So, I decided to learn how to draw. How did that happen?
I recently updated my amazon wishlist for a friend who wanted some ideas for my birthday. Among a few other things I realized that Betty Edwards’ “Drawing on the right side of the brain” was still on there.
A few years back I put it on there because it was repeatedly referenced in Andy Hunt’s “Refactor Your Wetware. Pragmatic Thinking and Learning” and I was intrigued by the neuro-psychological approach.
It is targeted to people who believe they can not draw and never will be able to. That pretty much is me. I kept it on the list and promised myself, if I get it, I will learn to draw.
Well, I got it. Here I am, learning to draw.
Motivation
Expression
There are a few reasons why I actually want to learn how to draw but certainly the most important is that I want to be able to express my thoughts. In my life there have been several moments where I was not able to express my ideas in an easy to understand way where a short sketch would have made all the difference. If I knew how to draw one.
Want a recent example? Okay, I’ll embarrass myself.
This is a sketch on my whiteboard where I tried to explain my wife a design for a new top she should create. She knows me quite well so she got what I had in mind but it took time.
It is meant to be a tight fitting shirt / blouse with a transparent cutout in feather / wings optics and a repetition of the theme on the sleeves. You can get the concept from the sketch but in my mind it looks quite different.
Creative outlet
While I was never good at drawing, I always had creative outlets in my life. From (artistic) circus shows to storytelling in role-play games over cooking to writing and of course coding.
I am not in the shape for artistic shows anymore (something I eventually want to change again). Being burned out a little on writing, coding and role-playing, I want to give drawing a chance. Do I want to become an artist? No. I will leave that to talents like Harlequin But it might be something for every now and then, when the other ways to express my creativity don’t work.
Where do I go from here?
I just finished drawing the first three ‘images’. They are part of the pre-course preparations to be able to compare them to the results after reading and working through the book. I won’t publish them now but most likely once I’m done to show the before – after comparison.
I won’t be reading or drawing every day and more importantly I probably won’t post about it that often. Only important milestones or when I feel like writing 😉
