taking singing lessons, ANYONE can do it. Sure, maybe there are some more naturally inclined to running, singing, or drawing than others, but it's very much a learned skill, which takes practice. So, there's my preaching on the matter.
Now on to practicing what I preach. If I know drawing is a learned skill, and that I can only improve with practice, why do I have such a hard time making myself sit down to draw? When I entered the MFA program in illustration at SCAD, I was the only student who didn't have an undergrad degree in art- i.e. four years of intense drawing classes under my belt. It was difficult. I had some one discouraging professor, and I still have to fight my insecurity when it comes to drawing. I took any drawing class I could to improve, even drawing 1 with all the freshmen. I attended workshops and open drawing sessions and continuing education classes at other universities- and boy do I miss all that Atlanta has to offer when it comes to this type of activity. And look how much I improved- even in just four weeks, as you can see from the drawings above. I need to keep practicing! Hopefully I'll post some more sketching on here in the months to come, although posting these drawings is the most vulnerable I've felt blogging.
You may have heard me talk about my love of color, texture, and design on here. So, why is drawing so important to me? First of all, it's a challenge and something I feel I really need to work at. Secondly, I'm an illustrator. Thirdly, and most importantly, it helps me see. As and artist and a human being, I need to see to understand shape and design and appreciate nuances of color and texture. You do too. If you were to sit for an hour and draw the winkles in your hand or your spouse's profile or a flower you would be amazed at how much is there. Our left brain tells us things just are a certain way because of facts, so most of the time we're too lazy to really even look, but our right brain allows us to see, and therefore appreciate, what's really there.
Left Brain/ Right Brain is probably for another time, but here's a list of some fun and important right brain activities: loving, dancing, laughing, allowing, being, kissing, driving, showering, accepting, exercising, swimming, listening to music, playing music, smelling cinnamon, cooking, eating, drawing...
Did you know that people use drugs to get the same effects of tapping into the right brain? How I long for our culture to slow down and breathe, and live life to the full!
Did you also know Van Gogh is well known for struggling, improving, and practicing his drawing:
"In spite of everything I shall rise again: I will take up my pencil, which I have forsaken in my great discouragement, and I will go on with my drawing."
Some of his practicing:
So, whatever it is you'd like to do better... draw on friends!
