Look. See. Achieve. It’s a Mind-Body Experience!

Shameless Self-Promotion from the Southcoast, MA – [AUTHOR’S NOTE – Please sign up for my upcoming drawing class at Artworks this June] You say you’ve always wanted to learn to draw. You haven’t tried? Perhaps it’s because you’re afraid to fail. Or, maybe it’s that you truly believe you have no talent for it. Whatever is stopping you can be addressed. I truly believe anyone can draw. As with anything else that is meaningful to you; it requires patience and dedication. It also requires that you trust your instructor. There are several steps to the process of learning to draw.

The first step is looking. You must learn how to see as an artist sees. Then and only then, will you be able to achieve the creative experience you crave. When you really look at objects; the things, places and people around you - is when you begin to really see. Or, as I should more correctly say – see for real. One of the greatest impediments to achieving the creative experience you crave is your subconscious mind. Many people approach art on an emotional level while their brain approaches it from a rational level. Because of this dichotomy of processing there is already conflict. Conflict breeds confusion. Confusion creates frustration. Frustration leads to quitting.

Therefore, if you are not totally conscious of what you are looking at; you will not see it as it really is. Perception is indeed reality. You cannot really see if you really aren’t looking. Most beginning drawing students think this is preposterous because they’re very eager to get going and start creating something on paper. They don’t understand that with this mindset of theirs; they’ll only be acting like artists instead of becoming an artist.

Many drawing students crash and burn right after takeoff because they haven’t allowed themselves the opportunity to learn. Yes, many people consider the ability to be creative, or being an artist, as romantic (as in adventurous) and exciting. And, it is. However, there is a lot of self-disciple involved in order to get the full benefits of the instruction, the training and the total creative experience.

I very much believe that the act of drawing is exceptionally spiritual in nature. One of my college art instructors described the experience, especially when the artist or student is conscious of their mark-making activity, as touching the face of God. There are quite a few misconceptions as to what an artist is or what drawing is all about. The first misconception is what people believe is required.

Talent is not a requirement. Talent is what is developed through instruction, discipline and experience. Yes, there are people who seem to have been born with a talent for drawing. What lends credence to this perception is that they just seem to pick up a pencil and draw. It has nothing more to do, in my opinion, than the fact that these people just have better observational skills. Why? I don’t know! Perhaps they are just more conscious or aware of their surroundings. I have witnessed my own grandchild drawing by observation with a knowledge of observation that stupefied me. She had never been instructed on how to do what she was doing!

Yes, I see many examples of drawings that are quite remarkable. They are very polished. They are excellently executed. They are, as many like to remark – so lifelike. However, these drawings leave me cold. They are more an illustration of a person, or an object or a scene, but they are not drawings in the true sense of the word. What’s the difference you ask? An illustration is complete. It does not allow you inside of itself. It is a tune you cannot whistle or hum or sing along with. It is a solo. It is closed to you beyond your ability to see it. These drawings then, are illustrations. Illustration has a specific purpose but it is not to be confused with drawing. Norman Rockwell was one of the finest illustrators that ever lived and yet, he was preoccupied with not being a fine artist. He knew there was a difference.

A drawing on the other hand is a record of a person, an object or a scene as you observed in its natural state or environment versus it being staged. Unlike an illustration, a drawing is incomplete. It invites you inside of itself to participate in the joy of the journey of the hand that created it. A drawing then, is a tune you can whistle or hum or sing along with. It is opened to you beyond your ability to just look at it or see it. It is a duet. It is goes beyond your ability to see it because you are looking at it as the artist who created it did. Ah, there’s the spirituality of it.

A photograph records reality. A drawing, on the other hand, records consciousness. Drawing is primarily about line. Line is magical. It defines space, shape and mass. Line is sensual. Highly sensual. And it is so because good marks (lines) are alive! Part of the learning-to-draw experience is the simple act of observing the person, object or the scene which is determined by the artist to be the subject of the purpose of their investigation - the drawing. The other part of the learning experience is being consciousness of the marks that are being made.

There are intelligent lines (marks) and otherwise, as well as, lines which exude a life force. Michelangelo’s spark of life - The Creation of Adam - depicts the Almighty giving life to Adam at the beginning of his spiritual narrative of the Old Testament in his famous fresco on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. This scene defines exactly what I’m attempting to transmit to you. A well rendered line contains the elusive spark of life and gives the viewer a glimpse of what the artist saw and felt, as well as, how they executed the piece.

Here I’ll stop for now. But before I go, please consider allowing yourself to be taken to a place or level of consciousness in order for you to experience a sensation you may have never felt before. If you’re looking for something to help you feel more or fell better about; learning to draw is what you need to give you that experience you’re craving for, whether you know it or not.