Learning to Draw Matters
Learning to draw matters not just to artists, but to everyone.
Learning how to draw well requires that you view the things in front of you with an “innocent eye”.
If you are thinking “apple” when drawing an apple, you will not get a very accurate drawing. This is because we are used to thinking in visual symbols.
So, if you think to yourself that you are drawing an apple, you will likely create a circle with a stem coming out of it. This symbolic representation does not look like an apple does in real life.
Unfortunately, I have never seen an actual apple look like that. When looking at an apple carefully, you can see the stem comes from the middle of the apple, not the top. You will discover that it is asymmetrical. It also has bumps and all sorts of other delights waiting for a careful eye to discover them.
Seeing with your eyes, and not assumptions and symbols, is the essence of having an “innocent eye“.
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An Innocent Eye
With a well-trained eye, you can pull information out of thin air. You can extract joy from every day occurrences, and be drawn into a world of aesthetic pleasure. It’s like learning to see the entire world all over again. You get a fresh eye to explore new visual discoveries.
When you learn how to draw really well, all of a sudden you are calling others over to look at a curl of a leaf. Or maybe the strange color of the sidewalk patch, or the atmospheric effects created on the horizon. You become more careful and deliberate in your descriptions. Your communication skillset is expanded with new vocabulary and detailed accuracy.
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Through drawing, you gain the ability to read visual cues and how they affect you and those around you. You can control the visual manipulation thrown at you by advertisers and others vying for your attention and wallet.
Learning how to draw and paint can open your mind the way reading a book does.
When you have to observe something carefully to capture it with your pencil, you have to think about every aspect of the subject in front of you. If you are incomplete in your observations, there will be literal gaps on your paper showing where your seeing was weak.
To think about any object thoroughly enough to draw it changes your viewpoint. Your viewpoint changes not only for that particular object, but for all future visual elements that enter your path of sight.
Learn How to Draw
Drawing well, like reading, takes time, attention, and training under someone who has mastered the skill. But it is a worthwhile pursuit for anyone who values knowledge and how that knowledge can enhance their mind, career, and visual pleasure.
To really see at the highest levels is a transformative experience.
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I taught art for 31 yrs. My whole program was based on teaching students on to think. Teaching my students how to process information differently. What you have said, I totally agree with,